Year One of Grief

It's the holiday season again. Stores are crowded with shoppers, decorations are seen in all directions, holiday movies are on every streaming service with some radio stations now playing holiday music 24/7 through Christmas and New Years. Indeed, many call it the most wonderful time of the year. But for folks like me, widows, widowers and others who have experienced some type of loss, the holiday...

How many times have you heard people say they heard from God? I myself have even thought certain things that happened in my life were signs from God. However, I'm starting to get a little frustrated in trying to interpret signs and scriptures and would much prefer God simply speak out in a way we actually hear. With that in mind, I decided to send God a video letter and I invite you check out what...

It's been three years since I lost my beautiful bride of 30+ years. There are plenty of days I am tempted to throw a pity party. However, today was not going to be one of those days. I hiked to the top of a mountain outside Phoenix, Arizona and it was there I overheard some women talking that made me a bit sad at first and then I realized no...I should be counting my blessings for he life I had. I...

Being a widow or widower can totally suck at times. For me, I first met my sweet wife Pam in high school. We then dated and married after our first year in college. When I lost her far before we were even thinking about retirement it became clear if God kept me on this earth to the minimum life expectancy, I was going to be alone for many, many years. Of course some widows and widowers find love a...

It was one of those days when this widower needed to take some of my own advice. Yes, I share a lot about my grief journey and being widowed. I'm certainly no expert but simply share how I get thru my days. Well, today was one of those days that simply got off to a bad start. I woke up feeling sad, I started work feeling sad, I went to lunch and still felt sad. The it dawned on me...remember how y...

Down time can mean many things to differenct people. For some, down time is a time of relaxation and recovery. For others, down time can mean sadness. However, it's also possible to experience both.

I often hear people talk about receiving signs from heaven where they believe their loved ones are trying to communicate with them. For me, I've looked for signs since losing my sweet Pam almost three years. However, today I received an amazing sign that cannot be explained and I truly believe it was her contacting me!

It's approaching 3 years since my sweet Pam went to heaven. I recently had a listener ask if I still think about her because he recently lost his wife and he can't stop thinking about her. The short is answer is....yes! Yes, I think of her every day of my life and I'm thankful I do. I believe he listener felt something might be wrong with him for always thinking about this wife but the reality is...

Ever since I lost my beautiful wife Pam I've been a bit like a boat at sea that's lost it's rudder. It's been hard finding my direction in life. I waited 15 months after losing Pam in Oregon before making a move to Nashville where I stayed for almost 2 years. However I still had a sense there was something else out there for me. So, in my latest adventure I've made the move from Nashville to Phoen...

No matter what your loss you've probablyl asked more than a couple of times Why Me? You may have also said Why Now? And finally, depending on your relationship, Why Us? That's focus of this podcast with an answer that may suprise you.

#widow #grief #weekend  Podcast on how I spend my weekends as a widower. Anyone who has lost a husband or wife knows that weekends can be a huge challenge. However, over time we can find ways to find some joy on weekends. Will it be the same as before? Absolutely not. However, there are things we can do and I like to call it Life after Loss.

This is a longer form program uploaded from our YouTube channel Traveling with Jack and Pam when I did a live broadcast about what's like to be widowed. I discuss how everything changed the moment I lost my sweet Pam to heaven. I talk about a number of items from dining alone to taking vacations alone to even sharing with you some advantages of being alone. No, not at all what I would like...be al...

In this age of working and in some cases learning remotely we are becoming more disconnected as a society. While we may be more wired we are losing the ability to interact with people in person. Mental Health Studies are now showing we need now, more than ever, in person contact with others. If you are someone that's lost someone close to you like a husband, wife or child and it's just you now liv...

We live in a society that has an incredibly short attention span. Between scrolling thru social media feeds, work, family and other things we go thru life often not paying attention to what's happening right in front of our eyes. I recently was hiking and had an amazing encounter with someone simply because I asked the simple question..."How are you...really?"

As I continue my grief journey/recovery I discoverd something wonderful recently. I finally found my happy place. Not that it was that hard to find since it was a place Pam and I dearly loved living for several years. I'm betting you too have a happy place but may have been apprehensive about returning. I get it, but I'm so happy (no pun intended) to have made the decision for a return visit.

Birthdays used to be a lot of fun when my sweet Pam was still here on this earth. In fact both of us never just focused on one day but we called our birthday month the celebration of Pam which was May and the celebration of Jack which was June. This is my 3rd birthday without her and I really don't care much about the day anymore. For 2022 I spent my birthday on the road for work, alone in a hotel...

Guess what? The title of this episode on grief and loss is an incredibly stupid title because I'll go ahead with a spoiler alert. There is no magic number of how long we grieve. However, I can share with you some thoughts others have given on the grief timeline as well as hear a couple of stories my 95 year old adopted grandmother Lola told me regarding her almost 30 years of living as a widow.

Yes, another episode where I make reference the Netflix hit series "After Life" with Ricky Gervais. Again, if you have not watched this show it needs to be on your list. Only 3 short seasons but incredibly powerful seasons. Now...on to the podcast; Many people, especially men find it difficult to cry. For some, it was handed down thru the generations that men simply don't cry. At the same time the...

One thing that seems to keep me going is the fact I know I am not alone on this grief journey. In fact every day I meet someone that's experienced some type of loss and seem to always learn something new about navigating life without my beautiful Pam. In this episode I share with you a couple of stories from the road. One involves seeing loss thru the eyes of a 91 year old man and the other is los...

Whether you are new to this grief journey or you've been on it for some time now we can all agree that not having that special someone with us anymore causes weekends to be a challenge. At work on a Friday everyone announces their plans for the weekend and many times you simply don't have any and have no idea what to do with yourself. However, please don't give in to the pull of simply staying in...

If you've lost someone special in your life you may find yourself dreading some dates like birthdays, anniversaries and other special dates like Mother's and Father's Day. For me, in 2022 I had a double whammie so to speak as Pam's birthday fell on Mother's Day. However, I now do some things that help me actually look forward to those special dates. That along with an opening story about a popular...

In the world of social media there are many things to not like. However, it seems for all the bad, there is equally a lot of good found with the various social media tools we use to communicate with. In the case of grief, many...yours truly included find some comfort sharing personal grief over social media in search of support and hearing stories of others going thru similar situations. In this p...

People who survive a trauma that resulted in the loss of a close friend or loved one can lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or more commonly known as PTSD. In this episode I share with you some thoughts on how I may have been dealing with my case of PTSD. I'll also share a story with you about how a former NFL player described how loss can be compared to a football injury. It may s...

There's a new documentary film that's been released and if you ever had any doubts about heaven, I think it will give you comfort. At the same time we are also talking about dreams and what the experts say about our dreams.

Traveling alone is something I do with mixed feelings. I enjoy being out on the open road and seeing new places but of course miss having my sweet Pam with me for these trips. Nonetheless I continue to get out there because it beats sitting home alone. On a recent trip I was debating on whether or not I would go out for dinner or maybe just have something in the room. In the end I went to a very n...