A Mountain Widow’s Courageous Efforts to Grow

“It’s not impossible to grow in harsh environments,” said our knowledgeable volunteer while guiding us across the wind swept ridges near the Eagle Cap Wilderness by Wallowa Lake in Oregon.  Accessible primarily by a high altitude tram, we marveled together at the charming wildflowers with names like pussyfoot and golden daisies.

“It just takes more effort!”

She should know.

Widowed just a few months earlier, she chose to uproot herself from her comfortable surroundings in Mississippi, and moved to the small arts-colony town of Joseph where she and her husband once dreamed of living.

Now this retired engineer is making daily efforts to recreate a new and meaningful life as a single woman.  “I feel close to my husband here because he loved the exquisite natural beauty…storms and all!”

This grieving yet adventurous widow echoes the wisdom that “we can’t always choose our circumstances, but we do have the power to choose our response.”  Her choice to make efforts to recreate a meaningful life again, even as she is living in the harsh early environment of lonely widowhood, inspired us.

For persons facing profound loss through death of a spouse or a divorce, a recent book by Christina Rasmussen titled Second Firsts offers insightful concepts.  Widowed as a young mother, and unemployed with two young daughters, she rebuilt her life with a significant plan of action informed by mind research.

What conscious efforts have you made to grow during difficult times?  Were they helpful towards healing?