Notes from Planet Widow: Finding My Way After Loss

"A loving, gracious invitation to a land that is ever so difficult to traverse."

- Geneen Roth, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Women Food and God

Gwen's life was rolling along largely in the way her husband and she expected it would. Ups and downs here and there, for sure, but basically on a mostly predictable trajectory. But on an August day she will never forget, normalcy vaporized with the sudden death of her beloved husband. Boom! Without warning, she landed on Planet Widow, an utterly barren landscape with no roads, no buildings, no people, no trees, no anything in sight-only total desolation with mind-bending disorientation and soul-piercing heartache as her sole companions.

Gwen had no vision of what life could look like in such a place. Slowly, however-oh, so agonizingly slowly-a landscape began to take shape. Signposts came into focus to reveal a path forward. Insights built on each other to form a trail of breadcrumbs that she used to hold herself together as she learned a new way of being.

Notes from Planet Widow is a story of rebirth, describing the trail of insights that knit themselves together to restore one's sense of wholeness within an altered context. While one can't totally eradicate grief, we can learn profound lessons from it. Finding the courage to be open to it as a fierce teacher, Gwen slowly lived her way into a new realization of self that includes grief, transforming disorientation into grounding and a measure of peace."This book is deep, curious, and full of wonder. . .It is a gifted piece of writing. . . sometimes difficult yet elevating to read. Wise and wonderful."

- Leigh Steiner, Ph.D., Former Illinois Commissioner of Mental Health

"This insightful work narrates Gwen's journey of grief and grace in widowhood. Quoting myriad writers, sages, philosophers, poets, and more, it blazes with personal and universal understandings . . . As a stand-alone, the Resources section at the end is an invaluable tool to help readers pursue their own journeys of self-compassion and acceptance."

- Sara J. Glerum, Beatstalkingtomyself.com