October 4, 2024 by Fred Colby
If you were a caregiver for your wife for an extended time, there is a good chance that you experienced anticipatory grief. Expectation of imminent death can be both a blessing and a curse. Our aversion to admitting that she will die may cause us to avoid contemplating what the
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September 20, 2024 by Fred Colby
When our wives die, we often lose the one person who loved us: • Unreservedly, • no matter what idiotic things we did, • despite our failings, our weaknesses, and our bad habits, and • even though we may have failed them at times.
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September 5, 2024 by Fred Colby
It is easy during the first year or so after your wife’s passing to become so immersed in your own grief that you ignore the grief others are feeling. Let’s face it, during this time our grief is overwhelming! It often blocks out everything else so that we are unaware
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August 22, 2024 by Fred Colby
A year before my wife’s passing, she began to experience upsetting physical and mental conditions, including skin rashes and stress. This continued for a while with her unable to determine the cause or to find solutions after visiting a couple of doctors. Around that time, she began criticizing almost anything
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August 12, 2024 by Fred Colby
Suppose we do enter into a new and meaningful relationship with someone. In that case, the inevitable question that may emerge is whether you should get married, move in together, stay single, or try Living Apart Together (LAT). Not long ago (think grandparents) social norms limited the choices to
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July 26, 2024 by Fred Colby
Friends and family are often afraid to speak with a new widower… and with good reason as we are frequently emotionally traumatized after losing our wives The following summarizes advice I shared during some recent radio interviews. Share this with others to help
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July 12, 2024 by Fred Colby
Earlier this year a therapist and doctoral student, who works with Couples in Conflict Management, contacted me with questions she encountered in conversations with women dating widowers. These questions deal with the challenges faced by a woman trying to understand a widower’s ongoing relationship with his deceased wife. This is
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June 25, 2024 by Fred Colby
Earlier this year a therapist and doctoral student, who works with Couples in Conflict Management, contacted me with questions she encountered in conversations with women dating widowers. These questions deal with the challenges faced by a woman trying to understand a widower’s ongoing relationship with his deceased wife. This is
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May 31, 2024 by Fred Colby
A friend who recently lost his wife and I were commiserating recently over how damned lonely we were soon after losing our wives. This is despite our backgrounds which included interacting with hundreds (if not thousands) of people yearly. And even though we had: Several close married friends Family and
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