My Spouse Died Too: Episode 65: The Good Widow (1 of 4)

Episode 65: The Good Widow (1 of 4)

Aug 10, 2021

Widowed guest co-host Dr. Jennifer Katz joins us. Dr. Katz is a tenured Professor of Clinical Psychology at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Dr. Katz just published her book: The Good Widow - A Memoir of Living with Loss. Dr. Katz goes by Jenny.

It’s August 2018, Jenny and her husband Tris have a fifteen-year-old daughter, Maddy, and a twenty-seven-year-old son, Jonah.

Two relaxed weeks before Jenny’s university work starts full-force for fall, Jenny and daughter Maddy go out for an early-morning breakfast. Life is good.

After breakfast, they meet one of Jenny’s former students for coffee. While enjoying coffee, Jenny sees a text from her husband and the text says “May be having heart attack. Called 911. Ambulance on the way.”

Jenny and Maddy dash from coffee to car, to hospital, expecting to see Tris alive in the ICU.

Instead, Jenny and Maddy are placed in a tiny dull private waiting room— where doctors deliver a diagnosis, prognosis, or finality.

Eventually, a medical resident and social worker enter to deliver the news. “I’m sorry, your husband died. He seemed to have had a heart attack. We were unable to revive him although we tried everything we could.”

Jenny is catapulted into the eye of a widow’s hurricane.

You know I don’t bring authors onto the podcast unless I’ve read their book, and feel their words can bring value and healing to you, my dear listener.

The Good Widow delivers exponentially!

Jenny’s crystal clear prose is gorgeous and gut-wrenching. From death to dating, Jenny bares her heart—the vulnerable, the private, and the raw.

And there are blessings in her book.

Just one example, for me it’s laced with kindly convicting lessons on how to treat your spouse so you both enjoy a love-filled and intimate relationship ’til death do you part.

Jenny details how Tris treated her and communicated with her. I took too much for granted when my spouse was alive. I can’t change my past. I can’t control the future. But I can still learn from others and live a more fulfilled life.

Thank you Tris for being a role model.

I had such an exhilarating time, Jenny and I talked for hours and there’s so much we didn’t cover.

The links to order Jenny’s book and blog website are below. If you are a member of the My Spouse Died Too community email list, you’ll get the links in your Behind-The-Scenes email.

Jennifer Katz's website, blog, and book discussion questions:

https://www.thegoodwidow.com.

Bullets

Happy Birthday Jenny
Deathiversary Toasts
The Weird Man--He Became My Husband
The Cannolis
I'm Infertile...Go Home
He Died. How Am I Suppose To Be A Parent?
Courting Lessons
He's Trauma Man--What I Was Wrong About
I Have A Short Life Expectancy
Celebrate Hard
Post Traumatic Growth
The Breakfast Text
Grief Is Unforgiving
Feeling Seen
Back To Work In Two Weeks
Feeling Like A Liar--An Imposter
The Empathy Meter
No Sleep For Nine Months
You Can't Handle The Truth!
The Saddest Thing
The Practical Fantasy
Hokey Woo-Woo
Bone Cold

Thanks for listening. Join us for part 2 of 4.

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Hope. Heal. Find love again.

~ Emeric