A Message from Jenny Lisk, Founder of the Widowed Parent Institute
Lisk Family, 2015. Photo by Rebecca Ort Photography
I never expected to be a widowed parent.
I bet you didn’t either.
Do you ever wish you had a handbook showing you what to expect in this thing called ‘only parenting’ or ‘solo parenting’?
Access to experts, people who have great ideas, people who can tell you what you need to know, and what to look out for?
Well, so did I.
It all started for me when my husband, Dennis, said one evening that he’d been feeling a bit dizzy. No big deal, right? Call the doctor, get to the bottom of it — right!?
Not quite. A simple trip to internal medicine and an MRI turned into brain surgery two days later, followed by a diagnosis of brain cancer (glioblastoma — same type as John McCain, Beau Biden, & Ted Kennedy). And then eight months of cancer and caregiving — and then he was gone.
And I was left to pick up the pieces of what should have been our life. Now it was me, my 9-year-old, and my 11-year-old.
Sound familiar?
I founded the Widowed Parent Institute to provide the information that I wanted so desperately to find when I first became a widowed parent at the age of 43. I wanted to know what to expect. Kind of like the book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” But more like “what to expect when the other parent dies.”
Don’t you wish that existed?
Well, I decided to go looking for the answers. And invite you along on the journey.
I was left to pick up the pieces of what should have been our life. Now it was me, my nine-year-old, and my eleven-year-old.
It all started with the podcast. It’s been my privilege to host “The Widowed Parent Podcast” for the last five years and create a show that guides the journey of solo parenting after loss.
In time, the work has grown into the Widowed Parent Institute, with a mission of bringing clear, practical information, resources, and support to moms and dads who are raising grieving kids and teens.
I read a lot. Talk to people who have been down this path. People who write books and people who practice in the field. I interview them for the podcast — and bring you the best advice and information I can find. And you can listen in right from your phone as you go about your day.
As you listen to “The Widowed Parent Podcast” and follow me on social media, you’ll also learn that:
I went to a women’s surfing camp in Mexico for my 45th birthday. A year after my husband died. And I got up on the first wave and surfed all the way into the beach. (Hmm — maybe I should conveniently fail to mention that it was all downhill from there?!) It was an amazing experience. I still wear the surfer necklace I bought on the beach. In fact, I almost never take it off.
I learned to play guitar around 10 years ago — after maybe three decades of wanting to learn “someday.” I finally decided that someday may as well be now.
I absolutely hate yard work. And that was supposed to be Dennis’ thing.
I was born and raised in the Seattle area. I’ve also lived in Oregon, New York, and Washington DC. Been back in Seattle for over a decade now.
I met Dennis because I’d started a little business making websites. I made one for his office — way back in 1996. The early days of the internet. Like actually typing HTML on a screen and hoping it worked. And then fixing typos until it did.
On my “Hundred Dreams” list is riding a camel. And milking a cow. And raising $44,000 for brain cancer research — in memory of Dennis’ 44 years.
Welcome to the Widowed Parent Institute. I’m so sorry you need what we offer.
And I’m so glad you’ve found us.
