Bonnie Merryfield was married for forty-four years before being widowed in May 2018. A retired high school English teacher, she is passionate about encouraging surviving spouses to lead rich and productive lives; her motivational and inspirational speaking engagements focus on this. So Now You're a Widow is a 2020 CIPA EVVY award winner. In 2023 her second book, The Ultimate Widower's Guide: Advice from Men, won a CIPA EVVY award. Bonnie enjoys socializing, exercising, and writing, and resides in Wisconsin and Florida with her two rescue cats, Riley and Murphy.
So Now You’re a Widow
Tips, Advice, and Stories from Widows to Widows
by Bonnie Merryfield
So Now You’re a Widow
Tips, Advice, and Stories from Widows to Widows
by Bonnie Merryfield
Published Nov 08, 2019
338 Pages
Genre: FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Death, Grief, Bereavement
Book Details
Are You A New Widow? Here’s What You Need to Know!
2nd Place Self-Help
This warm, conversational, easily digestible book is for widows—women over 50 who are beginning new lives without their husbands. In So Now You’re a Widow, the author and the 34 women she interviewed share what they wish they had known when they became widowed. As one of the women commented, “People tell you how to decorate your home, drive a car, train your dog, and plan a wedding, but no one tells you how to be a widow.”
The women frankly share their advice and experiences on 26 topics, including:
finding your inner strength
the one-size-does-not-fit-all grieving process
dealing with social invitations
changes in family dynamics
handling finances
choosing how you’re going to live your life
Plus, a journal section at the end of each chapter allows the reader to personalize what she has read and to gain insight into how she’s dealing with her situation.
The women who contributed to this book care deeply about other widowed women and want them to understand that what they are experiencing is normal and has been experienced in one form or another by others. You are not alone!