February 13, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. A Merry Widow.

Alan died in 1981 leaving Gill a widow with two young children to raise and educate all by herself. Mary and I immediately flew to Toronto to be with Gill through the difficult few days. The night before we were to go back to Maryland, we three sat in her living room and drank the Greek liquor Oozo. And we figured out how to turn Gill into a Merry Widow. I have no recollection of what we said except that we had a lot of fun. Gill has been spectacularly successful raising the boys and funding the family. And she has been a Merry Widow. No weeping widow for Gill. I have been a widow for two months. All my life I have known widows but I can not recall a single conversation with widows and how they managed. But now I am asking every widow I meet. A lady in Mexico told me that whoever she feels blue, she thinks of something to do that she could not do when her husband was alive. Another friend told me that every day she thanks God for bringing her husband in her life. My eye doctor has been a widow for ten years. Her advice was to keep busy. Another lady suggested that living alone is not all bad. No one has told me how to be Merry Widow so I must figure it out myself. And I will ask Gill what we talked about that night long ago. What I am doing is keeping busy and keeping active. Every day I go for a walk;k. Three days during the week I lift the weights in the lower level. Kashina and I will explore Mississippi every Saturday. Thursday morning I attend BSF. I like my little group. Sundays I will attend church with the family. Every week on Friday I invite a friend for coffee. I use Lyft when I need to go anywhere. And I will continue our vagabond ways. I will go to Texas for Memorial weekend and will stay until I go to Nova Scotia in mid June. Friends are coming to visit me at the lake while I am there. I expect to have a good time and eventually, I may even get to be a Merry Widow.