BW 015: Dating after Loss -with Teresa Taylor Williams

Teresa is very open, vulnerable, and incredibly brave as she shares about her experience with dating too soon. Being intimate too soon and dealing with this thing that those of us in the industry call Widows Fire. So let me introduce Teresa. Teresa Taylor Williams is a widow, an award-winning newspaper journalist, and a self-proclaimed grief butt kicker first losing her job to downsizing. Then her husband, Ricky in 2014. She has found the true meaning of resilience. After her home was foreclosed, she lived in subsidized housing while raising her two teenage sons, worked various jobs to make ends meet and engaged in self-sabotaging behaviors in her attempts to cope with life. Without Ricky. Her grief journey has been a rocky one, and Theresa deems herself an expert in how not to grieve. She found comfort in grief groups and therapy. In 2021, she founded two Become One Grief Support where she hosts a weekly virtual grief support group, as well as a podcast Just a Widow Talk, voices of Spouse and Partner Loss. She is pursuing a master's degree in social work and is currently a diversity director in Higher Education. She resides in the Kansas heartland.    We talk about: There is good that can come from our grief journey Our bodies grieve too Following your intuition How grief isn’t talked about enough and needs to be normalized   Quotes- “I thought I was strong before, like when he was here, but now, I know that I am so much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for.  And that's something that I try to convey to others widows and widowers and partner loss folks, is that, there is good, you gotta look for it, you gotta dig for it.” “If you had a healthy, intimate life, which we did,  it's like all of a sudden it's not, it's just shut down. And I'm like, I'm still young. I'm human. I have these desires, touch healing. Touch is healing. And it's like, what am I supposed to do?” “Until we really cope with the loss, and that means sitting in it. And who wants to do that?  We don't wanna do it, but we gotta do it because as you and I know Emily, the only way out is through.” The Brave Widow Community is a place where you can connect with other widows, find hope and healing, and begin to dream again for the future.  Learn more at bravewidow.com.   Hey guys, I’m Emily Jones I was widowed at age 37, one month shy of our 20 year wedding anniversary.  Nathan and I have four beautiful children together.  My world was turned completely upside down when I lost him.  With faith, community, and wisdom from others, I’ve been able to find hope, joy, and dream again for the future.  I want to help others do the same, too!   FOLLOW me on SOCIAL: Twitter @brave_widow Instagram @brave_widow Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bravewidow YouTube @bravewidow