Sixteen years ago, my world shattered. That’s when cancer killed my beloved husband. A spouse’s likelihood of passing away is three times higher for women than men. Many women find that widowhood forces them to take on and make critical financial…

I was devastated. A few days before I turned 60, I was suddenly a widow. But really, I was typical. Surprisingly, the average age at which a wife becomes a widow is 59.4. About 1 million women a year in the U.S. experience what may be the most stressful event…

Perhaps because my late husband was a pastor, some people thought they were helpful after Tom’s death to tell me, “God needed another angel in heaven.” (Wrong! I needed that angel beside me, not gone away.) Or they said, “I know exactly how you feel…

Before Great Gram got hitched at age 20, as they used to say, she was a teacher in a one-room rural Iowa schoolhouse. After marriage, she wasn’t allowed to teach. That was written in her contract. As a teacher, she called her readin’ and writin’…

If you’re anything like me, there are times when you’d rather put off solving a problem than deal with it immediately. But the problem may become even more difficult if that elephant in the room is avoided…

As a young adult, I drank wine to fit in with my social crowd, celebrate victories, and relax at the end of a grueling week. I thought conversations at parties flowed easier with a wine glass in hand. Festive toasts were made at friends’ birthdays…

I’m a member of the club women hate to join — the Widows Club. When my husband died, it felt like a big part of me died, too. I lost the love of my life and the dreams we shared for our future. All gone in an instant and right…

We’ve said goodbye to Jane Fonda’s long-running series, Grace and Frankie. In character, she often held an ice-cold martini. However, in a recent interview with CBS News about the show’s last season, Fonda said she stopped drinking in real life at age 84…

Recently I celebrated my 75th birthday. What fun to receive many phone calls, texts, emails, cards, and social media comments! That included fragrant flowers and meaningful message from my Honey… plus an original art card created by my daughter-in-law and son.

As I looked out at my smiling family, in our lush backyard summer gardens on that sunny August day, I whispered to myself, “I never imagined this.” Not in my craziest dreams did I ever expect to be a septuagenarian bride, exchanging wedding vows beside my Charlie…