Excerpt of the Day: "Happily Even After" by Carole Brody Fleet

We’re excited to have Carole Brody Fleet visiting the office this Wednesday for our Twitter Party!  Interested in asking Carole your questions?  You can join us on Twitter between 3 and 4PM (PST), using the hashtag #happilybook.

You can also meet Carole at these Bay Area Locations!

6/6/12 11:00AM Towne Center Books, Pleasanton, CA

6/6/12 5:00-6:00PM Books Inc. Alameda, Alameda, CA

6/6/12 7:00PM A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland, CA

6/7/12 7:30PM East-West Bookshop, Mountain View, CA

Here’s an excerpt from Carole Brody Fleet’s book Happily Even After:

“Who am I?”

“What do I do now?”

As I lay on my couch the day after Mike’s funeral, in my stunningly attractive penguin-printed flannel pajamas with the feet in them, these two questions repeatedly turned over and over in my mind. They were burned into my brain; they were etched into my “soul with a hole.” Day after day, I continue to just lie there, pondering these two questions. I didn’t open the blinds. I’m not entirely sure that I ate anything. I just lay there thinking: “Who am I?” and “What do I do now?”

Not only are these understandably daunting questions, these are by far the two most frequently asked questions by widows. The funeral is over with and everyone has gone home and returned to their lives, yet for you, the reality of widowhood and the building of a new life has just begun. You are left without any sense of direction, and in many cases, without even a sense of self. You are simply left…alone.

You may be surprised to learn that the “What Now?” of widowhood isn’t limited to only those who have been recently widowed. You may have been widowed for quite awhile and feel as though you are still trapped in the “Who Am I?/What Do I Do Now?” phase of your Healing Journey, wanting oh-so-much to move forward and not having an inkling as to how to begin.

Let’s then examine the questions and concerns regarding the “beginning”—this most important part of your Healing Journey—as well as some of the ways that you can begin to slowly refocus and rebuild into a promising new life of your own. Whether your loss happened last week, last year, or last decade, let this very moment be a new start for you. It is time for your Widowtude Adjustment to begin.