50 over 50 2022 Edition

I was widowed at the age of 48.  After 27 years of marriage I was solo for the first time since I was 19.  Scary to say the least, for many reasons.  I met my current husband online when I was 53.  Needless to say the changes that I experienced at the age of 50+ were some of the most significant of my life.  Losing a spouse changes every aspect of life.  There is no part of you that goes untouched.

Life is short and can change in a heartbeat, whether for good or bad.  Make the most of the time you have with friends and family.  Also, work is not your life.  

I would hope that they would see beauty, self confidence and strength.  I would want them to know that I am uniquely me.

I am the youngest of 4 (2 sisters and a brother).  I have 2 children and 3 bonus children, all of whom are adults at this point.  I have 7 grandchildren in total (5 from my daughter and 2 from my husband’s son).  They range from 17 to 6.  My heritage is Irish, English and Hungarian.  My late husband was pure Italian.  I like to tell my kids that they are Heinz 57.  

My greatest challenge was picking myself up and rebuilding my life after the death of my 1st husband.  Nothing that I had experienced to that point compared.

I am most proud of my family.  

Family, holiday gatherings, vacations.  And driving my VW convertible!

Life doesn’t always go the way that you want it to and good definitely can come from the bad.  I am thankful to have met and married 2 exceptional men.  Both very different from one another but both the loves of my life.