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by Janet Gotkin (Author)
The Tattooed Widow is a memoir, my story of facing life alone, outside the circle of love that protected me and gave my life meaning for almost fifty years. I share it in the belief that our stories matter because they validate our experiences and give us the power that comes from connection. It is about love, loss, trauma, and aging, and my struggle to define my widowhood and my grief and become my own healer.
In this chronicle of the third year after my husband Paul's sudden death, I reconnect with the brave girl in me who withstood childhood incest and ten years of psychiatric abuse, and with the social justice Judaism of my childhood. The zombie sisters of grief and trauma collide as I make my way through the year. By the end of 2017 I have resisted the push toward suicide, made peace with the wounded child within me, and resumed the abortion activism that had been a constant in my life since I was a young mother in the 1970s. I offer you my story - not as a road map through grief - each of us blazes our own trail - but in the hope that you will find something in this book that gives you courage and makes you feel less alone as you navigate your own unique life journey.
