It's been said that time and death reveals those who are really for you, those who can go skin deep with you without coercion and those who are for the paparazzi of being associated with you not taking into cognizance how much you need them. I have heard stories of widowhood and here's my mom's experience so far
Close to 11 months ago, I lost my dad and that crippled a lot of happenings around us, we had a big party planned ahead, my sister was going to tie the knot, preparations were being made towards the success of the day and my dad died four months before the event. The blow hit deep and it took us down emotionally, mom took ill, my brother felt bitter towards everyone, my sis who wasn't around as at the time became depressed, while I lost interest in writing. It's been close to a year now and we still try to get back to our normal life although it's quite difficult to move on.
Fast-forward to few months later after the burial, we started having little household challenges which was so unusual, ranging from electricity issues, to plumbing, repairs of electrical appliances and other mishaps and then the real challenges set in, mom kept on putting calls through to people who could get if fixed it, to a big surprise no one turned up after the empty promises they made of being there whenever there is need to, countless calls, numerous messages yet not a single person showed up. We had to change everyone that has ever worked for my dad and get new experts to work for us.
Few weeks ago, we had another major electricity which lasted for 4 days and we kept powering the generator to keep up with everyday activities, we made efforts to get it fixed but it was beyond what we could do. On the fourth day, we had a guest, a junior to dad while he was in service, he saw that we were making use of generator whereas we could have used the electricity we pay for, he felt bad and apologized for not showing up often, his words were he would have realized mom was having a hard time with such stuffs; within hours, two experts came around and got it fixed in no time. There are a few people who have stayed true to their words of being there for the family, while others shut us out.
The plights of widows in order of priority include economic hardship, loneliness, loss of properties, poor relationship with in-laws, difficulty in social interactions and sometimes poor housing. These in most cases makes most widows fall into further depression and over time lose themselves. The society itself hasn't been of much help to widows, they are often neglected to fend for themselves whereas they need to offer support and encouragement. Get widow(ers) to participate in social activities so they can live again. This is the world we find ourselves in.
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Image is from Pixabay
