Burnt Chocolate Stories

I'm not fond of the word widow. To me, it conjures up black robes, wrinkles and sadness. It's not synonymous with the word crone or wisdom, both of which I embrace wholeheartedly as the true inheritance of a woman who has lived well and past her prime. But I was searching for a word that might describe a woman who had recently lost her husband or partner; a person such as myself.  A grief group was not for me. Just the title depressed me. Between my son Ben and husband Steve, both of whom struggled for a long time with a fatal disease before their deaths, I'd had years of grief in my life and was looking for a way forward, through, and out of that heavy burden. Newly Single Women's Group is the phrase I conjured up to create a support group for those of us searching for new paths in our ever changing world. Being alone is not necessarily lonely, but it does require care and creativity. I wanted to know how others were managing this strange new world of singleness. What ...

We had a place in Dodgeville Wisconsin for several years, from 2000 to 2008. One hundred acres of walnut trees, meadows and a tiny stream. The house was just a few years old but in our usual fashion, we remade the entire interior, putting in a new kitchen, new bathrooms, finishing the basement - the works.  We added a mini barn so Steve could paint. The former owners had planted acres of trees that needed special care so we built a huge barn to hold the tractor that kept the trees weed free. The tractor was  enclosed with air conditioning and a CD player, a source of endless jokes for the neighborhood farmers.   I thought we would spend a month or two there in the summer, weekends occasionally in the winter, but our permanent base would be Chicago. By the end of the first summer, we'd sold our Chicago place mostly at Steve's request. I had no idea what full- time life would be like in the country but I was game for this new experience. After two months, I had second ...

I think everyone likes to feel needed and valued. I know that's true for me. Not so much when I was a little girl and my mother wanted me to set the table and clean up after dinner with my sisters. After the last bite of dessert, I would escape to the bathroom and hide in there until I was sure the last glass had been put back into the cupboard. When Steve and I married, we had each other to care for until the first of our five children arrived just seven years apart. I remember carrying an infant with a toddler wrapped around my leg. Part of me loved it and part of me thought I was being swallowed whole. But those years passed way to quickly. Maybe thirty years at most and we were on our own again.  And now, I am completely alone for the first time in my life. No children, no husband, no house to manage, although my handful of plants need water from time to time . I thought about getting a puppy but Wisconsin winters are not friendly for dog walking. And it would feel like a repea...