Page 80 of Someone to Remember
“I feel the same way, but such is the hand we were dealt.”
“It’s a shitty hand.”
“In many ways, yes, but in other ways, it’s brought some incredible new people into my life who’ve become so important to me. My widows are some of the best friends I’ve ever had.”
“I can tell there’re a lot of tight bonds in that group.”
“I’m not sure I would’ve survived without them. I give Iris and Christy and Gage so much credit for holding us all together, when no one would blame any of them for moving on from the group at this point.”
“Iris described it to me as somewhat of a calling for her.”
“Yes, for sure. She and Gage are our Yodas.”
“I felt sad for Wynter tonight. She seemed so upset.”
“She’s had such a tough time of it. She was so young when she lost her Jaden. I don’t even think she was twenty, and they’d been together for years.”
“That’s rough.”
“I wish you could’ve known her back in the beginning. Despite her outburst tonight, you wouldn’t believe the progress she’s made.”
“She and Adrian seem like a great couple.”
“They are, but as in all things in widow life, none of it came easy for either of them.”
“I’m sure it didn’t. Are you home yet?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Who’s with your kids?”
“My mom.”
“Does she live close?”
“Right around the corner. Not sure what I’d do without her and my dad. They’re always willing to help out.”
“I’ve got my parents and Bella’s nearby, too. They’re a godsend.
“It’s nice to have people in our daily lives who love the kids like I do.”
“For sure. That makes such a big difference. So do you work in addition to managing two kids on your own?”
“Part time from home for a nonprofit, doing social media and online marketing. I work while the kids are in school, which is perfect for us. I was one of the lucky ones—Rory had great life insurance through his work, so I wasn’t left in desperate straits like some of my widow friends were.”
“That’s such a blessing. Bella had life insurance, too. We have a friend who’s a financial adviser, and he told us to get it the minute we were expecting our first child. He made the argument that even if Bella was going to be a stay-at-home mom, if anything ever happened to her, I’d need help that wouldn’t come cheap. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that advice every day.”
“I’ll bet. People don’t think about stuff like that when they’re young, with their whole lives ahead of them—or so they think.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Why would they, really?”
“Yeah, true. Well, this conversation has taken a morbid turn,” he says with a laugh.
“I’ve learned from my Wild Widows that it’s healthy to talk about it. Keeping it bottled up inside won’t get you anywhere but pissed off and hopeless.”
“I can already see the benefit of airing it out.”
