This is me, my husband Ben and daughter Saskia back in May 2012. A few months before this Ben had been told that the skin cancer he’d hoped had gone for good was back with a vengeance – and it was terminal. Ben (so wisely) decided that we should get a family photo shoot done while he still looked like the healthy, happy Ben he wanted to be remembered as. So here we are, having a lovely hour or so together on Whitstable beach in Kent (UK), not far from Faversham where our home is.

Ben was incredibly positive and strong throughout the very difficult months that followed. While just about everything in his life was going in the wrong direction, one thing was a huge, unexpected success, and that was the blog that he wrote about living with the disease – Me and My Unwelcome Visitors: A blog about living with malignant melanoma. The blog lives on and is still visited daily by people looking for information and support.

However, on 3rd January 2013 my beloved Ben’s struggle ended – he died peacefully in his sleep at Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury.

So that’s the beginning of this story. I now have a new label – widow. It’s difficult to comes to terms with, and my journey as I discover what ‘these widow’s shoes’ mean for me is the main theme of this blog. It also includes reflections on my talks with Saskia about the loss of her Daddy and occasionally other related topics that inspire me.

Thanks for reading – I hope you find something that interests you.

Sally

PS – Here’s a picture of Saskia and I in August 2013