Young Widows' Wasteland

My friend Kristin Anderson and I have suffered similar yet different loss. I lost my boyfriend while he was serving in the Army in Baghdad four years ago. She lost her husband to suicide just a few months ago. Kristin and I hadn't spoken to each other in years, but when she suddenly found herself a widow we found that we suddenly had something very heartfelt and difficult in common. And, through our conversations, Kristin suggested that we start writing about our experiences. It turns out that there is very little, if anything, that's been published that in any way reflects the experience of being a young widow.

So, today, on the anniversary of Stan's burial, we are launching our blog: Young Widow's Wasteland. We understand that the content is not for everyone, but we hope that you might share it with someone who could benefit from knowing that she or he is not the only person suffering such a tragic loss at such a young age or at any age. Some of what we write will be sad, some will be funny and some will be frustrating. But it will all be honest and hopefully helpful in surviving our own grief as well as to others looking for friends.

A New Blog

Since 2005, I have been blogging on my MySpace site at http://blogs.myspace.com/rebeccamonkey. But recently I haven't had much interest in spending time on MySpace, so I decided that it was time to move that blog somewhere else. So, here I am.

The title of this blog comes from a private joke with myself. This summer I am celebrating ten years of living in Las Vegas. And somehow, in that decade, I have managed to avoid stripping and marriage in a city infamous for stripping and marriage. And believe me, as a professor of Women's Studies and someone who critiques popular culture, this fact never fails to both amuse and bemuse me. In a city with so many opportunities to meet men, and believe me I've met my share, I still manage to be single and clothed more often than not. My plan is to tell stories from my first decade in Vegas and share other ideas about my life and popular culture through this blog.

And here we go... the best laid plans of non-brides and men (or women)...