Book Rec: A Woman's Guide to Living Alone:10 Ways to Survive Grief and Be Happy

A Message from the author, Pamela Stone Ciaccio:

Please indulge me as I share how my book, A Woman's Guide to Living Alone: 10 Ways to Survive Grief and Be Happy, author: Pamela Stone, helped a woman adjust to the death of her husband. This book is available online, at national bookstores, or on my website found here.

When an author receives a personal testimonial such as this, it makes writing, which is often difficult and frustrating, rewarding.   It is more important than the greatest book review!

MY THANKS TO TWO TEXAS WOMEN

Following the death of my husband, a black fog descended on me. He died in Ireland, having made a sudden, and in my view, bizarre decision to return there as his health worsened.

We exchanged life in southern France for a rainy Ireland, experiencing the worst recession in its history. We had happily sailed away from the island ten years earlier. Sailing back was only the beginning of eighteen months of absolute hell. Towards the heart-breaking end, my husband admitted his decision had been too hasty. In the months following his death, I simply endured.

Then, I returned to France and made three gallant attempts to resume my life there. But it proved impossible. Our idyllic life in the foothills of the Pyrenees was over forever. Being so close to the Spanish border, we regularly nipped over for a Tapas lunch or drove down to Barcelona for a weekend.

So many memories crowded in. I cried almost all the time I was there. Overwhelmed by despair, it seemed impossible to continue life without the person who had shared the adventure. I mentioned this to a resilient, 'can do' woman who has, over the years, given me some sound advice.

Pamela Stone, a Texas writer and generous soul, immediately offered to send me a copy of her book
 A Woman's Guide to Living Alone:10 Ways to Survive Grief and Be Happy. 

She deserves royalties. I bought it. It saved me. Packed with advice on everything from managing money to moving on, it helped me take those crucial first steps back to living life again.
Pamela's interviews with famous women heralded the Big Change for me.

Ding!

Feisty of all was Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas. Her words leaped off the page.
"If you want to be in control of your life, be in control of what you think."

"Get up and get out of the house!"

"Get rid of all the stuff. Sell whatever you're living in, and move to a small space."

"I don't own anything I have to feed or water. I can be gone for 20 minutes or 20 years and nothing will suffer."

Some people proposed I stay in Ireland, not make any decisions, wait and see what happens, while others, well meaning, no doubt, suggested I go back to rural France again, and make myself stay.

So, in the spirit of Ann Richards, "don't ask anyone's permission", I sold the house in the hills, gave away most of my stuff and moved to the French Riviera. To the legendary Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where I'm renting a quirky 1940's apartment. Below, six lanes of traffic whiz to and from Monaco and Italy.

Energy!

The traffic racket is softened by the waves of the palm fringed, sparkling Mediterranean.
The almost mythical Cote d'Azur, Where I'm thriving.

Thank you, Texas Ladies