I launch this blog on the 15th anniversary of my second husband’s death to share my writing and insights and those of others featured here. In 2008 my husband Keith died of a massive heart attack, leaving me widowed for the second time in my 35 years. Years later, I was volunteering in a training seminar when the course facilitator asked about my “story.” She paused momentarily and said, "My dear, you have had quite the dance with death, haven't you?"

     That always stuck with me. I like the imagery of death, not as some nebulous, heartless entity that had robbed me of life with the men I had loved, but as an embodied form. I imagined myself waltzing with a silhouetted figure to beautiful music at sunset. It was always with me, always in step, gliding me across the dance floor of life. Grief became my dance partner on this journey.

     Over the years, my dance partner has given me several gifts. Grief and loss taught me more about life than death. Through this collection of work, I hope we can all begin to recognize the grief we dance with, celebrate it, and bring it into the light of day, so we know we are not alone. Sorrow will often appear on these pages, but so will all the beauty of life it illuminates.