E3: Christina Napoleon "The Positive Widow"

After the loss of her husband, Christina Napoleon describes her life in two distinct phases: B.C. (Before Cancer) and the challenging period that followed, which she refers to as her time on "Grief Island." During this time, she also mourned the profound loss of both her parents. When existing grief support groups didn’t provide the help she needed, Christina took the initiative to create her own community, eventually founding “The Positive Widow”. Understanding that healing is not always a smooth or joyful process, she developed a four-step Hope Philosophy to guide others. As a certified grief coach, Christina emphasizes that widows can honor their loved ones by carrying them in their hearts with greater love and less pain, using what she calls a “Soul Map” to navigate through the darkness in a society that often struggles with addressing grief. In this episode, she also talked about creating “The Power of One”, which is part of her innovative Grief Relief Program, a safe and supportive Sisterhood she designed to empower widows to move forward with renewed courage and purpose. Christina’s commitment to supporting widows extends to her popular book and Facebook page, both named “The Positive Widow.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hi, this is your host, Dale Josie, and welcome to another episode of Lost in a Transformative Life, highlighting real-life stories of hope and sharing strategies useful to other widows facing similar challenges. And hopefully pointing other widows to valuable resources designed to inspire connection and optimism. Speaking of optimism, that brings us a perfect intro to our guest for today. Our guest today is Christina Napoleon, author of the bestseller Positive Widow. Welcome to Lost and Transformative Life, Christina. How are you today?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me here today. Thank you for this opportunity to raise spousal awareness. Loss.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Well, absolutely, you know, and what I like about your approach versus other widows, and what caught my eye when I'm doing research for this series, it's also available on podcasts, wherever listeners enjoy podcasts, be it Apple, iHeart, Amazon, wherever, is the idea of going to the positive widow, whereas everybody goes to the other side. So what linked you to uh to this whole idea of being a positive widow, especially after losing Roger? So you have experienced loss and heartbreak. Yet you're a positive widow. What's going on?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

I decided to go in a different direction because I joined all these widow groups online on Facebook, and it was a world of darkness. And I entered those groups with full of optimism and hope and praying that okay, this is gonna be the group, this is gonna be where I can connect with other sisters and they understand my journey. And oh, it was it was not good. They were shaming each other as widows. Um, they were not kind, and I decided, you know what, I'm gonna create my own group and I'm gonna write my own book. And I decided to go in a very different direction. And I wanted to let everyone know that just because I called it the positive widow, it doesn't mean that's all about rainbows and sunshine, even though I do live in Florida and all of my lives and my beach walks are always right there at the beach. Um, there are days that I struggled getting out of bed, but I learned how to get through those days and with healing tools and grief tips. And that's what that's the reason why I called it the positive widow is I decided one day on the beach that I no longer wanted to stay in that darkness. I no one no longer wanted to be at the bottom of that darkest, darkest pit of the ocean floor. I wanted to learn how to swim through those grief waves, make it back to the other side of the shore, and learn how to feel joy in my heart again. So it didn't mean that I was going to be joyful every day or have open positivity every day, but I made that decision that I wanted to live with joy once again in my life. And I deserved that.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Well, you know, when you say deserve that joy, uh you did have joy in the beginning when you and Roger were married. And then I think you said about eight years in, uh, he contracted cancer and passed away. So you know both sides of joy, you know, the highs and the lows. What's the difference between the joy that you have now versus the joy that you had when you and you and Roger said I do?

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Whoa, that's a tough question, Dale. You're catching me off guard right away. With Roger, um, actually, he fought cancer for almost five years.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Well, five years, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

No, that's okay. So we were only two years into our marriage when he was diagnosed with uh stage four cancer. Um, and I call it before cancer. So there's BC and then there's AC after cancer. And BC, my life was all innocence, just pure innocence, joy, excitement, carefree. I'm gonna grab my purse, get in the car with my little girl and my husband. We're gonna go on road trips. But then after he passed away, I learned what anxiety was. I started to learn what panic attacks were, and I had to work so hard through my grief journey to start to feel glimmers of joy. They didn't come easy before when I was married to Roger, before cancer, every day there was joy in my heart. I loved my husband. We had a beautiful marriage, we had a beautiful little girl. But after he passed away, unless you really work through your grief, you're gonna stay attached to that sorrow and you're not gonna let those glimmers of joy come up because you're gonna let the guilt push it down.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

So that's that's that's a quite a statement because you actually say in your book and in some of your writings, you said you are living alone on an island of grief.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

That's powerful writing.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yes, yes, and it's a true statement. And what I learned is even as I was, I call it shopping, I was shopping for grief counselors and grief therapists. Um, and I realized quickly that unless they experience spousal loss, um, they have all the book smarts, the clinical study knowledge and backgrounds. But if unless they really understood what it was like to lose a spouse, they really could not understand. Christina, why can't you get out of bed? And I would leave my sessions and I would run into the car and I would start bawling. And I'm like, what is wrong with me? Like, am I failing as a widow now too? You know, like why are they the questioning me? Why am I? I felt judged as a widow. And I started to judge myself as a widow. And um, in my book, I wanted to let everyone know that there is no timeline in grief. And I even go through the different phases of grief, and I also share what not to say and what you should say to a widow who is grieving. So many times I wanted them to just say Roger's name, and nobody would say his name. And it would make me so sad, and that further isolated me on that island of grief because I started to withdraw. And then later I found out that they didn't want to say his name to me because they didn't want to remind me that he died. And I'm like, but I wake up every morning without him, I go to bed every night without him. I don't need any reminders that he died. I feel that ache, that loss, raising my little girl alone now. So it's unfortunate we still live in such an uneducated grief society.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah, because I mean I I agree with everyone else, with the majority, right? If your husband has passed, I'm not gonna walk in and say, How is he? I'm gonna try to direct the conversation to anything else but to him. But yet you're saying that you wanted, but you he he was always there. So you're like, let's talk about it, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:10

I wanted everyone to talk about it. I wanted to hear the stories from college that maybe he never shared with me. I wanted my daughter to hear stories about him that she never heard from him herself. So yeah, I I welcome that. I just wanted, I wanted somebody to say his name. I wanted to know that his life still matters.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Well, where were you where were the moments when you felt supported, or what helped you the most in the early days after losing Roger?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

What helped me the most in my early days was walking. And I write about this in the book. I call it the power of one. Oh, this is a tough one. I struggled getting out of bed. I was a robot for my little girl. She was only six years old when Roger passed away. She just started first grade 10 days after his passing. And I would have to drop her off at the bus stop. And I would drive back home and I would see all these couples. I live in Southwest Florida, retirement capital of the United States, and they're walking hand in hand or the husband's arms around his wife. They're in retirement years, and it would be such a reminder that I'm not going to retire. I'm not going to be able to grow old with my husband. And I would drive home and then I would pull into the driveway. And I didn't even want to open up the garage door because he used to be waiting for me in the kitchen with his arms out, welcoming. And I would just run into my bed and I would spray one of his white t-shirts with his cologne, hold his pitcher, and just stay in bed and cry. I didn't know how to get out of bed. So one of the support systems was a brand new friend that helped me because I would forget to wash Emma's uniforms. I would forget to pack her lunch. I, Widow's Fog is so real. Unless you're in our widow's shoes, it's so hard to describe what widow's fog is all about, but you become very forgetful. You become very fatigued, exhausted. And I would just stay in bed and cry. And then I realized I need to get out. I need to get out of the house. And I started the power of one and I told myself I need to go back walking. I used to love walking. And I'm like, just go out. I bargained with myself. I made I negotiated with myself. And I used to all you have to do, Christina, is go outside for one minute, walk for one minute, and then you can come back and go back to sleep. And I failed the first morning. You would not believe how heavy those sneakers felt. How heavy it was to just try to tie up your shoelaces when you're so grief strucken. So I'm like, okay, I gotta try it again the next morning. I got outside and for the first time I saw that the sky was blue. I could smell the grass and I could see that it was green again because I was in that dark, dark bedroom, curtains shut, head under the pillows. I didn't want to see the sunshine. But as I forced myself to get out of the house for one minute, then I started to see it all again. And I added one more minute every day. So by the end of the month, I was walking 30 minutes. So that's what really helped me.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

So you talk about like starting off in baby steps, right? And that's just and I think we minimize that. And let me finish that thought real quick is that not only the baby steps for you to get out of bed, but you also had Emma, your daughter. Yes. Right. So you didn't have the luxury, if you will, of just burrowing into the bed. Life is pulling you, saying, Christina, we still gotta go. So how do you go? I guess you're saying now that's how you did it was one step at a time. Baby steps.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

I talk about baby steps all the time. I mean I even say there's no way I could be where I'm at today without baby steps. I had to take it very, very slow. And I started to um meet new people because unfortunately, with loss, you start to lose friends and family that you thought were going to be there for you. The ones that you really, really thought were going to be there for you, all of a sudden are no longer there for you. And so for the support system for me, I had, like I said, a new mom that I've never known. She helped me out with Emma and she got me out of bed sometimes. And she was the one who actually helped me start packing up his personal belongings. Dale, I cannot tell you how hard that is to pack up your loved ones' personal belongings. I would be in his closet and I would like go through his suit jackets and I would find a like, you know, his mints or just his little sturst that he used to give to Emma, and I would just break down crying. I could not pack up his stuff. It was so hard. And she, Alisa was her name, she came up with the system. We're gonna do yes, no, and a maybe pile. And that gave me permission. Okay, I don't have to do this all right now. I don't have to donate everything. I can say yes, definitely. We I don't need that. No, I'm keeping this, and then maybe I'll donate that in the future. But that is one of the hardest challenges in my widowhood community that they talked about is when do you let go of some of his stuff?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

That's gotta be extremely difficult because that is uh certainly putting a a period on on the reality that you're acknowledging already, right? That your husband's gone. But now when you start getting rid of their things, you know, that's gotta be the hardest part. So uh when you talk about uh getting rid of a lot of Roger's things, what did you keep uh that is perhaps as part of a new ritual or a new tradition that you refuse to give up?

SPEAKER_00 13:00

What I finally one way that I was able to let go of some things was finding a charity. Um he worked in banking, he was in finance, and he had so many custom tailored suits, beautiful suits. And it was finally when I donated them to a charity for young men who didn't have money to buy the suits to go for job interviews. And I felt like every time one of them is wearing his suits, he's right there with I'm gonna start to cry.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

That's all right. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

He's right there with them, like pumping them up, giving them, you know, motivation and everything. Um, so that was one way that I was able to make the donations was finding a purpose for it, finding a cause and a way for to for me to continue his legacy with each suit that was being donated. Um, it's it's just really, really hard to come up with any system when you're grieving. And if you don't have the support that you need from friends and from my groups that I created, you're gonna just get lost in your grief journey and not find a way to hold on to the things that you really need to and learn the things that you have to let go of. And for me, what I kept that I wanted to was for Emma's purpose. I wanted her to know that her daddy loved motorcycle riding. I kept his motorcycle jacket, I kept his helmet, um, I kept, of course, all of his love letters. He was so romantic, and he probably would be so mad right now if I shared this on the podcast. He never wanted me to tell anybody how romantic he was. But after he passed away, I found so many of his books with letters hidden in between because he had time with his cancer diagnosis. Um, he didn't pass away suddenly. He had time to write letters to me, write letters to Emma, and he hid them in books. He even hid them in one of his art easels. I found another love letter. And what was so beautiful is in one of his books, um, he wrote on the side as if Emma in the future, when she reads those books, his own thoughts so that she could feel like she's reading it with her daddy. Very thoughtful. He was so thoughtful.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

That's extremely thoughtful. And just to kind of uh uh put a line in the sand, if you will, uh, how long ago did Roger get his angel fling?

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Ten years ago.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Well, 10 years ago. So 10 years ago post. Um, so you know, one of the things we're gonna talk a little bit about what you created in your book, uh The positive widow, you talk about uh creating a widow's wisdom box. So we're gonna get to that in just a minute. And but I want to ask you right now before we get there, are there any significant milestones in that 10-year period that you really look back on, you're thinking I wish I had done this or that milestone. I reached that milestone. I wish I'd gotten there sooner because that helped me to do X.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

That is such a great question. Oh my goodness. Um I wish I had just immersed myself more in understanding grief. I buried it, I pushed it down, I suppressed it. I wanted to be a robot for Emma, and I didn't let her, I didn't know that it was okay for her to see me cry. I would wait for her to go to bed at night and then take a shower and cry so hard in the shower all by myself because I thought she shouldn't see that I'm crying. And I just wish I had known more about grief and how important it is to feel. If you don't feel, you're not going to be on a journey of healing. You can't heal what you don't feel. And it wasn't until I went through grief education training that I started to really understand a lot more like, oh, I'm what I was going through is normal. I wasn't going crazy. And so that's one thing I really wish I had just immersed myself a little bit earlier. And they say research shows that it takes five to eight years for somebody that is grieving to ask for help. And I'm one of those statistics, unfortunately. And so with my clients now, with my widow clients, and I write about this in my book too, um, everybody says year two is harder. And I want to comment on that because yes, year two can be harder because in year one, our brain protects us with this beautiful wisdom of numbness. It knows that we can only take in so much pain and it protects us from any more pain that we can take in.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

So for year two, all that numbness starts to wear off. And now you're moving into awareness and understanding he is not coming back home. So year two can be harder, but if you have my book or other grief resources or my grief coaching programs, you will see that if you're connected to the right sisterhood and the grief tools and the healing tools that I share, you will have 50% more healing because you're understanding it already without having to suffer through year two being the hardest year of your grief journey.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

And I think as part of that, and by the way, for folks who joined us uh perhaps midway through this interview, uh this is Dale Josie. And uh I'm the host of Lost and Transformative Life podcast series. My guest today is Christina Napoleon, who's author of the bestseller Positive Widow. Christina, one of the things I like uh you know when you talk about this progression that you've had, and we alluded to it a minute ago, uh, you created something called a widow's wisdom box. What exactly is that, and how is that helpful?

SPEAKER_00 18:55

So when I wrote my book, I knew I was so intentional with this. I I'm a widow writing for another widow because we talked about widows fog earlier. There was no way I could read a book. There, I couldn't even pay, I wouldn't remember what page I was on. I wouldn't remember what I even read. So when I wrote my book, I wrote it with the intention that you don't have to read every page to get through my book. You can go right to my widow's wisdom box um and pull out whatever it is that you specifically are struggling with. If you're struggling with anxiety, you can go to the table of contents and you can find anxiety. And I share tips, self-care, everything that you can move through to help you get through that anxiousness because the fear of the unknown really creates a lot of anxiety in us as widows.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

And um, I talk a lot about you call the soul map.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

The soul map is um, so I created also like the peaceful mornings or peaceful evenings and hopeful mornings. And it's practical tasks because as widows, again, we forget we're we're so fatigued, we're so exhausted, we're so forgetful. I would have to like staple little reminders on my purse, like I needed milk for my daughter, and staple it to my purse to remember because I would forget everything. And I would forget to brush my teeth at night, I would forget to floss, I would forget to, I mean, I could tell you a lot of embarrassing things that happened when I became a widow because all those practical tools that I knew before loss, they all went out the window because the exhaustion came in. And I would just be so thankful to get into bed in sheer exhaustion that I didn't care about washing my face. I didn't know did I drink water today? Did I even eat? I didn't know. So I created those soul maps to have little practical checklists to make sure that, oh my gosh, I didn't drink water. I better go upstairs and grab a glass of water. I came from the world of corporate, where everything was like to the T checklist. I walked into the office, my assistant would say, Here's your checklist. We can't close the office until everything is checked off. But the night my husband died, nobody gave me a checklist and said, This is the first step. These are the steps you need to take as you enter widowhood. And if you were a caregiver and you enter widowhood, you're entering widowhood so exhausted already from being a caregiver.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

So you know, you talk about being an authentic grief guide. Uh, how did how did that happen? And was that before? Did that did that help you write your book? And we're gonna go to your book in a minute, The Positive Widow. But how did that influence your writing so that you actually encountered other widows, I gather, and also reflecting on your own experience? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

So the okay so God actually called on me in church and I you know I know not everyone understands it and I know not everyone may be a believer but I could never have gotten through my grief journey without knowing that God has got me knowing that when I was really really troubled late at night and those thoughts were racing and my heart was pounding and I didn't know what was going to happen to me. Am I gonna make is my daughter going to become an orphan? Am I having a heart attack? I could turn to God and I could pray and prayer really helped me get through the darkest days of my life. And then it was after my so my husband died then my mom died and then my dad died. And it was a few months after my dad died that I went to church and I was so lost Dale. I mean now I was no longer a wife now I was no longer a daughter and who am I now? You know I really truly lost my identity and I was sitting in church and I was crying. Emma was upstairs in Sunday school and Pastor Micah was talking about Moses and how he didn't feel qualified. And that's how I felt and I'm like what? And I didn't listen and because I wasn't listening I kept stumbling in my grief journey and having anxiety attacks having panic attacks ending up in the ER and then when I finally understood what God's calling was then I embraced my grief I embraced grief education and it was through my grief education training that the idea of writing a book is how it started. And I wanted to turn my pain into purpose and help pain into purpose. Yep help a lot of widows out there I could be on Facebook I could be on Instagram or TikTok but writing the book meant I could reach widows worldwide and it has.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

So yes yeah well well then let's talk about the book because we're there now this is how you got to the book it's a really pretty cover the the positive widow it's a collection you're welcome collection of uh different different uh poems and poetry to help folks through what I submit is one of the darkest night if not the darkest nights of the soul and um Christine I'm gonna ask you to read one or two of your favorite poems from that book um and as you and as you turn to that page um you also created a process called a simple four-step hope process to help folks get through the challenging times and you've actually walked it out yourself. So what is the hope process?

SPEAKER_00 24:35

So my four step hope philosophy is actually how my book um came to fruition it starts with everything centered around the word hope. So that's the four steps H is for heal your heart O is for open your heart oh and I thought that was going to be the easiest chapter but vulnerability Dale that was the hardest chapter that I ever had to write being vulnerable. Really I thought that was going to be easy open your heart P was protect your heart and then E is encourage your heart and so I'll I'd love to read the poem in encourage your heart um because about hope and joy um so and that's part of the four step hope philosophy. So um this is called Moments of hope and joy to all my grieving friends who are struggling today please know that I care and want to keep your pain at bay so often I've heard it's okay not to be okay. You are grieving and that's the price you must pay it is true that it's okay to feel sad and it's also okay to feel mad. But please please don't shut down when you start to feel joyful or ignore those moments when you feel hopeful especially when you start to see everyone else leaving please remember to cherish and hug those moments ever so tightly so when these feelings of hope and joy start to shine brightly you no longer need to hold on just to survive it is time for you to fully embrace the joy of feeling alive sending you all so much love and tight hugs. I always end it that way.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

That is so good you know that is so good and and I guess that's something that people could almost I love the idea of a soul map that kind of helps you to navigate this period. Yes because also I gather when you wrote when you read that poem and and you'll you'll read another one in a minute but I gather there's triggers right there's serious triggers and especially also right about uh surviving the holidays after loss that's gotta be a big trigger and a and it is such a trigger and I have courses to help you get through that I even created a coloring book to help you get through the holidays my daughter actually was a big part of that um the holidays are the hardest part and all the anniversary dates too the heavenly anniversary dates the birthdays they're all milestone reminders when Emma's eighth grade graduation came oh my goodness that was so hard she only asked for one ticket just for me you know and that was such a reminder that he wasn't there and they kept wanting to reach over like that's our little girl and it doesn't matter how many years it's been and that's what I want your audience to know.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

It doesn't matter we should not judge ourselves we're gonna grieve for the rest of our lives because we're going to love him for the rest of our lives but we can learn how to carry him forward in our hearts and learn how to move forward with more love and less pain. So yes the poems are important the soul maps are important the checklists all the practical tasks everything is important in your grief journey well that's what I like and we're gonna end with another poem from your book The Positive Widow and also you're on Facebook as well Christina are you I am and I created my own private group The Positive Widow before I wrote my book I started with that group because I was looking for connections. I wanted to find a group where we could turn to each other with with hope and with kindness and compassion and love and support and not shame each other or judge each other. And it's such a beautiful Facebook group it's it's a free group it's called the Positive Widow on Facebook. It's grown I have over 10,000 members in there now but I do lives in there sometimes I'll I'll host a Zoom meeting um I do a color and connect night there's just a lot of activities that I do so widows don't feel alone because that's my goal is I don't want any widow to have to grieve alone in silence. I did and it was very painful very painful.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

You know when we first met I remember what you said you said Chris you said uh Dale wait a minute wait a minute I'm a young widow do you really want me on your podcast? And I said absolutely I do because you know grief and death is is it's no respect of persons. I I submit whether you've been whether you're an older widow or a younger widow you know it is the process and you've done you've done a great job of navigating it and please share us share one last poem as we go to our close okay this one I might get I haven't read this one in a couple of years I might get emotional this one always gets me it like tears at my heart strings it's called the stillness of grief it's the absolute stillness of grief that makes you feel so entirely alone so isolated in a world that has become thoroughly unknown it's the stillness of your suffering and grief as you lay on the floor crying in utter disbelief it's the stillness of your final goodbye a moment you desperately try to deny it's the stillness of your broken heart as it continues to bleed missing the love that you so desperately need.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

It's the stillness of acceptance and knowing it's real but you don't even know where to start and how to begin to feel it's the stillness of your future home and dreams as you try to silence your deep inner screams it's the stillness of crawling alone into your empty bed soaking your pillow with all the tears you shed it's the stillness of living in darkness and fear wishing he would walk through the door and simply reappear. It's the stillness of that big lump in your throat as you remember every single love letter he wrote it's the stillness of driving without the radio being played because every song reminds you how much you wish he had stayed. It's the stillness of your cell phone as you look for missed calls, hoping his name will pop up and you can take down those grief walls. It's the stillness of the holidays and seeing his empty chair watching everyone else living their life without any care it's the stillness inside of your house with his presence permanently engraved praying that this pain will go away and one day you too can be saved. And then one day the stillness of grief turns into an awakening of hope and healing it's the awakening of hope as you slowly start to feel alive knowing that through it all you must find a way to survive it's the awakening of your inner healing knowing you must open your heart and absorb every single feeling it's the awakening of hope as you start to feel the sadness go away encouraging your heart to be open so the happiness can stay it's the awakening of your soul thriving knowing your healing journey is finally arriving. It's the awakening of finding new meaning yet forever loving you with a grateful feeling it's the awakening of joy as you start each day with gratitude knowing you can grieve and love at the same time with such profound magnitude the way you loved me and held me I will forever treasure thank you for understanding that I now I need to move through my grief from play from pain to pleasure I will continue to honor you with every breath I take and every new memory that I make you will be forever and ever in my heart I got emotional there.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Absolutely I stumbled there at the end I knew the ending it was coming well you you almost got there you almost got there and what a beautiful story what a beautiful life and I think it's important as we close that people not think about you know when you say the positive widow it's not all unicorns and daffodils and all that you what you're talking about is the inherent love peace and light that we all have in us.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

Yes that in addition to the to the heat to the darkness of the pain and the loss there is an innate love there is an innate peace there is an innate light which you are encouraging so many widows to continue to find and strive and move towards what a great interview Christina thank you I would be remiss if I did not uh give a shout out to to to chance your golden and also the tune of the cat my pets I love my pets let's not forget about Emma she's she's gonna be going oh mom he didn't even mention me or he did it he did mention me oh god 17 yeah she may not want to be mentioned yeah sorry because sorry Emma we're doing embarrass you with your friends but we're gonna make sure we post this on Emma's pages too all right Christine she might say no tonight let's not do that then let's not do that but let's do say this thank you so much for being a wonderful guest I absolutely delight it's been a great talk speaking with you uh even uh off mic getting to know you just a delightful person and how do folks go about uh getting copies of your book The Positive Widow they can either order it on Amazon or what a lot of my clients love to do is send me an email to thepositividow at outlook.com or they can Facebook messenger me and I will be happy to inscribe um a biblical scripture that they that reminds them of their husband a favorite poem in honor in memory of their husband and mail it to them directly so either way Amazon or they can just email me at the positive widowoutoutlook.com.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

And for those of you who have been listening I trust you've enjoyed this podcast as well this series this ongoing series that uh I love hosting as we get a chance to meet different widows in different circumstances and today was no different than that as we welcome Christina Napoleon to Lost and Transformative Life. She's the author of the Positive Widow And as each week I like to end with a very positive thought on my part certainly doesn't rise to the poetry of our author of the hour but I do like to here's the musing that I want to share with you. Although circumstances have evolved your perseverance is evident each day. May the memories you cherish offer reassurance and may the support from those around you provide strength. Even during challenging times opportunities for renewal exist the new possibilities lie ahead you are supported by your community and your determination serves as an example to others.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Thank you I love that and Dale thank you for raising awareness for widows and all that you do for our community thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart that means a lot is this has uh truly been a a pleasure of mine and an inspiration I'm enjoying this journey I get to meet great people including you Christine and Napoleon thank you.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

So our listeners have a great day and stand by for another episode of Lost and Transformative life wherever you subscribe to podcast be on Apple be on Apple Amazon wherever you subscribe I promise you we'll be there. Have a great day we'll catch you next time