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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Enough Already! (When The Widower Talks Endlessly About His LW)

Is it normal for a widower to talk about his late wife? Of course! She was a huge part of his life. They shared a history together. Although she is a part of his past, her memory is very much a part of his present and future. I don’t believe the widowed should be forced in any way by anyone to box up their memories altogether and never again speak another word about their lost loves. It would be an inhumane and selfish request to ask of the bereaved, and would lack the compassion needed have a successful relationship with a widower.

In my book “PAST: Perfect! PRESENT: Tense! Insights From One Woman’s Journey as the Wife of a Widower”, I urge my WOW (Wives Of Widowers) and GOW (Girlfriends Of Widowers) readers to embrace the late wife, and to remember that a relationship with a widower will be a marriage of three hearts, not just two. However, some people have misunderstood my meaning, erroneously assuming that this author believes a woman involved with a widower must willingly and dutifully step aside into the shadow of a sainted woman’s memory.

On the contrary, I believe a widower must treat his new love as the center of his universe, barring all others, including his late wife. However, to have a successful relationship with a widower, his new love must accept his past, including his late wife, and remember that she was, as most wives are, instrumental in making him the man he is today. I truly believe that outward jealousy of and disdain towards the late wife only serves to create an atmosphere of bitterness and resentment – emotions that build walls between a couple. Sharing a widower’s heart with his late wife does not mean his new love must take a back seat and quietly allow the late wife’s memory to stand between the couple. Sharing his heart simply means that the new woman in his life understands and accepts that the love he had for his late spouse did not die with her, and will always occupy a space in his heart.

But does a late spouse have to be a huge part of your present relationship with a widowed man, if at all?

Many girlfriends and wives of widowers (GOWs and WOWs) have written to me, asking when they might expect their widowers to stop droning on and on about his late wife. Hearing about another woman in your man’s past is difficult to handle. We certainly don’t expect a divorced man to talk about the good times he and his ex shared, and we feel righteous indignation when any man discusses, ad nauseum, within listening distance of his present love, the wonderful attributes of the ex-lovers who broke his heart. Doing so would be the ultimate in insensitivity. Yet society expects a woman involved with a widower to sit silently and put her personal feelings on the back burner while her widower lovingly recalls each and every personal detail about his late wife and their marriage.

A friend of mine once chastised my own angst about my widower’s tendency to memorialize his late wife by asking, “Why does it bother you so much? It’s not like she’s a threat or anything…she’s dead!” Clearly, those who have no stake in a relationship with a widower have no clue about - and no patience for - how hurtful and confusing this issue can be to the new woman in his life. Bottom line: the constant stirring and recalling of the memories of a deceased spouse CAN be harmful if it impedes the growth of a new relationship.

Some widowers with whom I have spoken regarding this issue have justified it by claiming they freely converse with their present loves about their late wives so that the former will “get to know” the latter. These widowers feel a need to bond their late spouses with their present loves. I have to wonder why they feel it is necessary, in their minds, for the late wife and present love to be friends. To what end do these means serve? Why would a man expect his new love to gleefully embrace this odd emotional “ménage a trios”, and what women of self-worth and esteem would settle for it without argument?

Sometimes, a widower who purposefully shares intimate information about his late wife and their marriage with their present love is subconsciously looking for permission of sorts to fall in love again. To wit, he is hoping to be exonerated from the guilt he carries about moving on and leaving his memories – and his late wife - permanently in the past. He not only hopes his new love will accept that a part of his heart will always belong to another, but that his late wife will forgive him his imagined betrayal of her. However, doing so only delays his grief recovery as he perpetually memorializes his late wife. (Note: Ws don't [usually] look skyward and ask for LW's permission, lest any supposed "journalist" take my words out of context. I am talking about the W's subconscious here.)

Some widowers feel that in order for his new love to fully and completely understand and accept him for the person he is, it is paramount that she understands the depth of his love for his late wife. In my opinion, if a man thinks his late wife defines who he is and is the main source of his character, then he has not yet matured enough to grasp a very important understanding: the measure of a man is not who shaped him, but how he has used his life experiences to become the man he is. An appreciation for those in our lives who have contributed to our successes is vital, yes…but to claim these selfless mentors possess our personhood is the antithesis of personal growth.

Often times, discussing memories of a late spouse gives strength to the survivor. A widower cannot completely let go of the past unless and until every stone is unturned. He cannot move beyond bereavement until he embraces the past pain as well as its pleasures. Grief is not just an emotion but also a process. I once asked my previously widowed husband when he knew he had successfully let go of the past. He answered, “When I could smile instead of cry when remembering her.” Processing memories is an important step toward grief recovery. Therefore, it would appear logical that a widower who yearns to discuss his late wife and their shared past is thirsty to move on with his life. Thus, the act of verbally skipping down Memory Lane isn’t so insensitive after all.

Or is it?

When a partner in any kind of relationship disregards the feelings of his or her mate, this is insensitivity. Widowers I have spoken to about this issue ask me, “But I don’t understand WHY she (GOW or WOW) gets so upset when I talk about my late wife!” I reply that it would behove these men to ask the new mates personally so that they may acquire a deeper understanding of how it feels to love a man whose heart is apparently, as the old song says, “torn between two lovers.” I then counsel widowers to consider how they would feel if their new loves talked endlessly about their former lovers. Walking around in another person’s moccasins certainly sheds light on the issue. If a partner repeatedly asks his/her mate to cease and desist, that request should be respected, regardless of whether or not the reasoning behind the request is understood.

In conclusion, WOWs and GOWs must be sensitive to the fact that the widowers in their lives may have a need to discuss their late wives and marriages for a variety of reasons: to purge guilt, to complete the final stage of bereavement recovery, or to gain validation of his grief’s normalcy in sharing his intimate grief feelings with his new love. As such, a GOW/WOW would be wise to be sensitive to his feelings and learn to embrace the fact that his late wife will always be a treasured past memory, but not a present threat.

However, widowers must also be sensitive to the assumed threat the new love feels when there is more talk of the past and not enough reassurance and validation that the GOW/WOW in his life is Number One in his heart. When she pleads “Enough is enough!” the intelligent widower will respect her wishes as he attempts to gain insight, using honest communication, about the complex emotional and often misunderstood heart of a GOW/WOW.

42 comments:

  1. Your article on W's constant mention of LW hits home for me. When I first met my W (now my husband), he had buried LW 18 months earlier, and he had been married to LW for over 30 years. Very early in dating I told him I thought he still had grief work to do because he spoke of LW so frequently. After dating for a month I asked if I could see his home, and he said, "No, it is LW's house". Ouch. (Eventually, he did let me into the sanctum.) Yet he insisted he had done all his grief work and was ready for a new relationship. Ahh, my naivety.

    During the first six months of dating, my W would contribute 6-8 daily anecdotes about LW. If I told him I had a doctor appointment, he would tell me the story about LW's medical history. Ad nauseaum. Any daily activity led to one of his cherished memories. He was so completely still in his former relationship that he even called me by LW's name once while we were making love!

    I understand people who meet in their 50's have previous life experiences to share. I appreciate LW's influences that created his ability to sacrifice and maintain a lifelong relationship and what their commitment taught him. I benefit from this.

    I was married for 26 years and was divorced years ago (I chose to leave the marriage), yet my W says it is alright for him to talk about his LW because she is dead; he does not want to hear about my past because my ex (who I cannot tolerate) is still alive. After 4 years of knowing W, I am infuriated about "his holy grief" that has no comparison to anyone else's pain in life.

    At 18 months of dating, and after my repeated requests to please "stay in the present moment with me", we had our "Waterloo" when W gave his 70-page grief book - a history of his life with LW - to his distant European relatives during a family reunion. He did this the same weekend we announced our engagement. He had previously told me he wrote this book for his own grief recovery and only for his children. I felt belittled and insignificant; if that is "insecure", or I “felt threatened”, then call it what you may. I was completely ready to call it quits. He requested that the relatives return the book, we got over it and he made some significant changes. Now ...

    I am a newlywed to W, have known him for over 4 years total. The latest episode is his wedding picture from 40 years ago on his internet social networking page (which states he is married, with no picture of me). Although we have had repeated discussions about my boundaries on this issue, he had no compunctions about showing me these pictures. Here we go again. Another discussion about what is appropriate ... a discussion about this month being LW's birthday month, so how is he feeling ... how does it affect him when his adult children feel sad during their mother's birthday ... this gets so very old.

    I have held him while he cried as he reviewed sympathy cards; I have stroked him when he got blind-sided with grief while visiting a relative in the hospital; I comforted him while he ceremoniously stored away cherished possessions in his home.

    I don't need his financial support, or his health benefits, or his help with maintaining the home we live in. All I need is to feel special. It would be nice to be someone's #1 for once in my life. Correct me if I'm not seeing this through clear eyes ... I don't see the LW as a threat ... I see his self-centered self-pity, and I see him wasting the present moment with me, a good woman with so many compatibilities with him.

    Thank you for allowing me to vent. I have a good man, yet I think "Is this as good as it gets?" Please tell anyone who is a GOW or considering marriage to a W, think hard and long before proceeding. Perhaps we all must just be satisfied with having a life partner and leave it at that, expect no more. Anyone willing to share their story or advice, I am listening.
    Signed,
    Frustrated

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    1. I just wanted to say that you statement about wanting to be someone's #1 really hit home. I am in a "relationship" with a widower and this was LW birthday month. Last night he informed me on a phone conversation that he and his family and LW mother celebrated the birthday at LW favorite Chinese restaurant, complete with birthday cake. He also added that he intends to be buried next to her upon his death. I have not been invited to his home yet (we have been seeing each other for 10 months and live in different states) and his kids and grandkids are his world.

      I am thinking this is not a healthy relationship for me but there are times that I feel so close to him and he actually feels "normal" and those are the times that keep me holding on.

      But, in my heart I know the truth: She will always hold his heart and I feel like a side-show.

      I wish I had read these pieces of heartbreak before getting involved with a widower. I will never agree to date another one again. Truth be told, after this fiasco, I would much rather be with a man that can't stand his living ex. than feel like this.

      Donna

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    2. I am married to a W. He talked consistly about his wife. Once he asked me was I jealous of his wife?
      Today is her birthday and he is sad and he visits the cemetery. He feels guilty because he ran around on me and her with different women. What do you say and do? I live in he shadow allthe the time. His daughter and he put something on Facebook about her birthday. Help me to relate.

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    3. I can relate to an extent. I have been married to a widower for about a year. He described that his marriage was really rough, a marriage lacking intimacy on all levels, and even lightly discussed having an affair on his spouse until she became ill.I now believe he lives with a tremendous amount of guilt and I am hoping that is where a lot of his "stuff" comes from. I think guilt changes our behavior. Well, this has been a challenge for me at times and sometimes I feel my feelings get pushed aside. He will ask me is it ok when I put something of hers somewhere...and I feel compelled to say yes, but I have gotten better at speaking up when its not. When we were amongst wedding planning (with our pastor present) he called me by her name. He quickly apologized but that hit me like a ton of bricks. After we got married anytime we would go out alone, she would could up in conversation, and then...then there's social media. I have now dread Mother's Day, her birthday, and as well the anniversary of her death. I struggle with seeing posts saying he misses her. I feel hurt when I see them. When we moved in together he began hanging wedding pictures in his one son's bedroom that he found while packing others away. Pictures that weren't displayed. This isn't a picture to remind his son of his memories of his mom. This was for him I suppose. I did set some boundaries with some of the photos and said no, not here and explained why and what bothered me. I made a memory garden for the kids for their mother as well. I try my hardest to love them and help them to process the grief and just be a friend for them. I'm struggling to cope with a lot of this and I don't know where to turn. I'm fearful of coming off as insensitive, but I feel my feelings get pushed aside. I've heard stories no one wants to hear about your husbands first wife. I've also found that my spouse had more than one affair on his deceased wife that he wasn't honest with me about. Likely, because he was afraid I'd run for the hills, was feeling guilty and ashamed. It makes me doubt his feelings for me. When I see paragraphs written on Mothers Day to her, and a quick happy mothers day to me it makes me feel insignificant. I also feel he does this to show others; does it to save face. She has a small family, and I have befriended them and they have accepted me as family. That, I do appreciated. We have a son with special needs who will always be at home. He is 10+ years older than me. Eventually, he will pass and I will be the sole caregiver from my step son. He also has asked me about purchasing a burial plot next to him and his former wife. I told him absolutely not. I don't want to be buried there and I don't want to be cremated. (That's the only option in that cemetery). He wants buried next to both of us. Yeah, not happening. They share a tombstone, and I want nothing of being the buried next to them both. So, what will happen with that is hard to say. Anyways, I guess my biggest struggle is feeling hurt yet feeling bad for feeling this way. It's a terrible feeling. I am fearful of telling him when my feelings are hurt because I feel guilty for feeling this way. I also struggle with the hypocrisy of it all. I struggle with the fact that he has had numerous affairs and wanted a divorce until she was diagnosed. She only lived a few months passed her initial diagnosis. He has had zero closure with her on their bad marriage which I believe compounds his guilt too. In the present, I need to see social media posts saying he misses her. Really? I know illness changes so many things, and so does death. But, I can't grasp that in my own head. I just don't understand. I don't want to hurt him. I honestly think I may seek professional help to deal and cope with this because it's affecting me so negatively. I need to find peace with this somehow. I know he loves me... Any advice would be much appreciated.

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  2. Good morning...
    I am new to this GOW..I am a 58 year old female, I was divorced 5 years ago to a man I had been with and married for the previous 14 years. We divorced so he could draw SS disability benefits off of his deceased spouse, after a massive stroke in 2003 left him totally disabled. We maintained a relationship up until 2 years ago, then I got tired of the mental and physical abuse, so I moved on....last week I met a man of my dreams...he is 60 and was widowed nearly 2 years ago. In a sense, we each have suffered a death, mine was the loss of my husband as I knew him after the stroke. This man is so kind, thoughtful, I am the first he has gone out with since the death and he is the first I have gone out with since my "death"...we had sex the second date, very passionate, very hot...the best I have ever had..he calls me a couple times a day to see how I am doing, and to say "hi"....he will say "I am very protective of my emotions, I don't want to get hurt", and I understand that, I don't want to get hurt either, no one does. But, he says we were brought together for a reason..and I truly believe it, I think I am falling for him already. I feel so different than I have in any other relationships I have been in, I was married for 13 years, divorced for 8 before I began involved with my second husband, who was very demeaning and possessive, during those 8 years, I had a long term relationship, but this one feels right.
    We each had not had a sexual relationship in YEARS.....It felt right, mutually...
    Any advice?
    He is a dream....

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    2. Go very, very slowly, and I mean YEARS of slowness. Just date him for that long. I wish I had taken that advice. My W and I married after 9 months of a very torrid and exciting love affair, and three years after he was widowed. All was great at first, but after three years I realize that he has been trying to make me into his dead wife's image all this time so he can try to recapture that marriage and relationship. Now he is disillusioned with me because I can't live up to that, and wouldn't even want to try. His first wife was very subservient to him - I can't believe I didn't see that as a warning sign. Now I'm not sure our marriage will even survive. I'm heartbroken and wish I'd never let him into my heart.

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  3. Dear "Frsutrated" and "Aonymous".

    I would like to invite you to come to The Official WOW/GOW Message Board (accessible from my website at http://www.juliedonnerandersn.com), where over 550 members, many like you, share, support, encourage, and advise each other as "sisters" who all love a widower.

    Blessings...

    JDA

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    1. I dated W years ago and had not talked to him until a couple months after his wife died suddenly. It's been a year now since her death and we've been seeing each other 8 months now. He's great except for the fact he can seen to move on. He goes to his wife grave (once while I was with him ) and I am okay with that. But he has many times told me how much he misses her and calls crying about her. He says he loves me but in the next breath he says but I loved her so much. He can't seem to say anything good about us without saying how wonderful it was worth her. It's almost like he's talking to her. Like "I love you so much but I loved you too" as he's looking up. It's like he feels guilty about caring for me.
      He went on a trip recently and I asked him if he was having a good trip. He told me that he went to the place where she first told him that she loved him and it was hard to be there without her.
      I know that he loved her and will always love her but why does he keep telling me these thing about how he can't imagine being somewhere without her? And about the place where she first told him she loved him.
      I have tried to talk to him about it but he gets mad and yet he doesn't want me to talk about my former spouse. He has a set of rules for me and a set for him. I'll always be second to him, I can tell.

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  4. I have been widowed for 9 months and have been dating a widower for 2 months. We have various problems concerning telling family & friends, but our biggest problem is when we make love I always end with my saying my dead husband's name. He was so kind in the beginning but now is angry and to the point of leaving me out of his life completely. I know it hasn't been long enough maybe and we don't plan marriage but I want to desperately stop this since it seems to happen at no other time. Any suggestions?

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  5. Everyone grieves in their own way and in their own timeframe. There is no "right" or "wrong" length of time. However, most statistics show that a year is best for healing, as there are 5 stages of grief to work through, and each stage takes a great deal of time and effort to overcome. As well, grief really should be managed alone, without distractions such as new love. Therefore, I believe perhaps your issues with your W may stem from this. I would like to work through this with yo uin fuirther detail, so I would like to invite you to come to The Official WOW/GOW Message Board (accessible from my website at http://www.juliedonnerandersn.com), where over 700 members, many like you, share, support, encourage, and advise each other as "sisters" who all love a widower.

    Blessings...

    JDA

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  6. hello,
    my first time discussing the issue with fellow WOWs (what a weird abbreviation!)
    my husband and I have been happily married for just over a year. we started seeing each other only 2 months after his ex died, and we had known each other for a few years before her death (in fact, I was sort of friends with her). the first year was tough - it was all grief and no room for me, but i was happy to have it that way as I understood it was very early days. then things started getting better and i began to realise that he really loved me.
    to cut the long story short, i sometimes think i have completely got over the whole WOW issue - although we live in her flat and talk about her a lot and have her pictures etc. I feel completely at ease with it. but sometimes he says things that just physically hurt me, and I do not understand why he has to say them. we are very close and we talk about virtually everything, but I cannot understand why he cannot keep certain things to himself!
    yesterday he told me in a phone conversation (I'm away on business trip at the moment) that he woke up to a very strong and upsetting dream, so I asked if he wanted to tell me about it. and he did! it was indeed about her; she was standing next to him, and he was thinking how much he loved her and how much she loved him and he wanted to kiss her but he couldn't reach her. when I heard that he wanted to kiss her I physically felt my heart sinking. the following night I kept waking up and weeping so strong that I seemed to wake up my housemates. I'm upset and angry with him for telling me this - but should I be? wasn't he just trying to be open with me, as we tell each other everything? and why was i so shocked - i already know he loves her very much and always will?.. I have a feeling it's the kissing bit that did the job but I'm not sure, and I feel completely destroyed.

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  7. Being a (former) W does not give a man carte blanche to treat a GOW or WOW insensitively. In your W's defense, however, it would appear that you have put up with his grief needs for so long, he's gotten used to being able to tell you anything and everything without impunity. I believe you really have to start drawing your boundary lines and inform him as to which "LW talk" you can stand, and which you cannot. For further discussion, please feel free to join The Official WOW/GOW Message Board, which you can find via my website at http://www.juliedonnerandersen.com.

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  8. i really like this W guy and i think his late wife was very lucky to have him.
    i went through my own past of being with an abusive husband which i never really discuss but when he asked me how my past was i didnt say much but he some extent compared my life with his abd obviously drew a conclusion that my pain was not any way comapared to his . i feel we cannot compare broken hearts and loss and pain for we all hurt in diffrent ways. thing here is he is painted as a saint, we are all not perfect, we all have grieved and do respect that they have experienced a sudden death of a loved one.
    But what i can not tolerate is a man that treats a woman badly in a bracket of being painted a saint perfect hubby; not taking her out, not inviting her to parties or even being seen with her. I have been treated this way and think a W is not any diffrent from any man; Death doesnot select and i respect grieving process - still no way tp disrepect a woman.M

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  9. If your W is not taking you out, not inviting you to parties, and is hiding you from people altogether, then he is nowhere near being ready to date again as he feels guilty about moving on. As well, it would appear that perhaps he fears being judged harshly by others, especially if he hasn't been widowed for long.

    I believe the most difficult thing for a GOW is discerning which of her W's behaviours are grief related, and which are simply part of his original personality. GOWs are a very compassionate, sympathetic bunch, and our natural tendency is to blame all bad behaviour on grief when grief is not always to blame.

    For more on this, please join the 775+ members of the Official WOW/GOW Message Board and I (accessible via my website at http://www.juliedonnerandersen.com).

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  10. Since I married my husband, Mother's Day has been a struggle, both for his two daughters and me. My sons didn't want to move with the marriage and live with their father. On Mother's Day, the girls grieve the loss of their mother (now 6 years). I grieve over the loss of not being with my sons as the custodial parent. I also feel awkward as the stepmom because the girls and I have had a strained relationship. Needless to say Mother's Day is tense and it seems that we are just in hurry to get it over with. This year I wanted to write something to the girls and give them a reverse Mother's Day card, but I never was quite sure what to say. I searched and searched for the right words to have already been written, because honestly, I just didn't know what to write in order to make this a less tense and more positive experience for us all. Finally, I wrote the following to them with a quote from Abraham Lincoln about his mother:

    Girls,
    I just wanted to write a few words in tribute to your mother and honor her this Mother’s day. She was only here for a short time, but while she was here with you, it seems as if she was an incredible human being who made a dynamic impact in the lives of the people who knew her, and most especially you in your young lives.
    I hope you always cherish her teachings to you and the unconditional love she devotedly gave to you.


    "I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."
    ~ Abraham Lincoln

    It was a blessing to put the focus of Mother's Day towards their mother. Maybe someday, the holiday will be more joyful. But for now, I feel very content to have connected with them through my message.

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    1. Relationships with adult children are often difficult. It takes a great deal of emotional maturity and the adult daughter wanting her father to be happy.

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  11. I have been married to a widower for 6 years. We meet 3 months after she had passed. However , I was told at the time that she had been deceased for 6 months. I found out differently when I saw her obituary( after we married) I did not press the issue at first. He told me that he was ready to move on. I must mention that he was married to his first wife for 30 years and she died from brain cancer.
    The issues that I am having is that we have been married for 6 years and he insist on keeping their marital home (he says he is keeping to give to his two sons after he passes- his sons are grown and both live in different cities. My point is this- If I go over there to their home- there are pictures and everything just like she left them. Her jewlery is on HER dresser and even her perfume. Her hair color, and other supplies are still where she left them.Her clothes were just given to one of his late wifes caretakers. (after I complained that it was time to make a place for some of my things. However, I had asked him if we could get another bed becasue I did not want to sleep in "their bed". He said that he was not going to get rid of the bed where his son's were concieved. Needless to say I don't go there anymore. I am thankful that I have my own home and no other man has ever slept in my new bed- nor do I have pictures of my ex husband everywhere. The house that he says he is keeping for his son looks like you could expect his late wife to walk in any minute becasue it is still as she left it over 7 years ago. I undrstand they were married for a long time. I understand heartache,however, something is wrong with this picture. NOt to mention he constantly reminds me that if we don;t have sex he doesn't feel loved. An in order to keep the peace and avoid the silent treatment-I have to (not because I want to) but if I want to be talked to and want him to be decent to my family--I have to or else he pouts and is rude and hateful. Also, I have a19 year old son that he hates. My son got into trouble and is in treatment now. He hates my son and says that its over if I have anything to do with him.
    I need an outsiders opinion. Thanks.
    Miserable in GA

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  12. I am a GOW and I very much relate to all the experiences mentioned here. I am happy to know that there are people like me:-)

    I divorced a very nasty person. Took four years to get over it. Then I meet an old friend after 15 years who is widowed now. While showing sympathy to him, I fell in love with him. Ours is long distance relationship - I met him 4 times since. We text and call each other every day. There is no communication gap. But....the content of conversation hangs around his past. Even after having a great time for 3 days, once he goes back, his first text will be about how he misses his wife! Gawd! What about the great sex we had for three days?!!!!!!!
    I am frustrated now - competing with his memories and guilt.

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  13. Dear "Miserable in GA",

    A widower (W) who keeps the LW's and his "marital bed where their sons were conceived" has not let go. He may have moved on, but letting go is very different: the former is a natural progression of life, but letting do is a concious act wherein the W CHOOSES to put the past in its PROPER perspective. I believe your W could beneift form therapy or bereavemenrt recovery classes.

    As for having physical relations just to keep "in the game", my advice would be - don't. Don't ever compromise your needs, wants, and desires just to suit a man's. He is using sex as a way to manipulate.

    For more on this, please join The Official WOW/GOW Message Board, located on my wevbsuite at http://www.juliedonnerandersen.com.

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  14. Dear Anonymous of Jan. 9, 2013,

    Obviously, you have, one or more time sin the past allowed your W to talk about his LW without impunity. Perhaps it didn't bother you then; however, many GOWs find that the more they become invested in the relaitonship, the less patient they are about listening to their Ws talk about LW. You are NOT alone! You have rights, so what you must do now is communicate to your W just how his constant LW chat is making you feel. You must make a personal boundary. Use the 3C's (see blog about this communication method here on this site) to work together cooperatively to find a compromise you can both live with.

    For more on this, please join The Official WOW/GOW Message Board at my website, http://www.juliedonnerandersen.com

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  15. I have been dating someone for 2 months now who lost his girlfriend (though to him she was his "wife") to cancer. She passed away about 4 months ago. The first month was great - I felt as if he was really into me, but then after about 4 weeks into dating, he said although he enjoys our time together, he isn't ready for any type of commitment right now. Though he still takes the initiative in communicating with me everyday and getting together every week, I sense that he has taken a step back as the level of affection is not as it was during the first month of seeing each other. He talks about her every time we see each other (apart from only one time) even though it's only for a brief moment. Although I do like him a lot, I am torn on whether I should continue to have patience and see what happens(as he is a good man and I feel he may be worth it) or whether I should end things sooner as opposed to later. I welcome your insight to this situation. Thank you.

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  16. Dear Anonymous of March 15, 2013:

    If it bothers you to hear about LW, then you must do the dutiful thing and communicate with your W about your feelings. For more on this issue, please join the over 2,000 members and me at The Official WOW/GOW Message Board, found at my website (http://www.juliedonnerandersen.com).

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  17. I have a situation that I need advice on. I am in love with his man that I have known for years and we broke up 14 years ago. 3 months ago we finally seen each other after so many years and we are together now. The problem is that his wife died in October of 2012 and for the past couple of weeks I have been hearing about his wife non stopped. This is my 1st time that I have been with a widower. I am 35 years old and my boyfriend continues to call me her name if I speak upon the issue I am getting screamed on and he has a fit. The other day he screamed her name 3x asleep and was looking for me by calling me her. This is getting to me I love him and I am in love with him and I am so confused. What can I do??

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  18. I met my W a month after his wife passed away from ovarian cancer. We became good friends, I'ts been two years since she passed. It's been a long and hard road, dating a W let alone falling in love with one is probably one of the hardest things I've ever been through. He's a good man and has alot of qualities I just love. We are so compatable in so many ways. My past realtionship with my ex was a very abusive, both verbal and physical and I just feel with my W, everything is so different, we actually talk things out and get along so well. I know he will always love his wife and I completely understand that, but what bothers me is when he tells me things about how is wife was a size 3 and well I'm an 11/12, how is wife was a great cook, great at washing his clothes, great at cleaning, I guess I feel like I will never be better than her. I don't feeling this way, but constantly being reminded how great his wife was and she was just everything he ever wanted in a woman, makes me sad. He now lives with me, this just happened about 2 months ago, our relationship is good. I do

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  19. HELP! I am dating a widower. He is possibly the most thoughtful, romantic man I've dated but I'm still trying to manage how I feel about this situation. I've mostly accepted that I would be sharing him with his deceased wife and I'm even OK with talking about her but there is one issue I have....Today, I learned that the headstone for his late wife has his name on it for when he dies. He intends to be buried with her. I am so at odds with my feelings right now that I just don't know how to approach this or what to even think of it. She died 5 years ago and we've only been dating a couple months but I'm not sure if this is a red flag and I should just let him go or if I should say something or if I should just accept it. I'm really hoping that someone with some experience in this arena can give me some advice.

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    1. I understand. My husband is being buried next to his deceased wife which is designed with their weddng date and wedding rings with being together eternally. He stands firm with this. I am also a widow who lost my husband two weeks before he lost his wife. My husband was cremated. My husband says she will always be his wife but I am his wife now. This is extremely painful for me and to the point that I hope I go first so I don't have to be the one to bury him there. His devotion to her is quite strong and as time goes on her memory idealized to sainthood. His 4 grown children have not accepted me while my 6 children have embraced him and their children callin him grandpa. We have been married a year and a half. He was married 42 years before and I 31 years. I only get more depressed with his idealization of her and how I can never be quite as accomplished as her. He professes his love for me but I feel that I am more a fill in for his time now. We have yet to take a trip ourselves for a honeymoon as he feels this is for first time marriages. Our trips are visiting my children. I really need help.

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  20. Wow, friends don't know what you're talking about when you tell them you're dating a widower and that there are issues because of it. So, you're pretty much alone in this situation, except for these stories online.

    I am in the same situation so I don't think I need to tell my story since it's the same as everyone else's. It's amazing to read, over and over, the very same thing!!

    So, my question is: What can you do about him droning on and on about the LW? What can you do about always being compared to the LW? Is it okay to be very direct and tell the W to knock it off - that I'm sick of being the other woman, listening to everything I say be taken back to what she said/did, hearing how perfect she was. Sometimes I think he doesn't even really see me as a person who means anything to him since his LW has his heart.

    I've only been dating him for 2 months and I see a pattern that might last forever. I haven't let myself really fall in love with him, and it's the first time I've ever been involved with a widower. Even though he seems like a great man (compared to so many others that I've dated), I think I need to bolt from this relationship. Because bottom line is - I have a feeling that I will NEVER be #1 to him and that's just not right.

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  21. I am engaged to a W and things are going very well. He is about ten years older, I am in my 40's and he is in his 50's. I have had the run of emotions like everyone, and have been able to handle most situations. The one thing I cannot get past is the fact that his name is on her gravestone. How do others feel about this? It shouldn't matter that much, but I feel paralyzed everytime I think about this subject. They were married 15 years and had no children together. Do I even bring this up?

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  22. Ive been looking for someone to speak to about my relationship with a W and the problems that I have. My story is that we met nearly 2 years ago at a wedding and he totalling whisked me off my feet, his LW had died 9 months previously and for the first months he talked about his LW all the time and every time I spoke about something he would add his story which involved his LW but as I was very understanding and listened to him quite often and helped where I could in being an ear for him and a shoulder to cry on. We became very close very quickly and fell in love, he has 4 grown up children I think the world off and as I understand it they are the same about me and have accepted me into their lives as their dad's partner and are happy for him and our relationship, Unfortunately recently we parted, the fourth time in 2 years where he goes through a withdrawing stage and we fall out. Our last conversation was that he cannot let go of the past and move on, its as though he keeps punishing himself and wont allow himself to be happy and then pushes me away but not right out of his life, he still wants to be good friends, to have all the closeness and friendship but without any commitment. I asked him if he wanted to let go of the past and he said no, I said letting go doesnt mean that he loves his LW any less or that moving on means that he will ever stop loving her or forget her, which I totally understand but he doesnt want to do anything about helping himself sort himself out to move on. I love him and he loves me and said he cant cope without me in his life but only as good friends, should I give up and move on? I really dont know what to do any more please help?

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  23. I am a GOW for about 10 months now. My W has lost a substantial amount of family including his LW within a matter of months of each other so I know the grieving process will be much longer. His LW passed about 8 months prior to us meeting from kidney cancer in which he spent a great deal of him time taking care of her. Don't get me wrong he's a great man and I know he loves me deeply and really tries to be sensitive to my feelings when he talks about her and I understand his grief but when you're called by his LW "pet name" at least once sometimes twice a month it's hurtful. I start to feel that he would rather have her next to him instead of me. I start to feel like I need to measure up to his LW and I can't nor should I have to. I'm just wondering if perhaps we met too soon after his LW's passing...so confused

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  24. I am so glad to have found this site. I've been dating a W for almost 6 months. He's the first man who I have actually thought wanted something real. As with everyone here, the constant reference to "Saint Marci" is getting old. Very old. He lost her 4 years ago.. suicide. She chose to leave him. He still lives in the house where it happened, and still has pictures of her/them all over the house. He has taken 2 down, after I commented on feeling like I was being stared at. (Most of them are in his bedroom!). I know the story of how they built the house with her mother coming to live with them in mind (he still refers to her as "Mom".) I hear how everyone LOVED her (but two of the women I've met who were her GOOD friends both had less than saintly things to say). I know how SMART she was, how THIN she was. He claims he only mentions her when it's something relevant, but that just isn't true. He also still has all of her clothes in the dresser and closet just like she left them. Just when I think I can't take it anymore, he says one of her friends is going to come help him go through her clothes. Still waiting. I love this man. But I am so afraid of having to compete with a memory indefinately. It's hard to explain to my brother, my daughter, my 13 yr old granddaughter who that woman in all of the pictures is. Yes....so confused is exactly how I feel.
    I know this takes time...but it's been 4 years. At what point is it not normal to get his clothes out of the house???
    Heavy hearted.

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  25. I just recently reconnected with a W who I dated 9 years ago. I had to end things back then as he was obviously not ready to move on. We have been spending time together again and I am going through one of the same qwerks all over again. He constantly refers to the LW as "The Wife". How can I get this to stop without hurting any feelings and having my feelings considered? I feel like I am a mistress to his deceased wife.

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  26. Is it normal when the W that I have been dating for 5 months suddenly starts backing off a little?. When we are together its great. Down right fantastic, but then I don't hear from him until a week later. I think he is afraid of pulling me into his world. I want to be in his world and love him but can't quite get past this habit of his. I think it should be plan and simple : If a man even a w wants to be with you they will find time for you. Should I give space or bolt and take this at face value.

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  27. Hi all.
    After ending a bad relationship 5 years ago I decided to take the time so I wouldnt be jumping into another bad relationship. 6 months ago I was reconnected with my Long time love. He has twins and his wife of 4 hours..yes 4 hours has passed. They married on her deathbed to secure he would keep the twins but they had been in a relationship for 6 years before she passed. We are now in a relationship again and everything has been perfect my 3 love him and his 2 love me..so much so he is moving countries to be with us. All sounds perfect but... last week when visiting in London he had a phone call from an old friend who gave his sympathies and as he was telling me about it I was walking up the stairs and he called me his lw name, I froze and must have looked devasted he aplogised profusely but now it's niggling at me...is he ready? Il be honest I couldn't look at him or even talk so after a few hours I walked out and went for a run to clear my head I came back and told him it's ok as he was terrified I wouldn't come back. He's aplogised so many times but it's still there... am I over thinking? Thanks for reading x

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  28. I thought for a second I was being selfish with my thoughts, but after reading a few posting, I quickly realized that there are people out there that is going through the same things as me. I am in a long distance relationship with an old friend who is now a widower with 3 grown children 18,17,10.
    After talking periodically on the phone and we became close. But once we start visiting each other it became very apparent that this individual is not ready to move forward. Every time I attempt to engage said individual in things out of his norm, his first response well "WE" never use to go here or we never do this"
    Secondly, him and I talked about him moving from the apartment him and his decease wife once shared. He agreed and stated he always wanted to do that, minutes after the conversation he voice a million and one excuses why he should stay in the apartment. I was shock so I didn't say anything. But I am concern and uncomfortable being in that apartment. Everything is still in the same position after three years of his wife passing. He has not gotten rid of anything. Not even the bed and pillows. But he expects me to sleep in comfort.
    Thirdly, I notice he is very accommodating with his children. he allow them to do what they want to accommodate for the passing of their mother.
    Fourthly, took me around his friends and family when asked who I am _------------ ------ not my intended girlfriend or a potential girlfriend. Oh the relationship is not officially but yet we are sexually involved.
    The last thing that blew my mind I was at a birthday party held for his dad a few weeks ago. He introduce me as his girl to one person but was showing a few guess his decease wife picture stating this is my wife. My mother who was in attendance at same party witness the entire situation. she spoke to me and I didn't know how to act. I told my partner days after the party. I felt he is putting me in a position where I feel as if I am competing with his dead wife. Please tell me am I over acting or being selfish.....

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  29. I have been dating a wonderful man for 5+ years. When I met him, his wife was gone from cancer for 6 years. He claims they had a great marriage and had 2 children together. 3 months after I started dating him, his daughter (age 31) got diagnosed with cancer and passed away 4 months later. He has one son left (now 33) who is very socially delayed and quirky. I was in a bad marriage with someone who cheated on me and didn't want to be in the relationship. We stuck it out for 28 years for the sake of our 2 children who are now grown and independent. There are tons of things in his house from his life with his wife, including clothes, makeup, shoes, pictures and of course all of her decorations. He claims he loves me but I realize I will always be probably #3 after his son and himself. At this stage of life (56), I want to be my partner's #1. He asked me to help sort and get rid of his wife's things, but of course won't let anyone get anywhere near his daughter's things. When I was going through the wife's makeup drawers and saw the huge redundancy and material waste, I got upset. I guess he loved her so much he did not care what she spent or what she did. They had the means but it still makes no sense to me that someone would be so wasteful and spend so much. Not sure why I was bothered so much by this. Can anyone offer me some ideas? I thought maybe I am jealous that I was never loved like she was and not sure if I will ever be by this man. He has experienced so much loss, I'm not sure he can fully love me. He didn't like that I mentioned it and was bothered by it. I too am tired of always hearing stories about his wife but not sure what his response will be if I mention it. I guess it is okay for him to speak of his W because she is gone and he loved her, but I can't talk of my ex because I am divorced and he wasn't nice to me or honest. He also is so unnaturally connected to his very immature son and my 2 sons are so independent and on their own paths. I know everyone has baggage but it is hard to compete with the deified dead wife. Don't know if I should call it quits or just accept that I will be loved but not like he loved his wife.

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  30. Hi everyone,
    I have been dating a widower for nearly 20 months, he is the same age as me, his wife died 9 years ago & I never knew her.
    I am quite a sympathetic person & always support people with their problems however after hearing about the LW day in day out from him for 3 months & especially late at night on the telephone (when he'd had a drink) I'd had enough.
    I felt he took my dympathy too far & I refused to answer the phone for over a day, he obviously realised something was wrong & asked the advice of my friend (who was very supportive).
    We have come quite a way but sometimes he is quite impulsive & not always rational, I feel I have done a lot of giving but sometimes I feel like #1.
    Iv had my own grief coming out of a psychologically toxic relationship & feel that my pain is not always acknowledged.
    I have had to run the gauntlet of the relatives immortalising her on social media, the friends partners openly comparing me to her & some of his extended family going on about her in my company.
    I hate being compared to someone else, I refuse to be in competition with a ghost, I have stood my ground & although I let things go the first time these instances happen, I refuse to be submitted to it a second time.
    I feel at times I am taken for granted & put up with things she wouldn't have done, this is when I reflect & become anxious. Why should I come second best?
    Iv spent sometime in his home recently & although he no longer has pictures of her everywhere (his choice not mine) & he has removed a lot of items that he no longer needs, he still has her suitcase & other items which no one will ever use.
    I am frightened that I am just a replacement & I can't manage with the situation.
    He is very affectionate & strong but I really struggle at times.
    He has asked me to marry him but I'm not sure I want to anymore.

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  31. Am still last on his list and i've been married to a w for 14 years his wife has been died 17 + years and he still celebrates all there special days and never mine or ours together he doesnt even remember our kids that we have together talk about a good slap in the face and stab in our hearts

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  32. I have just split with a W because I couldn't cope with constant reference to his wife, who died 8 or 9 years ago now.

    When we met two and a half years ago he had had bereavement counselling as he couldn't get over his grief and he considered himself ready to move on in a relationship.

    That didn't stop him talking constantly about his wife, as though the very name would soothe him. I counted at one point he mentioned her 34 times in one day. He wore their wedding and engagement rings on a chain around his neck and once even made love to me with the sound of them tinkling in my ear. I was so upset then that I wanted to split, but he removed the rings and we went on to have a good relationship for a couple of years. There are still photos of his dead wife all over his house and he constantly uses 'we' when I think he should be saying 'I' and refers to his home as 'ours' rather than 'mine'. My birthday is never celebrated but I hear of which restaurants Dead Wife was taken to. I began to feel like a second class citizen when I wanted to be made to feel special.

    The crunch came out of something trivial really. I had seen some pearls at a car boot sale some six weeks ago but thought they were too expensive but looked back periodically to see if the same trader was there and last week I managed to buy the necklace at a good price, so was really pleased and chatted to him about them. He took the wind right out of my sails when he started talking about Dead Wife's pearls and where they bought them on Jersey. I was so deflated and I knew right then that time will change nothing and the only way to take was out.

    I am not sure I ever want a relationship now but it certainly won't be with a widower.

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  33. I stumbled on this while trying to figure out how to pen an email to my widower husband. I am simply tired, I am tired of let's go visit this one or that one and it becomes a trip down his and her memory lane. Let's go on vacation here...oh and let me tell you about when X and I were here it was the best time I ever had. Can't go to Hawaii because "that's a once in a lifetime vacation and X and I went there. So over this

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  34. I’m feeling so much empathy for the people here - both sides - but I just wish I had know ahead of time, the extent of feeling less than and “second” being in a relationship with a widower for almost 3 years now. I have my place (I rent and am divorced and basically renting a tiny place on a big property - what I can afford!) he has his own home 15 minutes away, two grown children still living there, all her pics on walls, her things her kitchen her plants basically her house still- and he spends every single night at my house and I do not or am not at his house at all. His sons are fighting and have gotten physical with each other - and I just don’t want to be there) they should move and he’s told them to go and be adults, but nothing changes. I have no alone time and yet he does and goes there to “clean” and empty out the basement - says he wants to sell his house and buy one to live with me. I am tired of the same things - hearing about their vacations and stories I just am not wanting to hear. Got into his truck on Valentine’s Day, went to put a bag into the back and saw old silk flowers like he had gone and decorated her grave for Valentine’s Day and i felt like I couldn’t say a word, but this is just not sitting well with me. Not only do I feel like a heel for the way it makes me feel, I can’t even say anything without sounding stupid and petty. He says he loves me, they had a strained relationship from ALL the stories I’ve had to hear over and over, but they were married for 35 years, 3 kids and I just think I need someone to love me and make me feel like I am not only there because someone dead. Help ��

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