Category: Moving Forward

Moving Forward8 Comments

How to Make New Friends as an Adult

runawaywidow

It’s been a busy retirement week for me in my efforts to get involved and make new friends here in Florida. Pete and I celebrated our birthday with a barbeque at our house with new friends Sunday. We golfed on morning, went out to see a band with neighbors Wednesday night and then out to dinner with family last night. I played cards, Bunco and Mahjong with new friends. I sat through a volunteer meeting on how to read books to kids in a local elementary school and walked dogs at the local animal shelter. I wrote a blog post and even worked at the beach with the horses one afternoon.

I’m reminded of a Brady Bunch episode where Marcia is a freshman in High School. Her friends all went to different schools so she needs to make new friends and humorously signs up for all the clubs offered at her new school. She signs up for Karate, yoga, ceramics and even the Boosters who are a bunch of snobby girls who adhere to strict social rules.

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Moving Forward4 Comments
house lights turned on

Visiting back home, after you move

runawaywidow

When I moved to Florida, I bargained with myself that I would spend some time every summer “back home.” For me, that is Long Island, New York. I knew Florida would be hot and I felt I would miss my friends and family and all the fun we had.

I didn’t really miss New York yet, but Christmas had been a bit different. Palm trees wrapped in white lights, golf cart parades and time in the pool didn’t remind me of the holidays of the past. So, feeling nostalgic on New Years Day, I booked our Airbnbs for the month of June.

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Grief books, Moving Forward, Widow10 Comments
Sticky post

Read CHAPTER 1 for FREE here:

runawaywidow

Chapter 1

The night my husband died

            “How do you use the panoramic feature on this new phone?” my friend Meg asks me as we admire the setting sun.

            “Oh, I just took one last week. Let me show you,” I offer as I kick off my blue Sperry flip flops and walk over to the sand. Meg is my attractive next-door neighbor, a single mom who looks stylish in ripped jeans or librarian type glasses.

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Moving Forward23 Comments
woman smiling while holding a box

When is it Right for a Widow to Move?

runawaywidow

This question has been burning in my mind since August of 2015 when Mike died. Do I stay in our home, or do I move? The answer is different for all widows and much needs to be considered. Here is what I know.

While widows and widowers all have one thing in common, everyone has a different story and a different situation. The one bit of advice that I found helpful after the sudden tragic loss of my husband was to wait a year before making any major life changes.

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teacher bag

Should a widow change her name?

runawaywidow

Growing up in the 1960s, I hated my name. I was the only girl in my school, at that time, named Kristin. My teachers were confused. They insisted on calling me Christine. Some people called me Christian. They spelled it wrong either starting with a C or ending with “en”. Even my last place of employment, where I worked for 21 years, made the consistent error of spelling my name with an “en” despite my many efforts of correction.

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Moving Forward2 Comments

9 Happy Surprises in Moving to Florida!

runawaywidow

One month, and it’s beginning to feel like home. We definitely kept too much stuff from both our homes in New York and still need to purge, but I have faith it will happen. We unpacked most of the 106 cardboard boxes, and found interested parties on the internet to take the empty boxes, thus keeping them from landfills. Signing up for the Next Door app has been helpful. People recommend nail salons, pet sitters, appliance repair services and post photos of random creatures like bugs and bobcats.

We knew it would be hot in Florida in August, but I have some positive revelations from our first month here as well:

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Moving Forward5 Comments
photo of woman meditating

The Unexpected Joy of Doing Nothing

runawaywidow

It’s Saturday morning and I’ve spent the week skiing in the snow covered Rockies with 3 “kids” in their 20s. I’m rockin it.

I get up and make us eggs and coffee. We catch the shuttle and spend hours riding lifts and making S turns down the blue runs. The sun comes out for 20 minutes and then snow flurries begin. We stop for lunch. Then back to it.

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