I sat around a table full of women in February and on my way home I recalled a time when I sat in my home office in the week after Mike had passed; all of the family and friends had gone home it was just me and the kids. I recalled the feeling of intense loneliness; I felt as if I was the only 33 year old widow in the world and I was so alone. The tears almost overwhelm me now thinking about those feelings and how alone I felt during that time. I was not alone really, I had tons of friends, family and people who were circling around to help and support us; though none of them could really understand what young widowhood looked like. I am grateful for a friend who reached out to a widow they knew who then had that widow reach out to me – we live hundreds of miles away from each other but she was the beginning of the expansion of my tribe.

Over that first year my tribe began to slowly grow by connecting with other widows on-line which now seems obvious though in 2011 it wasn’t the 1st place to look for support. In my searching for other widows I found Modern Widows Club and Carolyn Moor. She is my friend and mentor and has helped me personally reach some of my goals which included starting my own MWC Chapter in Waconia; I am watching my tribe grow and grow each month.  This is the tribe of women that sit around my dining room table each month; we connect, grow, love and support each other. They remind me that I need them as much now as I did all those years ago sitting in my home office. Yesterday as I sat around that table with those beautiful women it reminded me why I keep reaching out to widows within our community and reaching out to organizations that can help support widows.

My tribe now consists of widows and non-widows who support and love widows; my life is fuller because of each of them. Expanding and growing your tribe is one of the first steps in leaning into life in widowhood.

Blessings,

Lyn