The Second Year – Page 5 – Running Forward…My Way

My 2018 goals

Published on January 5, 2018 by kerrymckim3 Comments

How is it already January 5th?

Like, we are almost done with the first week. And I haven’t even written a New Years 2018 post.

Why is that? Well I attended a lovely wedding, put up my Christmas tree and then I got sick. Bronchitis to be exact. I was so sick for two weeks. Then it was Christmas and New Years week. And then I went to a funeral in Maine. I will write more about the Holidays and the funeral next week. I promise.

As the calendar year changed, I did some reflecting.

2016 had been the worst year of my life. I really hope that that year keeps the title because I can’t imagine what could be worse my husband having surgical complications, spending 5 months in the ICU and then dying.

2016 was a year of survival.

I was happy for the calendar to change to 2017. I did a lot of healing that year. Even though I spent a lot of that year still in a fog, I still tried to live my life. Even if it was going through the motions.

I had a lot of ups and downs but I was in a better place at the end of 2017 than I was the beginning of 2017.

2017 was a year of healing.

I was excited to see 2018 come. I hope to continue this year trajectory. I also have a feeling that a lot of exciting things will happen this year. Things are going to be very different by the end of the year and in a good way.

I want 2018 to be the year I start living again.

I have been working on some goals. I am writing them down here to hold myself accountable. I may visit these goals monthly or quarterly to make sure I am on the right track.

I also want to note that this isn’t a complete list. This is just the highlights. I am always adding goals all the time.

Home

My biggest goal for the home is a monstrously large goal. I need to declutter my house. My late husband was a saver, I was a saver but not as bad and my daughter has a lot of toys. I am always looking for lost items and tripping over stuff so it is time to clear out. Since my daughter is living, I feel that Barbies Dream House gets precedence over Bryon’s possessions that I don’t have a use for. I have attempted to clear out some of his items but I am always overcome with sadness. I know he doesn’t need these items anymore but every time I get rid of something of his, I am reminded that he is dead. I have avoided this task. But now it is time.

My minimal requirement for this goal is to donate on box or trash per week for a total of 52 bags/boxes.

Fitness

Before I got hit with the bronchitis/holidays/funeral trifecta, I was having success at a local gym called Metabolic Meltdown. I hope to return to class 4-5 times a week.

Bronchitis has also done a job on my lung capacity so I want to start Couch to 5k again and be running 5ks by the spring. My stretch goal is a second half marathon in the Fall.

Writing

I lost my inspiration for awhile. I think that was due to a funk that lasted from Bryon’s deathaversary in August until a few days before Christmas. I think I have my inspiration back.

My writing goals are:

Write 2-3 blog posts a week.

Begin writing my book.

Submit at least 5 articles for publication.

1-2 YouTube videos each week.

Spirituality

I want to continue my journey on learning how to love myself and others. I can’t fully give to others until I take care of myself. I would love to fall in love again but I want to be in a good place before I make any commitment.

I want to read one book a month on self love.

I want to learn how to meditate this year. I have trouble focusing on nothing.

I want to read at least one book a month on spirituality.

Write in my gratitude journal daily.

I am hoping by the end of 2018 that I will be less angry with God. Less angry enough that I may start going back to Sunday Mass. I miss the traditions. Faith was a huge part of my Bryon and my relationship and I miss it. I also want my daughter to be raised in the same faith that I was and the same faith that Bryon and I had intended that she be raised in. But I am still very, very mad at God right now. Maybe it is time to delve into the religious based grief books that have sat unread on my nightstand.

Interpersonal/Self Respect

It’s sad that these two are lumped together, but for me that is how it is.

My biggest Interpersonal/Self Respect goal is to continue to remove toxic people and situations from my life and to be open to positive, supportive and loving relationships. Life is too short to be hanging out with the wrong crowd.

I am done tolerating people saying insensitive things to me. In the past, I have tried to brush hurtful comments off. I have rationalized that the people who make these comments don’t know a clue to the magnitude of my loss though many think they do.

I am also done with people who tell me how to live my life.

Widows are not weak. They are not dumb.

Widows DO NOT need to be told how to do any of the following:

Parent their children.

Manage their money.

What they should do with their house.

When they should date.

When they should have sex.

And most importantly, widows DO NOT need to be told how to grieve and how to cope. A large part of a widow’s life is grieving and coping. They don’t need to be told how, especially by someone who has not lost a spouse.

I will be distancing myself from people who try to tell me how to live my life. I have been through Hell and survived. I am not a delicate flower.

I also don’t like drama. I thought I left it behind when I graduated from high school 20 years ago. It ruins my Zen. So I will also continue to steer clear of drama because it is a waste of time and life is too short.

The last Christmas

Published on December 21, 2017 by kerrymckim4 Comments

Christmas 2015 was my favorite Christmas with you.

You were the Clark Griswold of our street.

I even got you a Clark Griswold-esque mug that you loved. You drank the Starbucks 2015 Holiday blend in it. You are missing the 2017 blend. It’s pretty good.

In early December, you found a light up nativity on Craigslist and you had to buy it. It didn’t matter that it was in Scranton, PA. You had to have it.

So we drove to Scranton.

We packed them in. Complete with two bonus nutcrackers.

Of course on the ride home Joseph fell over and he wound up face to face with our daughter. She did not like it at all. I would have been freaked out too.

But it was all worth it in the end. #takethatgriswold

You had researched which streets in the Capital District had the best lights and we drove there.

We attended as many Holiday parties as we could.

Our daughter wanted nothing to do with Santa.

Christmas Eve was a bizarre 74 degree day in Upstate, NY. You insisted we drive with the sunroof open.

We spent the afternoon with our Christmas Eve crew at a local establishment. As usual, I brought buffalo chicken dip.

We went to four pm Mass with one of our bestest couple friends.

Mass was uneventful until after communion. The four of us sat down in our pew.

A loud cracking sound filled the church as our butts hit the floor.

We looked at the pew which was split lengthwise.

Everyone else in the church looked at us.

You lean over to our friends and me and say “Sh*t. We need Jesus the carpenter, not Jesus the Baby.”

We stand there as we wait for Mass to end to for the church to empty. People continue to look at us as they are leaving. After the church was empty, you put that broken portion of the pew up over your shoulder and march up to the altar and you explained to Father Bradley what had happened. Father Bradley listens and doesn’t seem phased at all. I guess after 40 years in the priesthood, he has seen it all. I wished I wasn’t so mortified and that I thought to take a picture but the mental picture will always be in my mind.

After Mass, we went home and you made Chicken Parm. After our daughter went to sleep, we opened our presents that we got each other.

That Christmas you and I went crazy. The previous year you surprised me by putting the confirmation from a cruise you booked in a box for me to open. You assured me that there was no cruise surprise. I didn’t mind especially you already booked our 2017 cruise. Though neither of us would go on that cruise.

You were very concerned that you couldn’t live up to the previous year so you finally bought me the sewing machine I wanted for years.

For years we couldn’t afford to buy each other presents after we shopped for everyone else. I was having fun making up for those years.

You told me that the $600 shoes you wanted were on sale for $445. Hint, hint. I took the hint.

(For those who might be side-eyeing the price, these would be shoes would have been resoled. He was planning to use them for the rest of his life, and ironically he did. But when they we were bought, we were envisioning decades of use.)

You admitted to me after the fact that you were worried I was going to buy you more gifts and your competitive nature couldn’t handle that so you did more shopping.

After the fact, we admitted that we were ridiculous and that this would be the last Christmas were we would do this. Even if it was fun.

I am beginning to have this theory that our souls know more than we do in our human form. I think our souls knew that this was our last Christmas and that we needed to have fun and do what we felt we needed to do to show love to each other.

Of course you insisted we leave out something for Santa.

Christmas morning was spent with our daughter opening up Christmas presents.

You also bought her a Barbie Power Wheels Jeep because you saw a good deal on Amazon. I told you that she was too young. You called me a “Miss No Fun.” We decided to save it for the following Christmas. You never got to see her ride it. My father and I did assemble it for her second birthday a month after you died as one last present to her from you. And I was right because even then, her feet didn’t reach the pedal.

We spent Christmas Day with our daughter’s Godmother, her now husband and their family.

We bought each other a bottle of wine from the same winery although they were more generous than us. We brought a peppermint pig and some coasters. We were so excited about those coasters because they were custom made. When our daughter was born, there was this mildly disturbing Georgia O’Keefe-esque artwork on the wall. Our daughter’s Godmother and you were confused and disturbed by the artwork. After she left, I suggested you take a picture and make it into artwork for her. You loved the idea so much that you took credit for it but I didn’t mind. Not a lot of people know that some of your material came from me. You always said you were the funny one but sometimes I could be funny too.

Ultimately you decided on coasters instead of wall art. The best part was that our friend forgot about the maternity room artwork and decided to be polite and say that they were lovely. Of course, she had a good laugh when we told her where the artwork came from.

And this ended up being our last Christmas.

There was no way we would know that this would be our last Christmas.

There was no way that we could have foresaw that we would take one last cruise in February and then you would would unexpectedly become critically ill and spend five months in the ICU.

We had no clue that we were so close to the end.

I have come to realize that unless someone is on their deathbed at Christmas that there is no way to know who will be there the next Christmas. A lot can happen in 365 days. My life changed 89 days after that Christmas and you were gone 240 days after that.

Even if I could have known it would be your last Christmas, I wouldn’t have done it any different. I was with you, our daughter and some of our closest friends. And we had fun and ate some really good food.

I am glad I didn’t know that it was going to be your last Christmas. If I had known it was going to be your last Christmas, I would have been devastated and unable to enjoy it.

Now I am embarking on our second Christmas without you. Some of the traditions have changed a little bit but I will be with the same friends. Christmas 2017 will pretty much run nonstop from Fri until Wednesday with my parents coming for New Years. So I won’t be alone without you.

It’s hard to be sad around our daughter. She is getting so much bigger and she is so excited for Christmas. She’s warming up to Santa. She won’t sit on his lap but she’ll at least stand next to him. It just breaks my heart because you were looking forward to her being this age. You were so excited about the kinds of conversations you were going to have. Every happy memory that we create is also tainted with sadness because you are not here.

Now I am reminiscing with the internet instead of with you. Even though the internet and blogosphere is filled with great people, I would rather be recounting these memories with you.

But at the end of the day, I have to say I am grateful. I am grateful that I have these happy memories. Even though your death broke my heart, I am lucky that I have these memories that are filled with so much love and happiness. These memories make me smile and laugh.

It’s my job to push through my sadness and continue creating happy memories for our daughter and our friends so when I am gone, they can look back on those memories with love and happiness.

Wherever you are my love, I hope have a Merry Christmas.

Grief and the holidays

Published on December 15, 2017December 15, 2017 by kerrymckim1 Comment

It’s been slow around here. I have been catching up after a bout of bronchitis. But I did film another video today. In this video, I discuss grief and the holidays.

Widow at a wedding

Published on December 7, 2017December 7, 2017 by kerrymckim1 Comment

This past weekend, two of my closest friends got married. I love these two people so much. I can not stress enough how much of an honor that my daughter and I got to be a part of their day. The we were with Bryon and me on the best days of my life and they didn’t leave my side through the worst days of my life. While I would do the same for them, I prefer that the days be happy.

The wedding was held at the lovely Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown, NY. I wish I could share more details but I was chasing after my daughter. Please take my word for it when I say that this wedding was epic.

The weather was warm for December.

Everything was beautiful; the bride, her dress, her hair, the music, the guests.

The food was amazing. And there was an open bar.

I got to see lots of old friends and I made some new friends.

But my heart was heavy all night. Because Bryon was not there.

This is not the first wedding I have gone to since Bryon’s passing. My Maine best friend got married last summer. I meant to blog about it because it was a beautiful ceremony that deserves it’s own post and I hope to write about it before I visit her in Ann Arbor this spring.

But that wedding was in Maine and that was my turf. Some of my old friends I saw at that wedding had never even met Bryon (though that doesn’t lessen their empathy). Both the bride and groom had lost their mothers in their 20’s and the only time I felt sad was when the father of groom gave a speech and mentioned the groom’s mother and if she were there. My eyes teared up because it made me think of how Bryon isn’t going to be there when my daughter gets married.

I was very anxious about this wedding but I kept those feelings to myself. I felt selfish for even having these feelings. Weddings are happy affairs. There is very little I do not share with the bride but I wasn’t going to burden her with my grief leading up to her big day. Especially when I know it was hard on her that Bryon wasn’t there.

(And to note, I have discussed this with the bride after the fact. She is not going to be blindsided by reading this).

A large portion of these guests knew Bryon. There was no way I could even pretend he wasn’t dead or that I wasn’t a widow. All through the night people approached me and said kind things about Bryon which I did appreciate. Because enough time has passed from his death where sometimes I think people forget about him and the last thing anyone who is grieving wants is for their loved one to be forgotten.

I have come to the conclusion that it was a good thing my daughter was there. I spent the night chasing her and that prevented me from getting drunk and crying on the bathroom floor. And that is not a flattering look for anyone. Though chasing her did hinder my ability to take photos.

20171202_183422 — “Mommy, why do I have two forks?”

There were so many couples at the wedding though I don’t know if that is true or if that was just my perception. I started thinking back to my wedding day. How pretty I felt in my dress. How I felt when we had our first dance. We were so in love.

There was no way that I could have foreseen exactly what “in sickness and in health” would entail. Bryon would tell me that I nailed that vow.

I started to wonder if I would ever feel that way again. Will I ever love again? Will I ever love someone enough to marry them? Will I have a second first dance and cut another cake? Five years ago, when I married Bryon, I thought that was it. We were going to grow old together. Forever and always. I never dreamed that this would be a possibility.

I know that I do want to love again. I just don’t feel like I am done yet. But is it even possible to feel that way about someone else? Is it a glimmer of hope or an impossibility?

I honestly don’t know.

I know is that I need to learn to cope. It is frustrating when you want to be happy and instead you are an emotion mess.

Bryon might be gone but the sun stills shines. My daughter still laughs. There are people that I love that are still here. There are still happy times. I just need to accept that there will always be some sadness attached to all the happy moments.

On living and dying

Published on December 4, 2017 by kerrymckim7 Comments

I received some very sad news this morning. A friend of mine back home had been battling Stage IV cancer for a couple of years now and there isn’t anymore that can be done. He will be going to Hospice.

My heart is heavy knowing what is in store for his wife and children. While no two situations are exactly alike, I have a better understanding than most.

So if you are reading this and you are healthy, please be grateful. Be grateful for the health of those around you.

Because life is temporary.

And so are we.

Someday you are going to die.
I am going to die.

Everyone close to us is going to die.

Please take time to appreciate those in your life.

Hold on tight to those who matter.

Don’t waste time on those who are toxic.

Please, please, please don’t live with regrets.

We always think we have more time.

Except we don’t always have more time.

If there is something you want to do, do it. If you don’t have the means, find a way to make the means. If you don’t have the time, find the time. But do it. Or at least do something that is a step in that direction. They say that you don’t regret the things you do, you are more likely to regret the things you didn’t do.

You are here.

You are breathing.

You need to live. To do. To think. To create. To love.

Be passionate.

So while you are here, please, please, please make today count.

Don’t know where I am going

Published on November 28, 2017November 28, 2018 by kerrymckimLeave a comment

I have no idea where I am going.

I am still trying to figure out the person I want to reinvent myself to be.

I have no idea what the future entails. I am not sure what I want from the future. Bryon’s death has given me the opportunity to really think about how I want to spend the remainder of my days.

Because life is temporary after all.

If it were just me, I probably would have sold my house and would have had plans to go somewhere new. Where I have never been before. On my own. But I probably would have wound up in Chicago or Florida because that is where one of my best friends and my cousin live, respectively.

But I have my daughter and it is important for her to have roots where her father and I had our lives. And to be around those who loved her father and love her.

During my widowhood, I feel like I live in two different time dimensions. The first dimension is the same dimension that we all live in where time moves forward in minutes, weeks, months, years, etc. The second dimension of time is where the past is in the present. The times that I try to cling to a memory for as long as I can because for that brief period of time, I can pretend that I am still in that moment and that Bryon is alive.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I live in this first dimension of time. I am still here on Earth for an undetermined amount of time. I want to make the best of my years here and do as much good in the world as I can. I want to be the best version of myself I can be.

Because I can’t go back and be the older versions of myself. And I don’t really want to either.

Even though my soul feels broken without Bryon, I don’t want to be the person I was before he got sick. I didn’t know what was important. I was selfish. I worried about things that were insignificant. I did not appreciate all that I had and I did not appreciate Bryon. I let my fears rule my life. And sometimes I just went along with things Bryon wanted because I didn’t want to risk an argument. But in the process of not rocking the boat, I wasn’t always true to myself.

Going forward, I must always be true to myself.

Even if it means rocking every boat in the marina.

Death changes everything. The timeline of my life has been broken into two very distinct pieces- the before and the after.

I can never go back to who I was when Bryon was alive or who I was before Bryon came into my life.

I can never go back and be the lonely shy child who grew up in the outskirts of the Boston suburbs.

I can never go back and be the restless teenager in rural Downeast Maine. The girl who knew there was an exciting world out there and felt trapped in her small town.

I can never go back and be the girl who went to college but had no idea what she wanted to do. The girl who had no confidence and was equally afraid of success and fear.

I can never go back and be the 21 year old who was spending a semester “studying” abroad in Winchester, UK.

I can never go back and be the 25 year old girl who had just broken up with her college boyfriend and who was working three jobs to get by.

I can never go back to the 27 year old girl who was involved in politics.

I can never go back to any of these versions of myself. But I still carry something from each version.

The child version of myself represents my Boston Irish roots and my inner child who isn’t afraid to get creative.

The high school version of me represents my restless spirit that I will probably never outgrow and also reminds me that I love to run.

The college version of myself reminds me that I need to be more confident and not be afraid of my dreams like she was.

The 21 year old version of me was proud of herself that she went to England and got to visit London, Paris and Dublin. She got to see places she had dreamed about for years and she got to experience a different culture. Most importantly, she learned that “pants” don’t mean the same thing in the UK as they do in the US.

The 24 year old version of myself taught me that sometimes it is better to let go of something instead of chasing it. You can’t make anyone love you. It is best to wait for real love.

The 27 year old version of myself taught me ambition and how to get over my shyness. This girl also represents who I was before I learned how to love.

And I think about everything I learned from Bryon. He taught me how to love. He taught me to believe to in myself and that I was worth nice things. He taught me how to live life to the fullest. He taught be to not be afraid.

It was because of him I got to be a wife and a mother.

I know that he is a part of me now. But I still wish I could live in my memories with him and not in the present and future.

The second year is a b*tch

Published on November 16, 2017November 16, 2017 by kerrymckim2 Comments

During my first year of widowhood, I learned what coping mechanisms did not work.

I tried to outrun grief, literally. I ran a half marathon 6 weeks after Bryon died. It was one of my biggest accomplishments in my life. I hope to do it again. But with only 6 weeks of training, my knees were not happy with me.

I tried to eat my emotions. I gained back all the weight I lost when Bryon was sick and then some. My knees continued to be unhappy.

I tried to keep busy and outsocialize my grief. But now I am exhausted and nothing is getting crossed of my to-do list. Being with friends is important but I have ignored spending time with myself.

There was one night I had some Spanish red wine. That night I watched Jinger Duggar’s wedding and I bawled my eyes out. But the next morning I had a headache and I was too old to be waking up with headaches.

I would go to Target whenever I was sad. Nothing could cheer me up more than buying my two year old daughter a pair of pink cowgirl boots. However, that cheerfulness would never last long. My daughter had a great wardrobe that year. A wardrobe she promptly outgrew and I gave away.

Writing helped my grief. It helped me sort out my feelings. But it also caused me to intellectualize my feelings which can prevent a person from feeling those feelings. It is a mechanism I have used my whole life.

While I participated in some questionable grief practices, I have never denied my grief. I have always acknowledged it.

But maybe I did something wrong because now I feel a flood of anger consuming me.

Let’s say grief is like an ocean. Grief, like the ocean, can make a person feels small and insignificant. Both grief and the ocean can be peaceful and serene at times and stormy and dangerous at other times. Well I am standing in an island in the middle of this grief ocean and my anger is like a large wave crashing down over me.

Anger for all that happened to Bryon and for all his physical, mental and emotional pain.

Anger at how the events transpired.

Anger that Bryon and I never got to discuss what was happening nor did we get to discuss “what if”.

Anger that Bryon isn’t here to help me raise my daughter.

Anger that Bryon didn’t get to accomplish all his dreams and that we didn’t get to accomplish our dreams together.

Anger at the isolation I feel. Everyone else gets to live normal lives and not the “new normal” that I was told I needed to find when Bryon died. I want the old normal.

The second year is isolating. Just as the reality of Bryon’s death is hitting me, people think I should be “over it”.

The second year is a b*tch and I still have nine months of it.

50 long years

Published on November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 by kerrymckim1 Comment

50 years.

That is how long I can potentially be on this Earth. That is if I live to my 90’s like both of my grandmothers.

50 long years.

I don’t know how I am going to do it.

To fill up all those years.

I went from being a person with her life planned out to being a person who is merely existing.

I am obviously still here for a reason.

And I want to see my daughter grow up and meet my grandchildren and maybe even my great-grandchildren.

My daughter (age 3) told me that she is going to be a mother when she grows up and that she is going to have four children.

So I guess that means for every theatrical temper tantrum I have to deal with, she will get it back times four.

Karma can be a beautiful thing.

But it is all going to be delightful as long as my daughter gets an education first.

People used to ask me why I was bothering with a second degree because I was married to a lawyer. I always said that if something should- God forbid- happen to Bryon, I need to be able to support myself and my family.

I used to say that but I never thought it would actually be my reality.

But here I am. Surviving? Existing? Keeping my head above water? Waiting to live again?

Without direction. Lost. Anxious.

Bryon is not here to solve all my problems. He is not here to tell me that everything is going to be okay.

No idea what the future holds.

I have lost my faith. In God. In the Universe.

The future feels bleak and empty.

Scared to be lonely.

Scared to let someone else in.

Scared that I will be unhappy.

Scared that I won’t be able enough for my daughter.

Scared that I will always be sad.

Scared that I won’t make the best of my remaining years.

This is my life now.

For the next 50 long years.

Late night ramblings of a widow #3

Published on November 11, 2017November 11, 2017 by kerrymckim16 Comments

I haven’t rambled for awhile so here goes.

I want my old life back. My old life was so easy. Bryon took care of everything. And not just for me. He took care of everything for so many people.

My old life was so much easier. And I never appreciated. Now when something goes wrong, I am the only one here to deal with it. Luckily I can usually get help but I hate asking for it. I hate being a burden on people.

I never appreciated my old life. I never appreciated all that Bryon did for me.

I miss my old life even though it feels like a lifetime ago. I feel so removed from my old life even though I live in the same house and have the same friends. I still have my daughter and my cat.

I am a different person. The old Kerry is only a shadow inside of the New Kerry.

I want my old life back because in my old life, I didn’t know this kind of pain.

Some days I like my new life. I like myself better now.

But some days my new life completely sucks.

My new life is lonely. I know what I am missing.

Before I met Bryon, I felt like I was waiting for my real life to begin. Then I got my real life and was always concerned about the next step.

I would be running from the past and escaping into the future even if the future scared me.

And then- it was all gone.

Now I am in a future I never imagined having.

For the first time in my life I am forced to live in the present because the past makes me sad and thinking about the future makes me uncomfortable.

I feel stuck. How do I know the difference between spending enough time grieving versus being afraid of the future?

I am so afraid of being disappointed in the future.

I started to get excited about the holidays but now I wonder if I am setting myself up to be let down. Because my life isn’t a Hallmark movie.

And if I ever date again…am I setting myself up for dissappointment.

I had to call IT for work tonight. The IT guy was nice enough. I am so lonely that I didn’t want to hang up. But I did because otherwise it would have been weird and creepy. At least I ended the call with “thank you” and “bye” instead of defaulting to “love you.” That would have been awkward even if I do genuinely appreciate the help.

I feel Bryon’s spirit so close at times. So close that he doesn’t seem dead. At times I feel like if I just reach out and wish harder that I can bring him back and pretend this was just a bad dream. And then reality smacks me on the face.

Or maybe if I try hard enough, I can move myself to the parallel universe where things played out the way they were supposed to. Where he continued to be a successful lawyer and we had 2.5 kids (he wanted 2, I wanted 3), our cat and a dog.

But none of those things will happen.

Instead, I am alone, awake at 3am and writing a blog post that no one is going to read.

Soulmates

Published on November 8, 2017 by kerrymckim3 Comments

The other morning, I was driving to my gym and I was listening to some talk show and the talk show hosts were discussing the concept of soulmates. Particularly, they were discussing if every person had just one soulmate or several soulmates. One of the hosts leaned toward the attitude that we only have one soulmate while the other thought that if everyone only had one soul mate that it would be statistically impossible to meet them.

People were calling in with their opinions. One lady said she was married to her soulmate and she had spent the last 31 years married to him.

This pissed me off. Because if we only have one soulmate that means that mine was dead or I haven’t met him yet and Bryon was not my soulmate.

Frankly, I don’t like either option.

Why should all the married, non-widowed people get determine this? What makes them so special? Aren’t they special enough because they didn’t have to go through what I did?

But I shouldn’t let these people determine what love is for me. While I truly respect- and envy- these people who have been married for decades, they don’t know what it is like to watch the one that you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with die.

They also don’t know what it is like to experience soulmate love that transcends death. Because love doesn’t die.

I was also pissed because I used to believe in this notion that we only had one soulmate. Until the world as I knew it ended and the foundation of everything I believed was shattered.

And no offense to that caller, or to anyone who ascribes to that theory but it is naive.

I was naive.

Bryon was my Husband. He was also my best friend, the love of my life, my other half, my partner in crime, my co-pilot and my one and only.

He is my soulmate.

My Grandma Sullivan lived until she was 90 and my Nana Crowley is still alive at age 95. Both of my grandfathers lived until their 80’s. Grandma Sullivan had an aunt in Ireland who lived to be 98. Nana Crowley had an aunt who lived to be 111. (She was New England’s oldest resident when she passed)

I have the potential to be on this planet for a long time. I also could be hit by a bus tomorrow but I don’t want that to happen. My daughter would have to miss her gymnastics class and I am supposed to be going to a concert.

But seriously, I would love to meet my great-grandchildren.

But if we only get one soulmate then I would be lonely for the next 50 or more years. The thought of that makes me sad.

Also if I were to get married again and my new husband was my soulmate, then what does that make Bryon? That makes me sad too.

And I still too sad to even think about having a second soulmate right now but I know what when I am ready, I still have a lot of love left to give.

When I was younger, I was not good at dating. I was told I was intimidating. I had low self-esteem and could not imaging why I could be perceived as intimidating but now I know that it is because I am smart and I was closed off to people and standoffish. If any guy was interested, they were going to fail because I was not going to give my heart to anyone.

I convinced myself that I didn’t need anyone. Truthfully, I was lonely.

But Bryon saw something. And he was not intimidated. Or he never let on if he was. He saw through my tough facade and broke down my walls.

Bryon is my soulmate.

I will never understand why our time had to be so short. But I know with every fiber of my being that we were meant to be together. I am who I am now because of Bryon. He challenged me. He changed my way of thinking.

He taught me how to live.

He taught me so much that I will carry those lessons until I die. I hope those lessons live on in our daughter.

And when the day comes that I do leave this Earth, Bryon will be right there waiting for me.

And I know when it is time to meet my next soulmate, he will be an amazing man. He won’t be like Bryon. Bryon was one of a kind.

My second soulmate will be his own person.

But I am not the same person I once was so it wouldn’t make sense to look for someone like Bryon.

I am more open to people and I hope I am less stand-offish. But dating a widow or widower is intimidating. Especially when the widows deceased spouse is such a legendary person.

And my second soulmate will have to accept that I would always have love for another man. My second soulmate will have to understand that a widows heart expands.

My second soulmate will be amazing because Bryon would not let me settle for anything less. He would find a way to communicate to me if he thought I was making a poor choice. He would probably have “Last Christmas” by Wham! playing on every radio station, on repeat, because he knows that that is my personal vision of Hell.

Maybe I am the lucky one because I will the potential to experience “one and only” soulmate love twice?

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