I once began a piece for The SandPaper with these words: “I am alone now, dreaming of summer.”

I wrote those plaintive words eight years ago after the death of my beloved husband, Stanley. I truly felt as if half of me were gone after a marriage of 38 years. My sweet daughter, Claire, was already on her own. My parents and only sibling, my brother Danny, were all gone. There was a great hole in my life.

I was especially anxious about how I would feel on our next wedding anniversary in August.