When you think of someone who is a widow, most of us imagine a woman in her eighties or nineties, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average age of widows is 59 years old.
Many are much younger. In fact, almost 28 hundred women become widowed every day.
Carolyn Moor had it all: a great husband, two children and a successful business, but that changed in a blink of an eye.
“We were out for valentine’s day, on the way home, um a car actually crashed into ours and caused us to spin out of control,” Moor, Founding Executive Director of Modern Widow’s Club.
After her husband died, she was in a fog. But then, an appearance on the tv show shalom in the home changed everything.
“I still had the bloody clothes from my accident and they asked me to give it a burial being filmed. And so what that did was it opened up an enormous door for widows,” she explained
After her tv appearance, Oprah called and asked Moor to appear on her show.
“She inspired me to do something with my life,” she said
Moor began to mentor widows, among them, Vashon Sarkisian who lost her husband Patrick to prostate cancer.
“I think there were two of us at the meeting. That was seven years ago,” Sarkisian said.
That was the first meeting of the Modern Widow’s Club.
The group’s focus is not grief, but what comes next. Moor says stay connected with family and friends. Volunteer in an activity to honor your spouse’s memory. And find other women who can serve as mentors a role that Sarkisian fills now…
“I like to tell people they ask- what’s next for you, and I say I’m going to be a widow revolutionary,” Moor said.
Sarkisian began writing after her husband’s death and published finding joy after loss which can be found on amazon. The modern widows club has grown to 22 chapters in 17 states.
