January 2014

Last summer, I never had heard the term “unremarried widow” until a friend on Facebook explained what is was in military terms. It means the wife of a dead soldier who has not yet remarried.

Artis Henderson was widowed when her husband’s Army helicopter crashed in Iraq in 2006; she was 26 and newly married. She, like her mom, was widowed by a husband dying in a plane crash. What she writes in UNREMARRIED WIDOW is a love story, as much as a story of survival. She writes about the stress and strain of surviving military life while, at the same time, the joy of falling and being in love. One of the references on it is to THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, and I can see why. It’s the kind of a book that will stay with me in much the same way. After finishing the book, I wanted to see Artis and hear her talk about the story, thus I was lucky enough to find this video where she does just that. 

It’s a beautiful story by a very gifted writer who I look forward to hearing more from.