I’ve been a widower since April 12, 2018. That’s the date my wife died. We had been married since 1974. That’s a long time.
Sometimes I feel like she died yesterday. The memories are still very fresh. Just this week, I attended the funeral of a friend’s wife in the very chapel where my sweetheart’s memorial service was held.
I was caught off guard by the flood of emotion that swept over me. It is as if I could see myself along with my children sitting in the pew where my friend and his family sat. It seemed unreal.
At other times it is as if my late wife has been gone forever. When I add the length of time since her death with the number of years she battled cancer, I can barely remember when we had a normal life.
The old normal was nearly a decade ago. I hate the term “new normal.” I dislike the phrase because there is nothing normal about it.
Regardless, life goes on. If you’re struggling like me, hang in there. We can make it through today and tonight. And like the character Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, we can worry about tomorrow then. After all, tomorrow is another day.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler is an award-winning writer and poet. Born in San Antonio, Texas, to a career military father and stay at home mother, he lived in six states and attended eight schools before graduating high school. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His writing awards includes finalist in the 15th National Indie Excellence Awards for Self-Help Spiritual, CIPA EVVY 2021 Bronze Winner in the Spiritual/Religion Category and the 2021 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite for Christian Non-Fiction for Kissing Guilt Goodbye: Breaking Free from the Shackles of Shame (enLIVEn Devotional Series Book 3) for which he was a contributor and the East Texas Christian Writer’s Conference best short story award. Before writing full time, he worked as a US Army officer for 8-years, religious educator for 18-years, and as an IT software application engineer for over 20-years. He is a widower. He lives in North Texas with his cat Lacey. View all posts by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.
View all posts by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.
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