"Well, she's not a widow anymore since she has gotten remarried." A neighbor tells me this, nodding casually to another house in our neighborhood.
Not a widow anymore. Is that possible?
Can one lose that title?
Even if she has married someone new, even if her life has found a new path, isn't the word 'widow' irrevocable?
It's like 'cancer survivor.' Once you've fought that battle, you never stop being a survivor.
The nature of the word 'widow' means 'survivor.' Even the obituary says so.
I don't intend to stop living up to the title.
I agree, Tricia. Even if a widow remarries, she has still been widowed, still had to deal with everything that entails, still carries the memories in her heart of a life with her first husband that she didn't choose to end, still has much to offer to help those new widows who come after her. We are definitely survivors, as you said, and that is for always. You more than live up to it.
Just as surely as you could not grow a new limb if you lost one.
A lot like when you lose a baby and you have another.. the expectation is that they one you lost is forgotten.. it is still part of the journey.