Latest news with #widow
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Dear Abby: My boyfriend won't divorce his wife
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I recently moved out of state. His only living relative, a sister, recently came to visit. She has never been married. She is a retired professional and has a good retirement, especially since she has no children. During her visit, she gave us a housewarming greeting card with a $50 Visa gift card. This was unusual as she has never in 50 years given us money. (She's very tight with her money and always insists on paying for her part of any restaurant bill separately.) While she was here, I made a comment about her paying for a $5 coffee for her brother, and she became highly offended. (I knew she would be, so I kind of goaded her.) She then mentioned the $50 gift card she gave us and said I probably didn't even tell her brother about it even though he was in the room when she gave it to us. We don't need her money, and I want to mail it back to her and say thanks for the thought, but we don't need it. What do you think I should do? — THANKS, NO THANKS, IN FLORIDA DEAR THANKS: Really? I think that rather than try to create more problems with your sister-in-law, you should write her and apologize for your comment about the $5 coffee. Instead of returning the gift card, be gracious and accept it. Shame on you for knowingly stirring the pot. DEAR ABBY: I'm a widow. My partner died 10 months ago. We were together for seven years but never married. I have now found a partner who is 12 years younger than I am. We love each other and want to be married. My problem is, he is only separated from his wife. He says he doesn't want her and he hates her because she betrayed him. They are getting a divorce, but if I stay with him, I feel that I'll be stepping between them. What should I do — stay and hope for the best, or leave him? — IN THE MIDDLE IN MASSACHUSETTS DEAR IN THE MIDDLE: This romance is in its infancy. You have been widowed for only 10 months. There's wisdom in the adage that after a trauma like the one you have suffered, a person should make no important decisions for a year. Has this man or his wife filed the divorce papers, or is he only thinking about it? If the papers have been filed, then you are not coming between him and his wife. Divorce can also be traumatic, and, frankly, I am surprised that this man would contemplate remarriage before his divorce is final. Rather than decide whether to leave him, take your time and see how this relationship plays out. DEAR READERS: Happy Father's Day to fathers everywhere — birth fathers, stepfathers, adoptive and foster fathers, grandfathers and all of you caring men who mentor children and fill the role of absent dads. P.S. Also, a big shout-out to dual-role moms. I applaud you all — today and every day. — LOVE, ABBY Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Annabel Croft says she doesn't want to be a 'professional widow' as she admits Strictly 'saved her from sinking' after husband's death
Annabel Croft said she doesn't want to be a 'professional widow' as she recalled how her Strictly Come Dancing stint 'saved her from sinking' after her husband's death. The former professional tennis player's husband of 36 years passed away in 2023, aged 60 just eight weeks after he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She signed up to the BBC dance show shortly after, a move which she admits helped her deal with the grief. Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph on Saturday, Annabel explained: 'Literally within a few weeks [of losing him] I was on the phone to my agent. I don't know what I would have done without being busy. I would have sunk. 'I didn't know I had an incredible marriage, but I did. The grief comes in rain showers but they are getting less and then it's gone.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Annabel continued: 'There is so much to be positive about. I don't want to be a professional widow. I understand that a lot of people can identify with what I've been through, but I don't want grief to define me.' Annabel recently said she believed Mel would have survived his cancer for longer if they'd been warned sooner that sugar and carbohydrates spread the disease. She told how before going in to see a doctor and receiving the bombshell news, she had told worried Mel everything would be fine. But after being told he didn't have much longer to live, Annabel said they were not advised immediately about nutrition - and she fears chocolate and other sugary foods hastened Mel's demise until he eventually died from sepsis. She explained: 'People don't realise this. He had stage four cancer. It started with colon cancer, but it could have been across everywhere at the same time. But it spread into the liver, it was spread into the kidneys, even possibly into the brain as well. 'But what he actually died of was sepsis and there was a perforation from one of the tumours. 'We'd gone on this flight to Portugal thinking he was going to get some sunshine and some respite from all of his treatment. 'I think maybe on that flight it may have just swollen something and perforated one of the tumours.' Annabel, speaking on The podcast, went on to describe when symptoms began showing. She said: 'We were making the bed one day and he just turned to me and he said 'I haven't told you this Annabel, but I've got these funny pains in my side and they're just not going away, they're getting worse'. 'It never dawned on me that it could be something so absolutely catastrophic. 'He went off to have some scans done. And then a couple of weeks later the scans came through and clearly the medical profession were absolutely horrified by what they'd seen because they knew that he wouldn't have much time left. 'Outside before we went in, Mel had said to me in the car park 'I'm really worried about this meeting', and I said 'Oh, don't worry about it - of course it's going to be fine. You know, maybe you just have a cyst that's going to have to be removed'. 'But the very first thing out of the surgeon's mouth was 'I'm afraid your life expectancy's not very good'. 'We both were spinning. The surgeon said 'Well, I've drawn the short straw, and I'm the one who's had to deliver this news'. 'Worse than that - I will just say this because I think it's important to pass on this information from what I've learned from the cancer specialist Dr Isabelle Cooper who treated him - I've since learned that if you have cancer you absolutely must not put any sugar in your body at all, and that includes carbohydrates. 'But when he had just had this news delivered he said to the surgeon 'If I'm going to have to have lots of operations, what should I eat?' 'And he said 'Oh, I have no idea about nutrition, I've never studied it - if you feel like some chocolate why don't you have some chocolate'. 'And of course in hindsight, now knowing what I know about cancer treatment and through a specialist who deals with it and studies it all day long, that any sugar, glucose that goes into the body will divide that cell and spread it. 'He went on ketogenic metabolic therapy and that is basically fuelling your body on fat and meat. 'On the last scans just before Mel died, it was showing a massive retraction of the cancer cells. 'So the work that they were doing was working and it's just so tragic that he died of sepsis. 'The only thing I would say is he died with complete hope as to what he was doing. 'They'd already told him he had very little time left and that he had to get his papers in order. And that was the very first meeting we had.'
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'Dave became too ill to speak. Losing his hair made him feel repellent. We both knew what was coming and I had to make a decision...' With extraordinary bravery, Hairy Bikers widow LILI MYERS reveals the story of his cancer battle for first time
It's early morning and I'm taking my dog for a walk. The spring sun is beginning to rise and the air is crisp, bringing my senses back to life after another broken night's sleep. The night times are the most difficult. It's been three months since my husband Dave Myers died and, while the days are busy enough for me to push my thoughts and feelings aside, at night I'm alone, with nowhere to hide.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
My husband and I were planning a Disney honeymoon - instead I had to use the money to pay for his funeral
A heartbroken widow whose husband died of an undiagnosed heart condition just six months after they married had to spend their honeymoon fund on his funeral. Primary school teacher Edward Burr, 32, and Laura Burr, 31, were looking forward to a Disney honeymoon when disaster struck. The first sign that something was wrong was the day after his wedding. Mr Burr simply felt 'under the weather', but put this down to a possible bug he may have caught while being in close proximity to 60 people. However, after suffering a shortness of breath two weeks later, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and heart failure. Despite having a heart pump fitted and months of specialist treatment, he never recovered died unexpectedly in October 2024. Doctors decided to switch off his life support machine while he awaited a heart transplant and Laura held his hand as he died 186 days after they wed. 'We played him his favourite music, and my sister read him a poem,' Laura said. 'And, 186 days after marrying him, I held his hand as he died.' The couple had been saving up to go away for a honeymoon - adding money into the 'pot' at the end of each month, as well as wedding donations. But the money, which Laura said 'would've been enough to take them to Disney,' was spent on Ed's funeral. Laura is now campaigning for mandatory 'health MOTs' for people aged 30 and over - currently the minimum age is 40 for men and women. She believes this simple test could have saved his life by revealing heart abnormalities via a blood pressure and cholesterol checks. Laura, a helpline operator from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: 'If Ed had received a health MOT at 30, the absolute minimum is that I would've had more time with him. 'At his funeral, I couldn't stop wondering: "How did we get here?" 'It was crazy - we were newlyweds who were supposed to be arguing over who does the dishes, and who's cooking dinner.' Ed and Laura walked down the aisle at Banbury United Reformed Church on April 6, 2024. The next day Ed began complaining of 'hot and cold sweats,' preventing him from sleeping all night. Thinking he just had a cold, the primary school teacher 'dosed up' on vitamin C, cold and flu tablets. Two weeks later, on April 21, Ed began suffering from shortness of breath - which couldn't be alleviated with an inhaler. 'We went to A&E at Horton General Hospital,' Laura said. 'He had an EKG and blood tests; he was diagnosed with pneumonia and told to come for a follow-up appointment on May 2.' Ed's condition didn't get any better, and on April 30, an ambulance was sent to take him back to hospital for admission. On May 2, the day of the originally-scheduled follow-up, Ed was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, for further investigations. Doctors couldn't pinpoint the infection which caused his pneumonia - and were trying to treat his heart failure at the same time. Laura added: 'Ed's doctors said he'd be easier to treat if he had heart failure or pneumonia - but because he had both, they had to prioritise which one was causing him more damage.' The care team kept Ed admitted for seven weeks, before discharging him home. Laura was told to keep an eye out for any deterioration, including tiredness and lethargy - and on July 13, after three weeks at home and a night in Horton General Hospital, Ed was readmitted to JRH. On July 19, Ed had a biventricular assist device (BIVAD) fitted, which is designed to support the ventricles if they aren't pumping blood to the heart properly. But he had to remain closely monitored, in-and-out of ICU for a further two months, when he was placed on the heart transplant list. 'The weekend of October 3, I had a very strange feeling,' Laura said. 'Not unusually, the chaplain came to bless Ed - which he did, every Sunday. But this time, while he was reading the prayer, I started sobbing, uncontrollably.' Laura, her twin and Ed's dad were 'politely kicked out' as visiting hours finished at 7:30pm. Four hours later, while on the phone to a friend, Laura received a phone call from the hospital - telling her Ed had taken a turn for the worse. Grabbing Jenny, Ed's childhood teddy bear, Laura, her parents and Ed's dad made their way back to the hospital. A doctor pulled the family into a side room, and told them Ed's BIVAD machine was dying, and his life support machine would need to be switched off. Laura is now pouring her energy into her new campaign, which she has co-founded with friend Gabriella Evans, who lost her husband, Tom, 34, to an undiagnosed heart condition. It's estimated that around 400,000 people in the UK with heart failure are undiagnosed, according to studies. And roughly 10 per cent of all patients are under 50. Heart failure is when the organ is unable to pump blood around the body properly, likely because it has become weak or stiff. This leads to reduced oxygen and nutrients to the organs and tissues. The condition is typically caused by lifestyle-related problems that strain the heart, such as high blood pressure and atherosclerosis (when cholesterol clogs the arteries). Symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in the legs and ankles, irregular heartbeats, dizziness, nausea, and pain in the arms, jaw, or back.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Sanford neighbors help rescue widow and her cat from house fire, officials say
The Brief A group of Sanford neighbors rushed to the rescue of a widow and her cat after her home broke out in a raging fire on Friday. Authorities said there were no injuries in the fire. It is currently unclear how the fire started. SANFORD, Fla. - A group of Sanford neighbors rushed to the rescue of a widow and her cat after her home broke out in a raging fire on Friday. What we know Multiple units responded to a house fire that broke out on Friday evening at a home off Wayside Drive in Sanford. Anthony Zanca, a neighbor in the area, called 911 when he saw smoke coming out of his neighbor's woodshed on Brynwood Lane. Zanca said he and other neighbors ensured the widow who lived in the home got out safely with her cat. Officials said the fire was under control within 10 minutes, and the outside woodworking shed did not spread to the main structure of the home. Authorities said there were no injuries in the fire. What we don't know It is currently unclear how the fire started. What's next The fire is continuing to be investigated by the state. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source This story was written based on information shared by the Seminole County Fire Department in a Facebook post on June 6, 2025.
