I had the big 5-0 birthday last year and I am managing all the “aging things” like struggling to stop the turkey guzzle from forming on my neck. I am proud of my long career in early childhood policy and collaboration. I am a new widow by way of suicide, I am the Mom to 3 grieving young adults that I refer to as “kidults.” I have journeyed through the mental health and recovery spaces as a parent and a wife. I already sailed through “the sandwich generation” caring for aging parents and I lost them both just four months apart during the pandemic. Finding yourself in other people’s stories can be a powerful anecdote for the isolation we sometimes feel in our own pain. I like to share my experiences with widowhood and the rebuilding of a shattered life as a healing exercise in self discovery and growth. Combined with the bittersweet universal language of love and humor, I hope to be a helper to you and help myself along the way.