In honor of this particularly meaningful Veteran's Day, several news outlets have called attention to a very important resource for military widows. The American Widow Project was created by 21-year-old Taryn Davis (pictured), whose husband Michael was killed in Iraq last year.
In the months after her husband's death, Taryn discovered a woeful dearth of resources for dealing with her pain and connecting with other military widows. All that she received from the military upon learning that Michael had been killed were a few small black boxes with Michael's personal belongings and an informative binder. Taryn described the sense of increased isolation and despair she felt as she opened these boxes. "What's foremost in your head is the clothes, because you cannot wait
to smell him," she said, "and you open [the black boxes] and it smells like Tide.
Everything is sanitized, everything is wiped down." The binder was equally inadequate in helping Taryn deal with this tragedy, offering information on how to arrange a funeral and little else.
So Taryn decided to reach out to other men and women in her position. She made a documentary and created an impressive Web site in which widows and widowers can share their stories and find advice on how to navigate the difficult time ahead, including articles like "Things I Learned to Laugh About Along the Way," "So You're Ready to Date," and moving personal stories of what widows have done with their husband's remaining personal belongings.
I highly recommend this site not only to military families, but to anyone dealing with grief.
Photo: American Widow Project
