I changed two things in my blog bio yesterday. First, rather than saying The Truth About Death would be published in April 2012, it now says the book was published. Hurrah!
Also, I removed “widow” as one of the many words to describe myself. A widow is “a woman whose spouse has died and who has not remarried.” I’m married, in fact, today is the first anniversary for David and me. We didn’t tell anyone, other than Emilio (who so far is showing amazing skills at secret-keeping) for a long time, for a number of reasons. We were planning to get married someday, in fact felt married, but found out last April we needed to be married by June 15 when David was also leaving his job in order for me to get on his health insurance. The “domestic partner” provision we’d thought would cover us is only for same sex couples. So, we got married in a hurry and decided to keep it to ourselves, mostly because we were too busy in the whirlwind of winding down our jobs and in our family lives to make a big deal out of getting married.
We started telling our children, our families, and our friends, about two months ago. Now we’re telling everyone. Happy Anniversary!
Grace Mattern 
Happy anniversary, Grace and David. Wishing you many, many more.
Thanks, Steve.
Cogratulations on both occasions! Hooray for both of you. We’ve never met and yet through your blog and now book I feel like I know you (as best I can). Love, love love your poems and ‘The Truth About Death’. Your candor is compelling and yet tender. A wonderful sharing. Grief is meant to be shared in order to promote healing. Thank you for leading the way. May your next steps and hiking bring you happiness, peace and added wisdom! Would love to see more of David’s art sometime too. He must be a very special man. Makes my heart happy that you found him. Blessings, Andrea
I wrote this for Robin (Marsie’s partner) and me:
winds breath
on each wingbeat the grace
of letting go
Thanks, Andrea. I really appreciate your kind words and blessings and your haiku. Yes, let’s make sure you get to see some of David’s paintings some day.
Happy Anniversary – I just love how the joy of life unfolds with such practical mystery!
abundant happiness to you and David.
much love
Sue
Thanks, Sue. It was great to talk with you this week!
Grace…I am so happy for you and David. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary all in one. You never fail to inspire me. You are quite a secret keeper and so is little Emilio. I hope you and David are enjoying yourselves. I love reading your blogs and being able to see all the wonderful things you are doing. I do, however, miss seeing you.
Always, Pam
Thanks, Pam!
Happy Anniversary and Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.
-Jasmine
Congratulations – I’m so happy for both of you. Can we celebrate the marriage/anniversary in Gilford sometime soon?
Deb
I have your blog saved in my RSS reader, which has built up with unread posts these past months. What a treat to read this today! Congratulations to you both, and Happy Anniversary!! I’m also so happy for you about the publication of “The Truth About Death.” Am looking forward to reading it! —Jen
Thanks, Jen. Nice to hear from you. I hope all is well with you.