#travel
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The Longing for Travel: Planning Future Adventures
The Longing for Travel After I started working full-time last year, I could no longer travel as freely as I used to. I enjoyed being spontaneous and flexible with my trips, but with my scarce vacation days, I had to postpone my travel plans. This had me longing for travel, but it also inspired me… Continue reading
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Connecting With Another Widow: Finding Comfort in Shared Grief
Not like the Others I had a moment today. Something insanely karmic happened. I knew it when I was experiencing the moment that it was something uniquely special and there was a lesson here for me. Here in this moment. In this person I had just met and was talking with. I’ve had these random,… Continue reading
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Widow Brain: Coping With Brain Fog After Loss
Widow Brain and The Fog Are Real I often go back through photos to remind myself what I was doing a year or two years ago. Widow brain and brain fog are a real thing. Settling down to one place for a while has me reminiscing more than I ever have since Eric left. Managing… Continue reading
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Honoring My Late Husband in a Place He Loved
Leaving More of Myself I’ve been staring at a blank screen for a couple of hours now. I’m not sure why I’m having such a hard time starting this article. My late husband’s ashes rest in many places I’ve visited in the two and half years since he left. I expected the ceremonial process and… Continue reading
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All The Matters
What Really Matters Oh Hi!! WOW! The last few months have been CRAZY!! I try to keep up with everyone on social media. All of it matters. But let’s be honest, most of what is posted mixed with what is filtered is irrelevant. I am still in the process of reengaging. By reacting to a… Continue reading
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Meet Me In St. Louis
A Stop In St. Louis I’ve driven through St. Louis multiple times. I have even seen the arch up close and personal in my early twenties. So when someone very special to me asked “Meet me in St. Louis?” I couldn’t say no. I was able to stop overnight on my way out west. While… Continue reading
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My First Wedding as a Widow: Facing Grief and Memories
Before I Was a Widow I attended a wedding in Georgia this past weekend. I know this doesn’t sound significant, but it is. So let me explain. I personally have only been in two weddings my entire life. My late husband, however, was asked to be in LOTS of weddings. Or at least we were… Continue reading
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The Little Island. Remembering Sanibel
How I Discovered the Little Island My first job in high school was with the Louisville Auto Club in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. There I learned my way around maps. My job was to provide directions to members taking trips. One of the most requested destinations was Sanibel Island in SW Florida. Since then, this little… Continue reading
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The Midwest Beach, Indiana Dunes
Loving the Beach Hi all. I appreciate every single one of you following my journey. Now I want to share a place that’s quickly becoming a favorite getaway for me. I’ve had the good fortune on multiple occasions now, to visit the Indiana Dunes. This area in North West Indiana boasts a State Park and… Continue reading
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Rebuilding Yourself After Loss: 10 Ways I Found Self-Love Again
What Self-Love Looked Like After Loss “Self love” is not to be taken as vanity. When I say self love, I mean learning to like myself. This means accepting me, my body, the imperfections, the mental states I fluctuate through, the flaws, all of it. In a previous article, I talked a little bit about… Continue reading
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Living With Less. The Stuff That Matters
Starting With Less I bought my first home when I was 26 years old. I felt like I was on top of the world. It was a two-bedroom condominium in Old Louisville. Two stories with a total of five rooms. Nothing extravagant, but it was mine, and it was nice. I started out living with… Continue reading
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Past and Future Collide: Returning to the Place I Lost My Life
Past and future As some of you know, and many of you don’t, I am a HUGE fan of electronic music of all genres. I discovered an upcoming show by a DJ I like and have seen before. He was coming to my old hometown of Bloomington, Illinois. So I bought tickets. The show was… Continue reading
About The Blue Widow Chronicles and Me
The Blue Widow Chronicles began after my husband, Eric, died suddenly in 2020. I became a widow overnight, and the writing became the place I went to make sense of a life that no longer made sense.
What began as writing through grief has grown with me.
Over the years, I’ve written my way through widowhood, PTSD and trauma, solo travel, love after loss, losing Greg to suicide, starting over, complicated relationships, and the ongoing work of figuring out who I am when the life I once knew no longer exists.
This isn’t a blog about having grief figured out. I write from wherever I actually am—sometimes healing, sometimes questioning, sometimes rebuilding, and sometimes admitting I have no idea what comes next.
Odin and Freija frequently find their way into these pages too, along with the people, places, memories, and ordinary moments that remind me life continues even when it looks nothing like the one I expected.
What You’ll Find Here
The Chronicles are personal essays about grief, trauma, identity, love, relationships, travel, rebuilding, and life after loss. Some were written from inside the experience. Others look back years later with a perspective I couldn’t have had when everything was happening.
There are more than five years of stories here. You don’t need to read them in order. Start wherever something speaks to you.
Beyond the Pages
Some stories can be told publicly. Others need a smaller room.
Beyond the Pages is the more intimate side of The Blue Widow Chronicles on Patreon—a growing private library of previously unpublished journal entries, deeper reflections on the Chronicles, member-only writing, and guided writing resources.
Membership is $5/month and includes access to the complete growing library.
Come further in —Beyond the Pages