Embark on a 16-year journey of healing and transformation with Laura Cross, a remarkable woman who has navigated the complexities of widowhood and emerged stronger than ever. In this episode, Laura shares her deeply personal story of loss, resilience, and self-discovery, offering a unique perspective on the long-term impact of grief and the ongoing process of healing. She discusses the challenges and triumphs she has experienced along the way, the importance of self-care, and the transformative power of community and connection. Tune in to discover how Laura’s journey can inspire hope and empower other widows to embrace their own paths toward well-being. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others. Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   From Loss To Self-Discovery: A Widow’s 16-Year Path To Wellbeing With Laura Cross Our guest is Laura Cross, an Air Force veteran and dynamic owner of White Sands Premier Travel with an unwavering dedication to promotional self-care and personal growth. She Founded White Sand Self-Care and serves as the dedicated host of the popular TV show. Mindful Mondays with Laura Cross. Laura’s dedication lies in creating a vibrant self-care community that offers invaluable education, resources, connections, and opportunities for collaboration. At the helm of the White Sand Self-Care community group on Facebook, she empowers individuals to lead their best lives. Let’s get into this conversation.     Laura, welcome to the show. Thank you. Life’s Too Short: Redefining Priorities After Loss People say thank you, but what do you think when you hear welcome to the widowhood? I appreciate the opportunity of being able to be here and share my story or my experience and stuff with people. What of your experience made this seem like a good match for you when you heard about this conversation Widowhood Real Talk with Tina? Unfortunately, there are a lot of us who go through it and experience it, and it’s not always an easy challenge. Everybody thinks that you get a lot of those people that think that, “You should snap out of it or get over it,” or other people think you know that you take too long. It’s a conversation that we don’t normally talk about. It’s something we keep to ourselves, but it’s something that we should talk about because I am sure there are others out there who are struggling and trying to get on with their life or however you want to put it, reinvent your life. Start over for me. I felt like I was almost starting all over. That is very true and I like that there are different terms. People get hung up on “It’s not moving on, it’s moving forward. It’s not getting on with my life and continuing living.” Just as this grief journey is unique. The way we articulate it for ourselves is a unique experience. I have one widow, Andrea. She says Grief is similar and grief is different, and I believe that’s so true. Every time I have a conversation with someone, their spouse may have transitioned from this world, they may say transition, died, passed away. At the end of the road, they are no longer here and you are trying to continue to live. I feel like sometimes people get too wrapped up in argumentative about a word that means the same thing and we are trying to get to the same place. I love that you had different versions of that. Would you share your late husband’s name with us? It was Randy Cross and it all comes down to your beliefs, your background, cultures. I have found being more open-minded and listening to other people’s perspectives, sometimes you think about it. It gives you another way to look at things than the way I may have looked at it originally. I agree with you. My perspective of life changed so much when my husband passed. Life is short. We say this statement, but when someone close to you passes, the fragileness of life becomes very real. You realize how much you believe and how much you don’t know what happens, but what I have come to terms with how I show up now, the spaces I’m given with people are important, and if I don’t take what and do well with that, what am I doing with the life I have been given?     It took me a lot of years, but I was the same as you with the whole process. That’s my whole thing is life’s too short to be doing this. One of those things was like when I was working for someone and because of what I have gotten paid, I realized I didn’t have to go work and answer to somebody, but I used to be that person who would always be there no matter what snowstorm. They were the ones that I could count on. After he died, it was like, “No. I’m not risking my life to go if 10 million other people don’t show up. I’m not showing up.” You start putting value on different things and realizing that what you’ve been doing, although it may be admirable, it’s not always necessary. There are other things that are more important. You bring up a good point. The perspective of work, what we value, what we spend our time with. You said it took you some time to get there. When did your husband transition from this world and what was your journey like getting to the place of understanding that for you? That would be December 21st, 2004. Approximately 10:00 PM at night. We were laughing at lunch. He was