I had such a great discussion with Melissa Gould for this episode. Melissa is the author of the brand-new memoir, Widowish, in which she shares with us her journey to becoming a young widow, and her life in the years since. It was so fun to talk with Melissa about her book, and discover the similarities – and differences – in our experiences.

Some topics Melissa and I discuss include:

• Melissa's new memoir, Widowish … and why she named it that;
• Her husband Joel's diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and their years of dealing with that;
• The odd symptoms he came down with several years later, and the three weeks he was in the hospital before he died;
• Melissa's reflections on her first months as a widowed person and widowed parent;
• Feeling like she couldn't relate to other widowed people at first;
• Starting to write about her experience as a widow a few years later, and realizing how healing it was for her;
• Pulling together a group of younger widowed people for social gatherings;
• Beginning to date the neighborhood guitar teacher, who would become her new love; and
• Melissa's reflections on starting a new love in midlife, and how it can be different from love the first time around.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Melissa Gould.

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