On Radio 4 this morning - Matthew Syed's Sideways on complicated grief and forgiveness. The Hands of Forgiveness tells the story of a shooting at an Amish school, the response of the Amish community, and their care for the wife & family of the gunman.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Sending love on Mothering Sunday to widows who didn’t get to be mums or who lost a partner who didn’t get to be a mum. Who are being mums, or both mums & dads, alone. Who are dealing with child or parent loss or estrangement as well as losing a partner.
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/motheri...
I've found that the spoon theory works for grief. Early on in grief I was so tired that my bones hurt, which took away physical spoons. I also had widow brain, which took away mental spoons. And my number of spoons changed from day to day.
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/the-spo...
I think i saw them at Brixton Academy in 1988, supporting Life Dependent Organs
For LGBT+ History Month (#LGBTplusHM), Jo Sedley-Burke & I chatted about the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS crisis, grief, queer widowhood & my book Dancing in Heaven, interspersed by the barks of my born-deaf show cocker spaniel. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Xz...
WAY Widowed and Young is celebrating LGBT+ History Month with a quiz celebrating the journey of the LGBTQIA+ community from the past to present day. It's open to all WAY members and supporters and there's a prize!
#LGBTplusHM
www.surveymonkey.com/r/S7HRDLM
Thank you xx
Thank you xxx
It’s 8 years tomorrow since Tim's death & the anniversary hits differently each year. Year 1 was raw. Year 4 a friend died & it brought it all back. Year 5, grief was a quiet companion rather than a bleeding wound. This year is unexpectedly hard www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/eight-y...
Proud of you xx
🙏🏻❤️
Yes!
New work - not quite finished but soon.
With words by Louisa May Alcott.
I love greens, purples and whites together.
Roll on bluebells, stitchwort and spring.
It's Valentine's day tomorrow & that can be a tough day for a #widow. It can feel like everyone has a significant other when yours has gone. Even for those with a new partner, it can feel conflicting. Take very good care of yourself today and tomorrow.
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/valenti...
It's Valentine's day tomorrow & that can be a tough day for a #widow. It can feel like everyone has a significant other when yours has gone. Even for those with a new partner, it can feel conflicting. Take very good care of yourself today and tomorrow.
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/valenti...
Sleep can be so hard for a #widow - your head is full of #grief, spinning thoughts and tough memories, and you may have nightmares. Here are some things that helped me
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/hints-a...
WAY Widowed and Young's LGBTQIA+ Diversity Working Group is busy planning activities for LGBT+ History Month 2025. There's an LGBT+ History Quiz with a prize live now, open to WAY members and non-members.
www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/get-support/...
Love to you. Got my 8th anniversary coming up. These milestones are tough xxx
Thinking of all of you new widows. The early days are so exhausting. Sleep when you can. Eat what you can, when you can, and drink lots of water.
One moment, one breath and one step at a time.
#griefthreads
Sending love to all of you who lost partners through cancer, today (and every day)
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/world-c...
From #LGBTHistoryMonth 2025 - stories of queer #widows
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/lgbt-hi...
#widow #grief
As well as writing fiction I also write about grief at The Widow's Handbook (@widowshandbook.bsky.social) and loved Cariad Lloyd's Griefcast
One of the things I found after Tim died was how friendship groups shift. I’ve newly come across the concept of firefighters and builders. Sometimes these can be the same people, but often they are different. This idea helped me understand.
www.thewidowshandbook.com/home/firefig...
#widow #Grief
The best piece of advice I was given after my husband died suddenly was 'one moment, one breath and one step at a time'. Its still valid nearly 8 years on.
#grief
My beloved late husband was 5'3" - his height (four inches shorter than me) made no difference to me
Be gentle with yourself today.
Moving into a new year for new widows means moving from 'My partner died this year' to 'My partner died last year'. For those who have been widowed longer, it can feel like their person is moving further into the past.
Another unexpected loss.
#widow #grief
Big hug. She sounds amazing x
I was widowed when my husband died in 2018 and now I'm married to a woman. Does he think I haven't opened a jar in seven years?
I think the people I spoke to when I wrote this book might disagree...
www.thehouseofcorrection.com/dancing-in-h...
CW: child loss
This is horrific but utterly vital investigative journalism. So many layers - the brainwashing power of social media; the transition from feminist to tradwife via flat-earthism; the distrust of life-saving medicine - but at the heart of this is avoidable tragedy & unfathomable grief.