Alone and Alive

Alone and Alive was reviewed by the Midwest Book Review in their Aug. 12 issue. The easiest place to read it is on Amazon. Search by title and click on “see reviews”. It is the 2nd one.


I will be at the Hill Country Book Festival in Georgetown tomorrow, Aug. 20. If you are in the area stop by and see me.

It was one year after my husband died when I had to register my son for public school. Our plan had been to keep him in private school, but those plans changed with my husband’s death. So I was enrolling him for the first time, as a fifth grader. I had a talk with myself about how this was going to be OK, but when I began filling out the form my resolve faded. When I had to write “deceased” on the line for “Father’s name” I lost it completely. I started sobbing, getting myself under control enough to tell the anxious looking clerk what was wrong. After I turned in the paperwork, I almost ran from the building. As I approached my car, a woman called out to me. She had been in the office registering her child and had witnessed my outburst of grief. As I turned she took off a beautiful blue cross she was wearing and handed it to me. “You need this more than I do right now,” she said. “The grief will get better.” She hugged me and walked back to the school. I thanked her and stared at her retreating figure, then at the sparkly blue cross in my hand.

For the last 9 years that cross has been in my desk drawer at my office. Every time I get a pen or other supplies from my lap drawer, I see the cross and it reminds me of the kindness of a stranger when I was in distress. And she was right. It did get better.

I am having a book signing at the White Rhino Coffee Shop on Beltline in Cedar Hill on Monday Aug. 15, 2011. It is from 6:00 to 7:00. If you are in the area come by and buy a book, get the book you already have signed, or just visit. I look forward to seeing you there.

Now what does pie have to do with being a widow? Last weekend, Thomas and I drove to Glen Rose, Texas, just to get away for the day. We enjoyed the rolling terrain and spent some time exploring the small downtown area. Then we found it. A shop named “Pie Peddlers”. They have homemade pies in an amazing variety of flavors and, of course, coffee or other drinks. We sat at the round table and took a chance on their pie. I had chocolate and Thomas had buttermilk pie. They were both really good. So good that we ended up taking a whole buttermilk pie home and it was as good at home as it was in the restaurant. So if you are ever in Glen Rose, Texas, stop by for some pie. But call and check their hours, they are only open three days a week.

So what does pie have to do with widowhood? Maybe, it is just more evidence that you can be happy again after your husband’s death. You may be Alone, but you are Alive. Or maybe, sometimes, we just need pie!