Joy's Story

It was the afternoon of  May 4nd, 2010, I was in the funeral home, and my life had just changed forever. 

I had just lost the love of my life, and I wasn’t sure about what came next. 

I awoke at 3am in the early morning hours of May 2 to the sounds of my husband in distress. By 5am, I was a widow.  I was numb. It didn’t feel real. It wasn’t until I was sitting in the funeral home, answering questions I didn’t think I’d be answering this early in life, I was only 64. 

The grief that followed was excruciating. There were days the tears wouldn’t stop. My home felt so empty, I was lost. Having family close by helped, but it was the hours when no one was around that were the worst. That fog lasted months. 

It wasn’t until I started doing the small things myself. Paying the bills, cutting the grass, shovelling the driveway that the cloud started to lift and I found a sense of belief. Belief that I could do this on my own, that I could enjoy whatever time I have left as my story wasn’t finished…NOT YET!

As a couple we loved to travel. So, 3 months after his passing, I boarded a flight to Halifax to attend a wedding. 5 months after that I was on a plane to Wales. I wasn’t about to miss out on life. 

Over the past 16 years, I have battled with cancer and won, have had both shoulders replaced, and also continued traveling. More visits to Halifax and Wales, but also Israel, Ireland, Newfoundland, along with car trips to Virginia and Florida. More recently, I celebrated my 80th birthday with a trip with my 2 sons to England and Wales to visit my late husband's family. If it was my last trip, it was worth every moment. 

I have more recently announced to the family that it is my goal to reach 100. It is my goal to see my grandchildren grow and have kids of their own and for me to be a GG, a Great Granny. We will see what life has to say about that as I am slowing down a bit. But I’m not going to sit around and wait. My story isn’t finished…NOT YET.