What a Difference a Decade Makes!

It’s been ten years since I lost my husband, Mel, to a sudden heart attack. Sometimes, it feels like a lifetime ago and sometimes, it seems it just happened yesterday. I still love and miss him as much as ever.

For those of you who are on this same journey, I can assure you that while you will continue to miss your loved one, the pain is less sharp. You’ll cry a little less and smile a little more when you think of them. There will still be those moments of sadness, those reminders of what you’ve lost and the realization that you must face things alone.

When those moments do come around, try and remember what you’ve accomplished so far; take stock of your life, see how far you’ve come on this journey, see how you’ve grown as an individual.

For myself, I’ve come to actually appreciate the single life; it works for me. I’ve gone from total dependence on another person to self-reliance. I’ve learned that you don’t realize how strong you are until you have no choice. I’ve learned to make decisions without consulting another person.

My aim in the last ten years was to make Mel proud of me, of what I’ve accomplished and at the risk of sounding immodest, I think I’ve done it. I’ve taken my pain and put it in a book, in the hope of helping others on this journey. You can find Widowhood Is Not Funny everywhere you buy ebooks.

I’ve also used my writing skills in many different places, such as articles, blog posts and business writing. And I have another couple of books almost ready for publication, which I’m very excited about.

As much as we might miss our lost loved ones, it’s important to create a purpose-driven life we can be proud of and which do them proud as well.

 Remember—It’s not the end, it’s a new beginning!

As always, I invite you to post here on my blog and let me know how you’re doing and where your new life has taken you.

Free Book!

Keeping a journal is an essential part of making it through your grief. Writing down your thoughts & feelings can help you heal & face your new future as a widow. To that end, I have a new book available!

For those who purchase a copy of Widowhood Is Not Funny, I have a free journal to go along with it. It’s called A Widow’s Walk & each chapter contains an article intended to help you make it through your grief & help you heal, plus blank pages for you to record your own thoughts & feelings about this journey we’re on together.

When you purchase a copy of Widowhood Is Not Funny, send me an email to:

widow_to_widow@yahoo.com

Show proof of purchase & I will email you a PDF copy of A Widow’s Walk, completely free of charge.

I hope you will purchase a copy of my book & send for the free journal. Keeping a journal helped me get through this grief & on into my own journey & I know it will help you too.

Thank You!

Alanna Parke Kvale

Last Two Stops on the Current Virtual Book Tour

Hope you'll check out the last two stops on my current virtual book tour:

http://abookinside.blogspot.com/2011/09/time-to-get-linkedin.html

http://boomerlifestyle.com/blog/blogger-alanna-parke-kvale-freelance-writer-and-trailblazer-wrote-the-book-on-boomer-widowhood/

I'm being showcased today on a fellow author's blog. Hope you'll check it out.

http://www.marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/2011/08/widowhood-is-not-funny-by-alanna-kvale.html

Please Forgive Me

Please forgive me for not posting in so long. So much to tell, where to begin? First of all, I've learned the hard way that making a living sure gets in the way of making a life. And you can quote me on that one. It feels like all I've done is look for work. That's the bad news. The good news is that I've spent the last year working on my book, Widowhood Is Not Funny, and it's finished at last! Right now, I'm writing a book proposal and looking for a good agent to represent me. I have some leads and as soon as I find that person, I can turn things over to him/her and get on with the business of finding more work and writing my next book. I'm thinking of writing a novel about a widow, who learns to move on with her life, finds her new purpose, maybe even finds love again. The job I'd really love to have right now is writing a column about being a widow, maybe for a magazine.

In the meantime, I'm still here, though silent, and invite any and all widows out there to post, talk to me. And like Frasier use to say on his radio show, I'm listening."