"WidowNet" consists of:

1. A website: located at http://www.widownet.org/

2. email lists.

3. Online Chat.

4. A message board

5. A Facebook Page

"WidowNet" is not:

1. a site listing the collected wisdom of its founder
2. a site advertising books, seminars, or fee-based services provided by its founder
3. a collection of easy answers or formulae for recovery or eternal happiness
4. an organization, club, or other type of entity with a presence anywhere other than the internet.

When my wife was diagnosed with cancer in late 1992, I found online information about cancer diagnosis and treatment, and a support newsgroup alt.support.cancer which allowed exchanges among patients and patient families.

Therefore, when my wife died in January of 1993 I tried to find things online specifically for widows and widowers. More specifically, I attempted to find information about being a widower at the age of 37. Although I did find the newsgroup alt.support.grief, I really wanted to find something that addressed issues of widow(er)hood without having to deal with people involved in all other possible loss scenarios.

At that time, Prodigy's bulletin boards offered the most active exchanges among widow/ers but I was able to find other systems with similar services. As these services allowed exchange of internet email, mailing lists between systems became possible.

In September 1995, the "widow" mailing list was created and the web page was developed to find, create and post information of interest to the readers. This became the first web site dedicated to servicing the needs of widows and widowers.

Since that time, tens of thousands of people, from all continents, have participated in the email forum and several million web page requests are received each month. Many other web sites have been created which also address death, grief, recovery, etc from various perspectives. I am happy that WidowNet has helped build awareness and provided help for its audience for many years.

• Established in 1995, WidowNet is the original online information and self-help resource for, and by, widows and widowers.
• Topics covered include grief, bereavement, recovery, and other information helpful to people, of all ages, religious backgrounds and sexual orientations, who have suffered the death of a spouse or life partner.
• WidowNet facilitates communication between people about their shared experiences of grief, survival, and recovery.

That's a fair enough question. Although I have had this site in operation, and have taught html coding, for a few years now, I don't make use of the latest gee-whiz features. I do monitor the remote system and browser types used by visitors to the home page. A large number of users are AOL subscribers with browser capabilities that are more than a little behind the cutting edge. Additionally, this site delivers content - not advertising. I don't need to grab your attention or attempt to sell you anything. So, usually, I optimize delivery speed and give the pages a facelift once in awhile. If you have specific suggestions, please let me know.

No. As you may have guessed from the photo, I'm male. I was widowered at the age of 37. The majority of the users of the site where widow(er)ed in their 40's and 50's. This site does not focus on, or exclude, any age group, spiritual belief or non-belief, sexual preference, gender, etc. In my experience, while I enjoyed the company of widows and widowers my own age, I also found that I learned something valuable when talking to 85-year-old widows who had been alone for 10 or 20 years.

Because I didn't like the way WidowerNet sounded. Nothing deeper than that.

Many FAQ lists exist to cut off new people from bringing up things that have been discussed before. That's exactly what we do NOT want to imply around here; bringing up the same topics is expected.

These are questions, often discussed on the email list, for which we all attempt to find our own answers.

• Should I take off my wedding ring?
• What should I do with his or her clothes and personal items?
• How do I handle questions about the death that make me uncomfortable?
• What's the best response to insensitive or outrageous remarks?
• How do I cope with single parenthood?
• What are the best grief-related books to help me through this?
• Where have all our friends gone?
• Why does it still hurt after a year?
• Should I date, and if so, how do I start over?
• Is this mental confusion normal, and will it ever end?
• How do I cope with the loneliness? Lack of physical contact like hugging and cuddling and holding hands? My sexuality?
• Should I attend bereavement support meetings?
• What about these estate taxes, car registrations, house title transfers, etc.?
• Is there life after death?
• What is my relationship supposed to be now with my in-laws?
• How bad is this going to be, and how long is it going to last?
• But s/he always handled the ... (lawn, housekeeping, car maintenance, cooking, checkbook, taxes, etc.) ... so what do I do now?
• How do I help my kids cope with this?
• Should I take nerve or depression medicines? Will they help or just postpone the grief?