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Memoirs from Widow Island, a journey toward healing
widowisland.wordpress.com
5
Christine Thiele is a free lance writer and former professional and volunteer youth minister. She has written for The Journal of Student Ministries, YouthWorker Journal , Grief Digest, OpentoHope.com and is a contributing author in Open to Hope, Inspirational Stories of Healing After Loss. Along with her writing, Christine is raising her two young sons. Since her husband's death in 2005 from pancreas cancer, her writing has been focused on grief and healing issues.
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Looking forward, glancing back

We all say goodbyes. We all have moments when one part of our lives seems to close and another area is new and fresh. Change is inevitable and ongoing. I know this. I know this well. I am also pretty...

24 may 12

Losing faith?

Today I went to a funeral. I don’t go to many funerals anymore. I only go when it matters. As a youth minister, I went to quite a few funerals. I went to support folks. I didn’t always know everyone,...

20 may 12

Milestones and minutes

When my husband died, every moment felt like a lifetime. Each hour dragged. Days were exhausting and seemed to wane on and on until I finally collapsed into my empty bed. Minutes ticked by slowly. It...

17 may 12

Grief observed

Since my husband’s death, I have struggled with my heartbreak, feeling lost, sad, lonely and everything that is wrapped up in the package of grief and loss. I have also struggled through successes, ...

21 apr 12

Deeply, truly happy…

So, I’ve been pondering happiness lately. I’ve been thinking about joy and what makes me joyful…there have been so many moments in my life that I have been deeply, truly happy. I have felt my heart b...

14 apr 12

Mystery

It’s April again. Every year the beautiful spring awakens and April arrives filling my head with thoughts of loss and renewal. April is my month. The month that my life stopped seven years ago cree...

07 apr 12

So tired of being the bad cop…

As a sole parent, I am always the bad cop. Not a day goes by when I don’t have to play the role. Even on a beautiful Sunday after a nice trip to the park, within minutes of being home out comes the ...

01 apr 12

Dance, grieve, dance, grieve

This morning, a friend sent me an email and said she was thinking about me during her morning prayer. She had read a reflection about mourning. It was in a daily meditation by the Henri Nouwen Soci...

29 mar 12

Baby steps

Sometimes in my life, I wake up and find myself in a place, a life really, that I don’t recognize. I look around and what I see is so different than my life was a few years ago. Some days when this ...

18 mar 12

Just this side of overwhelmed

I’m not sure what it is, but as the week draws to a close, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t get a third of the things on my to-do list completed or if it’s the cha...

11 mar 12

‘Til death?

Yesterday was a weird day. I found myself floundering between joyful and sorrowful. The weather was beautiful. The boys and I are on spring break. The boys were doing ok and we were going to a sp...

07 mar 12

More life lessons to learn…

All week, I’ve been thinking that one of the major life lessons I have come to this planet to learn is patience. I don’t think I’m doing a great job of it many days and fear I may have to repeat thi...

25 feb 12

One extra day won’t kill me…

This weekend is a three day weekend. When Dave was alive, I looked so forward to the long weekends. Hanging out, finishing unfinished things, and just relaxing made the weekends complete respites. ...

18 feb 12

Paper thin heart

So, I’ve been thinking again too much…always dangerous. In many ways I would say that I am a lucky, well maybe, even a blessed person. I am healthy. I have two, happy (most days), healthy children...

12 feb 12

The art of spinning plates

As the sole parent of two boys, working mom and the other things I do each day, I have made an art of keeping many plates spinning in the air. Do you remember those tricks? The person gets all these...

06 feb 12

Sorting through the muck

This week, several things have been rolling around in my mind. I’m not sure if they are connected or not, but my gut says that they are. I’ve been thinking about faith lately. My views of what fait...

14 jan 12

Leaping back into the swing of things

A new year, a new chance, and more new beginnings that propel me further from the life I knew into the life I am to live. This week has brought many new changes for me. As the kiddos started back t...

07 jan 12

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,200 times in...

06 jan 12

Sitting in the fog

When I began my journey grieving Dave’s death, people spoke of fog. Commonly thrown around in grief circles, “the fog”, refers to those early days, months, even years that we move through after a lo...

02 jan 12

Absence, Acclimation, Possibility

This holiday season has been a bit different for me. I am feeling ok…even better than ok most days. The sense that I am beginning to thrive again is sinking into my soul. Our seventh Christmas sin...

26 dec 11

Welcoming the morning

Today I woke up feeling…well, dare I say it…happy. I am! I am happy and so grateful for feeling this way. Not to say over the years that I haven’t felt happiness. I have. Today is different though...

17 dec 11

Lonely vs. Alone

I have always been one of those people that doesn’t mind being alone. I don’t mind the quiet moments and enjoy solitude. For the most part I am pretty extroverted so I think some folks might find th...

10 dec 11

Ready, set, go…

On a busy day, I can feel it beginning. I can feel the stress mounting within the walls of my home. We made it through Thanksgiving, but that’s just the beginning. The kids and I brace ourselves f...

03 dec 11

Is gratitude a key?

When my husband died and I began my grief journey of losing him, there were a couple things that I did very intentionally. One of my dear friends was a therapist and I asked her to watch me. I aske...

25 nov 11

Different roads

If there is one true lesson I have learned on my own journey through grief, it is that everyone, absolutely everyone, grieves in their own way. As hard as it may be, our journeys’ are ours alone. M...

19 nov 11

Overflowing…

This weekend, I find myself overflowing with gratitude. The weather finally has a chill in the air, but my heart is warm. Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the 7th annual memorial golf outing ...

07 nov 11

Se*man*tics

Se*man*tics (noun) 1. the study of meaning in language – the study of how meaning in language is created by the use and interrelationships of words, phrases, and sentences. There are words in our lan...

29 oct 11

Watching boys grow into men

I am a mom of two boys. I am mom to two boys who do not have their father around anymore to model what growing into a man involves. I am a mom who, beyond words, loves being a mom of boys. When my ...

21 oct 11

Hope or lunacy…

Everyday, I get up and I feel ok. I’ve become used to the empty spot next to me in the bed. I’ve become accustomed to making the coffee myself. I’m even ok with that early morning silence. It’s e...

10 oct 11

October begins again.

Today October begins again and I can feel my descent into the memories. It started about a week ago when the weather began to change a bit. The cooler breezes starting blowing, the sky is a more br...

01 oct 11

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