Social Butterfly

I've been a social butterfly recently and haven't spent time here.

When I lost my husband, a very dear friend (widowed for 40+ years) advised me when people ask me to go and do with them to say, "Yes." I have been doing just exactly as she suggested and it has been wonderful.

I have continued to "purge" and have donated more Christmas items and some drinking glasses.

I'm sorting through 30 years of Christmas cards my husband and I have received. Yes, 30 years of cards.

When we married, I discovered my husband kept the cards he received every holiday season. He would put them in a brown paper bag, write the year on the bag and put them in a box. He never decorated his house when he was a bachelor, so the only holiday items he had were the cards. When we married, I continued his tradition of saving cards. Fast forward to 2016 and I have an entire plastic storage bin of cards.

A few years ago, I suggested we get rid of the old cards. He would not hear of it. He said the cards were part of his/our history.

I'm going through every card and setting aside ones from his closest friends. The majority of the cards have photos of the kids with handwritten notes and/or Christmas letters. I'm planning send the cards back to our friends and include a note explaining how my husband kept them. It's a sneaky way to "purge", but I think they will appreciate the story and enjoy seeing all their cards at once.

Monday, the 11th, was the 7 month anniversary of my husband's death. I didn't even realize it until I spoke to my Mom that evening and she asked how I was coping. I'm glad the day wasn't sad for me, but I'm sad that I didn't remember.

I'll be with my husband's family this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

I feel like I'm managing my grief fairly well. It really helps that I assign myself tasks to accomplish when I'm home. I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing...