Recommended Reading: Widows - Our Words and Ways

Barbara Kretchmar became a widow on March 6, 1990 when her husband Ed passed away from cancer, leaving her with two young sons to raise alone. At the time, she found support in friends and counsellors, but she longed to connect with other widows who could relate to her grief. But none existed at the time.

Now retired with two grown sons, she has finally fulfilled a dream of putting together a resource for widows like her who are seeking understanding in a world where grief is often pushed aside.

Widows - Our Words and Ways shares the stories of a diverse group of women of all ages, backgrounds, and circumstances. The stories Barbara wishes she could have heard back in 1990. The stories that can still provide valuable insights, wisdom, and inspiration for grieving widows today.

Stories like that of Susan Gross who shares, "You have to cry, scream, punch pillows – you have to let it out or you will crash. You can't program every single day so you don't have a moment to think. I needed to lie in bed a long time before I found my spark, but I did find it."

Or Sandy M. who shares, “I thought grief was something I could work through, like a college class… Now I realize grief is a long, winding process and we have minimal control over how quickly we process and heal.”

While most “widow” or “grief” books have been written by trained professionals or high profile public figures, Widows - Our Words and Ways is unique in that it consists of twenty-five first person narratives of a diverse group of widows relating their personal experiences in facing the death of their spouse, how they coped with their grief and loss of the life they knew, and how they each established a new life.

Judith Sills, Ph.D., psychologist and Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Excess Baggage, calls Widows - Our Words and Ways “an inspiring book on a heart-wrenching subject: Twenty-five widows speak for themselves, offering surprising comfort and unique survival strategies that only those who have been there could be wise enough to conceive.”

Widows - Our Words and Ways isn’t an instruction manual or self-help guide. Instead it hopes to give widows stories they can relate to and wisdom they can use in overcoming their own personal challenges as they move forward with their new reality.  

Widows - Our Words and Ways can be purchased online through Amazon or Barbara Kretchmar’s personal website.

If you have lost a loved one, grief support groups can help. Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care provides complementary grief recovery groups in all the communities we serve. Please call 1-888-564-3405 to speak with a bereavement coordinator about joining a group near you. 

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