Widows - Our Words and Ways: A Collection of Personal Stories

Book excerpt: Becoming a widow is a most lonely, frightening experience. Widows - Our Words and Ways is an opportunity for a widow to relate to and learn from other women who have suffered the pain and challenges of losing a spouse. Regardless of who the widow is, she will hopefully find in these pages one or more individuals to whom she will relate and numerous nuggets of wisdom to help her move forward with her life. This book aims to help and inspire widows of different ages from diverse ethnic, racial, religious, and economic backgrounds and whose spouses died under various circumstances. §§ “An inspiring book on a heart wrenching subject: Twenty-five widows speak for themselves, offering surprising comfort and unique survival strategies that only those who have been there could be wise enough to conceive.” Judith Sills, Ph.D., Psychologist, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Excess Baggage, Contributor to The Today Show, Psychology Today, past regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. §§ “I know all too well the subject of this book. If only it had existed at the time of my loss. Yet, even now, this book has given much to me. In these pages, I hear the voices of women from all walks of life, united in the sharing of yesterday’s loss and tomorrow’s hope. More than consolation, Widows – Our Words and Ways, offers an outreached hand.” Linda Richardson, New York Times bestselling author and Founder of Richardson, an International Sales Performance Company. Barbara Metsky Kretchmar, a New York City native, graduated from Hunter College High School, Harpur College (S.U.N.Y. at Binghamton), and Syracuse University College of Law. She was widowed at 46 years old with two young sons, 13 and 11, when her husband died in 1990.