Stories
Loss of a partner
For those whose person (husband, wife, partner) is no longer here.
Forty-one years together
HennieJune 2026
My wife Annette died last year after forty-one years together. I am seventy-three and I have never lived alone. I have sons who are married and grandchildren but I wasn’t not expecting to feel this lonely. I can’t say much that's wise. What I can say is that the practical things ambush you worse than the big ones. I expected to be tearful at her funeral, I did not expect to stand in the Checkers aisle unable to remember how to buy food for one. My wife did all the cooking. She was a great cook. I will say that people’s kindness is appreciated. My neighbours, drop off food every now and then. They don’t make a fuss of it. I think that small, bits of kindness has kept me going more than any words have. People keep telling me it gets easier. I don't know if that's true yet. But I've started talking to her out loud in the mornings, just ordinary things, and it makes me feel like apart of her is till here with me. Sometimes I forget and still take a tea cup out for her. Sometimes I just leave it instead of packing it away again.I drink her favourite tea - Five Roses.How I honour them
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