About the Book

Although each new widow must find her own way, most will encounter daunting emotional and practical challenges. Similarly, each post-retirement odyssey, while charted by the individual, navigates well-traveled passages. I lost my husband of forty-two years just after I’d stepped down from a high-profile, career-culminating position.

As I emerged from the cocoon of grief, I faced two challenges: finding intellectual engagement and rebuilding my personal life. One serendipitous invitation led me to a new professional calling and a congenial, supportive peer group.

After a few years of consulting and serving on nonprofit boards, I felt like a race car used only for Sunday drives. Then, out of the blue, someone I’d encountered professionally invited me to contribute to Contagious Optimism, an anthology of personal essays. Intrigued, I wrote about what was top of mind: my experiences as a new widow. All of my essays were accepted! Some are included in this book.

In my career, writing was a strength I’d relied on to gain support for nonprofit initiatives. As I embarked on my life as a widow, writing offered me a way to reflect on and share my journey. Over lunch one day I told my friend Isabelle, a longtime Washingtonian, “You know that invitation to contribute to an anthology of upbeat stories? They accepted all the essays I submitted!”

“That’s great! One of the best writing centers is nearby, in Bethesda. You should check out their workshops.”

I did. After the summer session ended, the instructor and I walked out together.

“Would you like to join a memoir group that meets in my home?”

Bingo! That invitation yielded a new, all-in pursuit, and supportive fellow writers, a group sharing the most personal, close-to-the-bone stories of our lives and —over time —coming to care about each other.

Encouraged, I began studying the craft in the memoir group. Is writing a full-time gig now? Not quite. But happily, my work has been published in journals and online publications. Does it pay? Not often, and not much. But writing helps me answer the dreaded question, “What do you do?” That matters to me. For decades I’d defined myself largely by my work. More than that, I needed to have a purpose and hear an occasional “good job.” Like my life as an at-home mom, retirement offers no milestones to reach, no measures of progress. When my essays are published, I get that missing ingredient from readers, like these comments about a piece describing my progress from grieving widow to the engaged, vibrant life I enjoy today:

I can relate! Divorced after twenty-eight years, I, too, celebrated everything from buying a car on my own to changing a furnace filter. I joined a choir and found a new tribe.

For thirty-five years I’ve leaned on my husband for house, car, and financial matters—thought I could never manage on my own. Now I know I can.

This book recounts my jagged journey from the shock of widowhood, lost professional status, and the pesky persistence of loneliness to the discovery of new people, new pursuits, and a full life.

Although each new widow must find her own way, most will encounter daunting emotional and practical challenges. This book recounts my jagged journey from the shock of widowhood and the pesky persistence of loneliness to the discovery of new people, new pursuits, and a full life. Looking back at the years since my husband Dan died, I’ve observed distinct phases of experience and growth, all moving toward an engaged and fulfilling life. I describe them in the following pages.

I hope my story will be helpful and hopeful to widows and offer insights to those supporting them.

What Others Say About the Book

“Barbara Rady Kazdan’s book Oh. I’m a Widow pulled me in and held me rapt as I watched the confident retiree’s life unravel upon losing her husband of forty-two years. Though her three grown children rally to support her, she’s stunned as she stares into an empty future.
Sprinkled with research studies, humor and quotes from literary and philosophical greats, such chapters as ‘Get Up, Get Dressed, Now What?,’ ‘Kissing a Lot of Frogs;’ and ‘Paddling Upstream and Down’ guide us along her rocky path. As Barbara stumbles to move forward, her honesty about what’s gone right—and wrong—in her marriage and her life make her story real and relatable. And though her widow’s journey is unique, her flailing attempts at finding community, support groups, a purpose, a new partner will resonate with divorcees, empty nesters, aging singles, all of us who have been thrust into worlds we’re not prepared to enter.”

Marian Mathews Clark, author of These Doors and
Sixty-Something and Flying Solo: A Retiree Sorts it Out in Iowa

I enjoyed reading your book Oh. I’m a Widow. You captured the stages and essence that most widows apparently pass through on their early journey into widowhood.
[…]
I will recommend your book to other women in my circle of friends. I wish you good health and fulfillment as you continue on your journey as a published author.

Carole Gumprich

How Can I Buy the Book?

Barbara Rady Kazdan’s Oh. I’m a Widow is available worldwide online and in your favorite bookstore around the corner. You can also order directly from us (use the links below), depending on which entity you want to support more: author, bookstore, or publisher.

Library, Bookstores, and other Institutions

Our books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational or business use by libraries, bookstores, and other institutions. Please use our online order form to purchase books at a 40% discount. All other customers, please use the links below.

The book has been published in paperback, casewrap hardcover, and digital versions (ePub and Kindle formats).

Available directly from Culidicae Press, from your favorite book shop around the corner, and on Amazon

If you prefer buying directly from us, please use the Add to Cart button below, otherwise use the links further down which will take you directly to the specific online Amazon store listed for your country.

Amazon Links

Paperback

Hardcover (casewrap)

Digital (Apple Books)

United States

Digital (Kindle)

Product Details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Culicidae Press (February 15, 2025)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 180 pages
ISBN ‏ : ‎ 978-1683151135 (paperback)
ISBN ‏ : ‎ 978-1683151067 (hardcover casewrap)
Apple ID : 6742055753 (Apple Books)
ASIN : B0DX7DF54L (Kindle Books)
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

About the Author

After a nonprofit career expanding opportunities for youth and adults, Barbara turned her passion and pen to creative writing. In a conversational, sometimes whimsical, always candid voice, she offers readers practical suggestions and empathetic insights. Her subjects include retirement and widowhood.

Barbara started life on Chicago’s north side, next door to her grandparents, then moved to Highland Park, Illinois. She met David, her future husband, in her first week at the University of Michigan. A Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature served her well in her career, editing educational materials at a publishing company, developing curriculum for the Job Corps at the Office of Economic Opportunity, and developing innovative nonprofits she founded and led. While living in Houston, she established the READ Commission, a citywide network of adult learning centers. Her career culminated in the nation’s capital as the Director of Ashoka USA, a nonprofit supporting innovative solutions to pressing social problems.

Widowed and newly retired, Barbara was invited to contribute essays to two anthologies: Contagious Optimism and 10 Habits of Truly Optimistic People. Since then she’s studied the craft in a memoir group of accomplished writers led by author Sara Taber, and in out-of-town workshops. Barbara’s essays have been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and in print and online journals. Readers welcome her humor and honesty and relate to how she met and overcame challenges. Oh. I’m a Widow chronicles Barbara’s journey, offering support, encouragement, and guidance to the bereaved.

Barbara is grateful for her close-knit family and rewarding professional experiences. Friends and colleagues know her as a woman with a huge heart and hungry intellect. Find this mother of three, grandmother of five, nestled in a Craftsman cottage in the shadow of downtown Los Angeles, next door to her son and his young family. Sample her work at achievingchangetogether.com/published-works.

Sample Pages

Click on the thumbnails below to view some sample pages from the book…