Literally a week or so after my husband’s death, I heard (on more than one occasion): “Oh you’re young, you’ll find another dad for your kids” and “You just need to go have a one-night stand.” I was a 28-year-old widow and new mom, and I most certainly was not in the right frame of mind to even respond to comments like that then, but I’ve had almost three years to ponder it and this is what I’ve come to:
Death of a spouse, especially a young spouse, does not warrant the encouraging, “Hey, chin up kid, there’s more fish in the sea” pep-talk as if I had just broken up with a high school sweetheart. When I broke up with my high school sweetheart, I was absolutely crushed, yes, but there were more fish in the sea. Fish after fish I caught and threw back (or vice versa) until I waded up calmly to the one who’d eventually be my husband. There was no finding and searching and catching and games, he was just there waiting to be taken. And there we were, swimming together upstream. Then he died. Now, almost three years later, I’ve found myself ready to swim upstream…alone, and I’ve come to the conclusion that “moving on” doesn’t always have to equate to “starting to date.” I’ve come to my own truth, for me, that before even thinking about “dating” (what is that, even?! Agh, haven’t done that since 22!) I must move forward by myself while pursuing my God and discovering the transformed woman I’ve become because of my husband’s death. Not because I asked for it, but because I was forced to adapt. I was suddenly thrown into to discover the new role I would have as a mother to two-year-old twins and a newborn on my own while clomping through the mud of complicated grief, PTSD and adrenal fatigue. In no way was I, over the past two years, in mental shape to even consider taking on anyone else while I was still grappling and hanging on to all that had happened to me in a very short amount of time. It wouldn’t be fair to all those new “fish”…and it wouldn’t be fair to me. Believe me, going to bed alone in my high school bedroom in my parent’s house by myself every night is beyond lonely, but I don’t want to fill that space just to fill a space. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not getting high and mighty and signing up for a convent, and I’m certainly not judging others’ choices to date or not date, I’m really not, but, for me, being alone with God and God alone right now is more comfortable to me than any man’s arms; I’ve concluded it has to be that way before I can consider inviting someone into my life. Really, anyone who may come along must be willing to move forward along with me in the high, sometimes turbulent waves I find myself in every day. I am not waiting in the shallow end for someone to come along and help me move; to rescue me. Through moments of intense loneliness and eagerness to get out of my situation as fast as I could, I tried making online profiles, I tried coming up with something to say on the “About me” page…there always ended up being too much to say, too much I didn’t want to say, and too much I was just too tired to say. Well, I ended up deleting said profile…four times. My not being ready was an understatement. I was so far from ready to start even considering dating, I was still re-living my husband’s death and every event and heartbreak every single day. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, I couldn’t break the cycle. Not until recently, when I had come to terms with the fact that I was struggling with PTSD and complicated grief, did I realize I couldn’t move forward while reliving a past I couldn’t change. Asking someone to enter into that cycle of mine, would quickly turn into a downward spiral, I’m sure of it.
This summer has been a summer of successful and hard work processing the traumatic events that surrounded my husband’s death (see “The Final Goodbye”), and I’m finally getting relief from the burden I’ve been carrying for far too long, but there’s still more work and healing that needs to happen before I can “spread my wings and fly.” Does living at my parent’s home with my three children under six make me feel like a successful adult? Not exactly, but is it what I need right now to get the rest, contemplation and processing I need? Absolutely. And there’s no rushing a process, especially if it’s God’s. And it’s always God’s process. I often picture, how would it look if I invited someone into this process?
“Oh, hi, you want to go on a date? Let me schedule you for some time next month between naptime and laundry.”
“Oh, hi, you want to take me to a movie? Hang on, let me ask my mom and dad…”
“Oh hi, thank you for your interest. I will always be in love with a 34-year-old man who was my husband, if that’s OK with you…”
I kid, I kid…but not really. Coming to terms with being comfortable in your own skin while healing so many wounds that will always leave a scar behind is tough, exhausting work and I’m ok with working on my own. Until I become comfortable with taking the life preserver off and stop treading water, there is no energy for fishing in these waters. And besides, I’m such a hopeless romantic I envision I’ll be back-stroking my way through life with my three little minnows and the serendipitous meeting would go like this…
I’m at a park and he’s walking his dog. Our eyes meet. I pet his dog and he asks, “Oh are you a mom? I love kids! I especially love preschoolers!”
And I’ll smirk and shyly push my hair that has remained un-showered for two days behind my ears and shuffle my feet with my old, holey sneakers and yoga pants and point to my three children: one boy peeing on a tree, the other picking up goose poop and hurling it across the playground and then my sweet daughter picking a lollipop up off the ground and sticking it in her mouth—dirt, ants and all.
And he’ll fall in love with all four of us and we’ll live happily ever after… (record screech) (Enter reality)
Ok, for real, putting jokes and self-deprecation aside, I’m just moving forward my little family of four, not searching, not fishing, no net in hand. Not waiting for an eddy, not waiting for a shallow end, not waiting on the side of the riverbank to be rescued. Here we are, me and my little minnows and we “just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” All I’m aiming at is to float peacefully as we’re carried by the current of life, as opposed to violently thrashing and swimming for my survival. Moving forward for me, means moving toward God. That’s all I want, to learn to be carried by waters so much bigger and awesome than this world can offer. There’s no saying what will come along, but whatever it is, it will accept us for all that we are—dirty lollipops and tree-peeing included.
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