MONTHLY TOPIC
Choosing the Gift of Your Life
Our March 2023 topic is found under our Spiritual Health Pillar of Healthy Widowhood. Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor gives a preview of this month’s video:
This month we contemplate the gift of choosing life after loss. For all of us, losing our partner or spouse was not a choice — but becoming a unit with them was. So, in widowhood, standing solo without them returns us to choosing for ourselves how we will proceed.
In early widowhood, it doesn’t feel like we are choosing anything except to do what is hard and necessary, taking care of the end of life planning for the person we loved. However, a time will come when that will slow down, come to an end, and we will be in life on our own.
It is in this moment that we have choices to make for ourselves that impact our future trajectory, which is worth contemplating in a deeper way.
By finding our innate courage, we will feel all hope is not lost. When we remain open to releasing any self-limiting beliefs about ourselves it can be liberating. When we learn how grief is passing through our bodies, minds, and souls, we can discover a way to let it keep passing through us and not getting stuck.
Click below to watch Carolyn’s video about our monthly topic.
LEGENDARY WIDOW ROLE MODEL
Helena Znaniecki Lopata
Our March 2023 Legendary Widow Role model is sociologist, educator, and author Helena Znaniecki Lopata, most renowned for her research on women homemakers, receiving acclaim for her 1971 book Occupation: Housewife. When Helena was later challenged to write about aging, her research led to two groundbreaking books, Widowhood in an American City (1973) and Women as Widows: Support Systems (1979).
Born October 1, 1925, in Poznan, Poland, Helena and her American-born mother fled to the United States when Germany invaded. After graduating high school, Helena received a PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and was a professor at Loyola University in Chicago until her retirement in 1997.
In 1946, after marrying business consultant Richard Lopata, she moved to suburbia to be a housewife and new mother. She said her mother advised her to “study where you are,” so she studied the housewives she met and based Occupation: Housewife on that research.
Role theory dominated Helena’s research, approaching the study of widowhood in terms of role loss — the ending of stable patterns of interactions and shared activity. She linked role loss and identity change, and examined the personal resources used by women in adapting to widowhood. Her final book, Current Widowhood: Myths and Realities, was written two years after her own widowhood. She acknowledged the importance of widowhood research in helping to eliminate the stereotype of the limited, suffering, and dependent widow, noting that the real image of widowhood is much more complicated and varied.
In 1994, Helena’s husband of 50 years passed away. When asked which aspects of her own widowhood had most surprised her, she said, “the extent and breadth of the emotions and sentiments in the process.”
During her career, Helena was elected to the presidencies of several organizations, published 20 books and numerous articles, and received many awards and honors.
Helena died in Wisconsin at age 77 on February 12, 2003.
Read about our other Legendary Widow Role Models here.
COMMUNITY LAUNCH
Our Virtual Community in Spanish is Launching!
Modern Widows Club is excited to announce the launch of our Virtual Community in Spanish. The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 4.
Modern Widows Club se complace en anunciar el lanzamiento de nuestra comunidad virtual en español, un grupo de apoyo para viudas. La primera sesión empieza el 4 de marzo.
We’d like to introduce you to our Community Advocate, Marisela M. She is an author, podcaster, speaker, and passionate Ph.D. student researcher who loves to advocate for widowed women. In 2018, Mari experienced the overload losses of her father and husband and the miscarriage of her second child while needing to take care of her 13-month-old baby. Her losses are the inspiration and the passion at the core of her work, from writing books to sharing helpful resources to going back to school and obtaining a Ph.D. in psychology with her research focusing on grief and posttraumatic growth. Mari is an MWC WEE speaker and is a part of the research team with the Modern Widows Club. Mari is passionate about empowering women and the Hispanic Community by sharing resources to help them navigate widowhood.
Nos gustaría presentarle a nuestra representante de la comunidad, Marisela M. Ella es autora, presentadora, y estudiante de doctorado, que ayuda a las mujeres viudas en proviniendo diferentes recursos pare ayudarles con el duelo. En el 2018, Mari perdió a su padre, esposo y el aborto espontáneo de su segundo hijo mientras necesitaba cuidar a su bebé de 13 meses. Sus pérdidas son la inspiración y la pasión en el centro de su trabajo, desde escribir libros hasta compartir recursos y obtener un doctorado en psicología con su investigación centrada en el duelo y el crecimiento postraumático. Mari es presentadora del MWC WEE y forma parte del equipo de investigación para ayudar a viudas con Modern Widows Club. A Mari le apasiona empoderar a las mujeres y a la comunidad hispana al compartir recursos para ayudarlas a superar la viudez.
To learn more about attending our Virtual Community in Spanish, click below or email espanol@modernwidowsclub.org.
Para obtener más información sobre cómo asistir a nuestra comunidad virtual en español, haga clic en el botón de abajo o manda un correo electrónico a espanol@modernwidowsclub.org.
#WEE2023VIRTUAL
Meet Our WEE 2023 Virtual Speakers
Throughout March and April on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, join Modern Widows Club Founder Carolyn Moor LIVE for a discussion with each of our WEE 2023 Virtual speakers!
These conversations will be a fantastic opportunity to learn more about our speakers, the powerful work they do, and the topics they’ll be discussing at WEE 2023 Virtual.
Interview dates will be announced soon on all of our social media channels. There’s no need to register to watch. Just mark your calendar and join us live on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube for these great discussions.
If you’d like to learn more about WEE 2023 Virtual, or to register, click below.
#GIVING
Special Perks for MWC Recurring Donors
Did you know that when you become a recurring monthly donor to Modern Widows Club, you’ll receive special perks throughout the year?
Almost all of our programs and services are offered at no charge so that every widow who comes to us can receive the support she needs. As a nonprofit organization, though, we’re reliant on our community for support. None of our efforts would be possible without the help of those who give.
If you’re not already a monthly donor, would you please consider becoming one? Your recurring charitable gift will help us continue providing services to widows worldwide.
As a way of thanking you, recurring donors who give $10 or more each month will receive some great perks throughout the year, including discounted registration for our 2023 Widow Empowerment Event in St. Louis this September, free attendance at Carolyn Moor’s Coach-a-Thon events, special giveaways, discounted registration for our Widow Empowerment School of Thought self-paced e-courses, and more.
We’re grateful for your support — it truly makes a difference in the life of a widow.
If you’re already a recurring monthly donor, our sincere thanks! You’ll receive these special perks too.
#WIDOWSMATTER
There’s Still Time to Take our Widowhood Survey!
If you’re a widowed woman and you haven’t yet participated in our widowhood survey, will you please take 15 minutes to complete it?
As part of our commitment to listening to those who are struggling in widowhood and spotlighting the great invisible needs of widowed women, we’ve collaborated with Washington University in St. Louis to develop a widowhood research database.
There are millions of unseen, unsupported, and unmeasured widows around the world, and your survey responses will help both organizations better understand their challenges, health, and well-being.
Thank you for your time. It truly makes a difference.
MWC BOOK CLUB
Join Us for Our March Book Club
Our virtual Book Club for widows meets on Zoom the third Monday of each month. Our next meeting is March 20 at 8pm ET, when we’ll be discussing A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis.
A classic work on grief, the book is a reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss, written by C.S. Lewis after the passing of his wife.
Lyn Kienholz, MWC Program Director, shares a favorite meaningful quote from the book:
“Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.”
Click below to sign up for our Book Club, then come join us later this month for a thoughtful discussion.