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RECENT WIDOW

I am still learning how to be me. I’m not who I was, but now I have to figure out who I am without my best friend. There is nothing for me at church to help discover who I am becoming. I’m not interested in joining a group just for widows; there is so much more to me.

I have been sitting with a group of women who are also widows, but we never talk about our husbands or family. We are more than that label, and yet that’s how our pastors and fellow congregants see us.

For example, over Christmas all the church programs took a break. And the Bible Study I have been attending with a group of women with different marital statuses—they accepted me as I am, not just “another widow”—well, they didn’t meet. I’m retired now and I was just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. So, I got up the nerve and called a few of those ladies to go to a movie. Three of us met up and had a lovely time. But shouldn’t the church be helping me make these connections?