Grieving is Individual

Finding Strength in the Transition from Wife to Widow

Losing a loved one to a terminal illness forces you to change in order to adjust to this new version of life. In this episode, Jenny Lisk walks us through the beginning stages of her husband's diagnosis, his death, and life as a widow. She discusses how her life changed with little warning signs, and how she was experiencing so much uncertainty and fear. Jenny was able to use her experience to help widows rather than let the grief consume her life.

Jenny Lisk is an author, speaker, and host of the Widowed Parent Podcast, which has been featured in The Washington Post and ParentMap. On her Hundred Dreams list is riding a camel, milking a cow, and raising $44,000 for brain cancer research, in honor of her husband’s 44 years. The author of "Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice," Jenny lives in Redmond, Washington, with her two teenagers. She is passionate about helping widowed parents increase their family’s well-being.

“If I live half heartedly for the next bunch of decades that seems doubly tragic to me. It’s already tragic that he died and the kids lost one parent. I’m not going to compound the tragedy by having my life now just be destroyed as well as his life.” Jenny Lisk

What You’ll Learn from This Episode:

  • How Jenny had to adjust to being a single parent even before her husband passed
  • How having great people around her family helped during this painful time
  • What anticipatory grief is and the impact it had on her
  • The different ways people can experience grief, and the connection it has to gender
  • How support groups for grieving men and women can differ 
  • What Jenny was able to learn and love about herself after everything she went through
  • The choice she had to make once she accepted that her husband is gone.

Free Offer: Tips for widowed parents - Get free access here

Tips for supporting grieving friends - Get free access here

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