Articles & essays especially for widowed parents. Personal essays, book reviews, author interviews, and the always-popular Ask an Expert column where you can get all your questions about widowed parenting answered.
Editorial Team
Jenny Lisk, Editor-in-Chief • Jocelyn Carbonara, Lead Editor • Peya Robbins, Editorial Assistant
Coming Soon!
The Book I Desperately Wanted to Find When I Became a Widowed Parent
When my husband Dennis died, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know about being a widowed parent, one of my first stops in the hunt for information was Amazon.
I mean, who hasn’t headed over there to type in a few words about whatever problem they need to solve or whichever information they need to learn, in hopes that just the right book will appear?
Eight years ago, I couldn’t find that book.
But now there’s a terrific book that covers exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for back then. I was thrilled when someone at Penguin Random House reached out to see if I would like to speak with Drs. Elena Lister and Michael Schwartzman about their book Giving Hope: Conversations with Children About Illness, Death, and Loss.
‘You Are Not Alone,’ Part 1: Attend Camp Widow
Everyone’s concerned about loneliness these days.
The US Surgeon General is talking about it.
My friend Allison Gilbert is writing a book with Dr. Ruth about it.
It seems that, as a society, we are collectively feeling more alone than ever.
Widowed parents won’t be surprised to hear this. I frequently hear from listeners of the Widowed Parent Podcast that they don’t know anyone else in their neighborhood, school community, or personal circle who is widowed and is now raising their kids or teens alone.
If this sounds like you, you should know: There are a lot of us. It’s why I pulled the voices of 48 widowed moms and dads into my latest book, “Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another.” I wanted you to hear directly from fellow widowed parents, and to know that you aren’t alone.
But: It’s one thing to begin feeling a little less alone, and another thing entirely to move toward actually being a little less alone.
For that, I’ve got some tips – beginning today with this: Attend Camp Widow.
Laurel Braitman’s “What Looks Like Bravery”: An Intimate Portrait of the Impact of Early Parent Loss Over the Decades
I can’t think of a better way to kick off Children’s Grief Awareness Month than to share my recent discussion with Laurel Braitman, author of the new memoir “What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love.” Laurel’s dad died when she was 17 after being diagnosed with an aggressive metastatic cancer when she was very young.
Longtime listeners of the Widowed Parent Podcast will recall that I’ve often mentioned what a privilege it is to speak with grown-up grieving kids and to hear firsthand their experiences and reflections after losing a parent at a young age. Discussions with Hope Edelman, Claire Bidwell Smith, Jon Lefrandt, and so many others come to mind.
What Laurel gives us in her memoir is an incredibly intimate portrait of her life. She lets us inside, and she allows us to see how grief has affected one now-grown-up grieving child over the decades.
Laurel’s book and my discussion with her are full of beautiful insights – and I really can’t say enough good things about her book. I don’t usually cry when reading books, but wow, I had a little trouble seeing the words on the last few pages through the tears that were welling up.
Following are a few highlights from my interview with Laurel Braitman, lightly edited and condensed for clarity and space. You can listen to the full discussion on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Widowed and Parenting? You Are Not Alone
Adapted from “Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another,” by Jenny Lisk, published October 24, 2023, by Bluhen Books. Excerpt reprinted with permission from Bluhen Books. All rights reserved.
If you’d spotted us — four women in our 40s, laughing, chatting, and drinking wine — you’d be forgiven for assuming we were merely busy parents, stressed-out professionals, or middle-aged girlfriends enjoying a quick getaway from the demands of everyday life.
We were, in fact, all of those things.
We were also widows.