Common Threads: Nine Widows' Journeys Through Love, Loss, and Healing - Softcover

Kaimann, Diane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415784468 ISBN 13: 9780415784467

Publisher: Routledge, 2017

Synopsis

The middle-aged women described within the chapters of "Common Threads" are ordinary yet extraordinary. They have faced one of life's greatest challenges, working day-in and day-out to design new lives for themselves. As readers witness the resilience of the human spirit, they come to a new perspective on their own experiences, recognizing the good still in their lives. "Common Threads" is a tender and warm embrace, a story of faith and love, of insight, determination, independence and strength. These women's large and small victories are metaphors for hope and continuity.

About this title

From the Publisher

Intended Audience: Grief counselors, social workers, hospices, hospitals and clinics, senior citizen groups, grief support groups, psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, professionals and academics in the field of death and bereavement, insurance agents, and attorneys whose clients are new widows.

From the Author

My husband Richard Allen Kaimann died on January 24,1999. Four months later, although I was beginning to function again, I was still deeply grieving and trying to adjust to the 'new &normal' of my life. Aware of time as never before, I knew that a long, empty summer lay before me. What would I do to fill the empty hours, to help the time pass? How do women cope, working their way out of despair? How do our physical bodies respond to grief? How much can we turn to children, family, and friends? How do we face holidays, weddings, and weekends? How do we take over all the responsibilities? Is a support group of value? When do we need professional help? Where do we find spiritual renewal? Each woman’s story of loss and recovery in COMMON THREADS has helped me in this difficult process of healing. I have often heard, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears."

My friends have been my guides and mentors. I am grateful for their stories and their wisdom......As I spoke with the women, I came to believe that we are all imbued with the essence of our loved ones. They inspire us, they encourage us, and at times they may even talk to us or guide us. When we allow for this possibility, our own serenity comes more easily. We who have endured the death of a spouse, who smile and seek purpose and contentment every day, are the women who have embraced these last emotional and spiritual gifts from our husbands, as we go about building our new lives. At the beginning we struggled mightily to find some moments of happiness within our overwhelming sadness; over time, we allowed ourselves to experience the inevitable moments of sadness as we moved through our healing.

Somewhere along the way, we all strained very hard and heard a still, small voice, echoing the voices of our husbands as they offered us their final gifts, permission and encouragement to live the most fulfilling lives that we could. We knew we must not let them down.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0415784468
• ISBN 13: 9780415784467
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 180