Читать книгу Lifting the Veil of Sorrow, A Self-Help Book with Practical Ideas for Widowers - Connie MD Auran - Страница 3

It was my senior year in college, and I was offered a dietetic internship in Houston after graduation. I was ready to embark on a the next stage of my orderly life, excited and on cloud nine.

But things were about to change when I was introduced to Walt. He was a hero to his fraternity brothers having lost his leg in the Korean War conflict. We fell in love the evening we met, and after ten days of a whirlwind romance, he proposed in the most unusual way. We stopped at the Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. Without speaking, he rolled down his window and fired it out, saying, "We have to talk! I think you should skip that internship and marry me instead." It took less than two minutes for me to reply, "Yes," and then I threw my cone out the window for a passionate embrace. That was the beginning of a wonderful forty-two year marriage.

It has been sixteen years since my husband died. Walt died of COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This disease is greatly exacerbated by smoking, and Walt had smoked from the time he was fourteen. From the time of Walt's passing sixteen years ago, the years have been filled with ups and downs, peaks and valleys, moments of laughter, and moments of overwhelming sadness. I have survived because of the love of my family, the support of friends, my own desire to live, and curiosity about what else life still has in store for me.

I needed a lot of help when I lost my husband, and I am sure you could use some at this moment to get you through this very painful, and maybe unexpected, ordeal.

I am writing this book because over the course of the past sixteen years many of my friends have been widowed, and more than one million women and men will lose their spouses each year. I want to help you through those critical weeks and months. Unfortunately, it is a time when you will have to make crucial and tough decisions, comfort family and friends, and find time for your own personal mourning. The stress of all these factors is tough, but the process can be eased with some outside assistance and awareness of what needs to be done. I would like to share with you what I experienced, and provide some practical steps for your survival and future happiness.