Losing a loved one is difficult at any age, but for young widows and widowers, the challenges are unique. We meet the people who are helping each other smile again
When Andrew Ware’s wife Jane died suddenly, it took months for his brain to “calm down”.
For nearly a year after her death, simple tasks like shopping and cooking for their two children required a gargantuan effort. Remembering things was difficult, and planning felt nearly impossible.Four years on, things could not be more different: the 46-year-old music teacher has completed a 1,000-mile bike ride from Cornwall to Scotland, staying with other young widows and widowers along the way.
Ware’s sponsored cycle raised money for Widowed and Young (WAY), a network of 2,800 people who have all lost a partner before the age of 51. Ware has been part of the peer-to-peer support group for three years and used its Facebook page and forum to find other members to stay with as he travelled. It took months to feel ready to speak to strangers about the loss of his wife, says Ware, but when he did, he found the support of people who had “been there too” invaluable.
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As well as managing an active online community, WAY organises holidays and meet-ups. For Ware, a network of new friends helped him deal with the sudden emptiness of his free time. “My wife and I were really close: we hardly ever did things separately. Now, it’s almost like I’ve spread the life we had together as a married couple around lots of different friends and acquaintances.
”WAY chair Georgia Elms joined the organisation more than a decade ago, after her husband, Jon, died of meningitis. Losing a spouse young is particularly tough, she believes, because it is often unexpected and there is so much ahead to navigate alone.
“Everyone’s widowed journey is different,” she says, “but people who are…
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