I don’t know about you; but when I am tired and stressed, I eat—preferably carbs. And between staying in a hotel for four nights, the stress of giving a speech at my Baylor book launch September 14, parties and lots of quality time with family and friends, I ate whatever I could lay my hands on, including a dinner plate-sized nine-layer chocolate cake with whipped …
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After the publication of my memoir, Reclaiming Joy, started generating attention on social media, I began to hear from people who found their way to this website. They shared their loss—or their friend’s or mother’s loss—and asked, “Will your book help?” I can’t make any promises, but perhaps the letter I wrote back in 2014 when I first began to plan a book—now the introduction to …
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ELLA WALL PRICHARD TO SPEAK ON “RECLAIMING JOY” WACO, Texas (Sept. 5, 2018) – The Baylor University Libraries invite you to attend the book launch of Reclaiming Joy, written by proud Baylor Bear Ella Wall Prichard on Friday, Sept. 14. The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the new Active Learning Lab in Moody Memorial Library. During the event, Prichard will speak to the …
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New Book by Corpus Christi Author Ella Prichard Offers Advice and Encouragement to Widows Seeking to Rebuild Their Lives Corpus Christi resident Ella Wall Prichard was unprepared for widowhood when her husband Lev Prichard died. Muddling through, she learned that there is no one way to “do” widowhood—she could write her own script. Part memoir, part survival guide, her new book Reclaiming Joy: A Primer …
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Three weeks from today, I will be sitting at a table in the Waco Convention Center autographing copies of my memoir, Reclaiming Joy: A Primer for Widows, for the very first time; and I will have my book to add to my bookshelf. How naive I was when I started! Earlier this week I scrolled through my old blogs just to be sure I don’t repeat myself …
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“Faith plays a big role in this book. What advice do you have for women who do not have a strong spiritual life?” The executive editor of Women and Wealth Magazine raised the question when she interviewed me a few weeks ago on Nantucket. It’s a fair question. Does Reclaiming Joy have a place beyond the Christian book market? My answer to the second …
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Last week I decided to take a self-guided walking tour of Nantucket’s historic churches, something I haven’t done since my first extended visit in 2014. As I paused to study the front of the churches—Baptist, Episcopal, Unitarian, Quaker, Catholic, Methodist and Congregational—I found myself examining them through landscape architect Gordon Hayward’s eyes. Do the entries say “welcome”? Is it easy to identify the main entry? …
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Gardening is a joy I reclaimed after Lev’s death; and since I started coming to Nantucket, I have sought to transform my South Texas garden to a traditional New England or English cottage garden. Each summer I look for new ideas—new ways to garden at home. When we are holed up in our air-conditioned homes and the temperature outside hovers near 100 degrees, thinking about …
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Though my memoir, Reclaiming Joy, addresses all aspects of grief—emotional, physical, social, spiritual and financial—I rarely blog about the financial challenges we face when we find ourselves suddenly single, whether by death or divorce. However, the headline of a recent Next Avenue post caught my eye: Picking Up the Financial Pieces After Divorce Younger divorced women repeatedly tell me that I describe them when I …
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The old Washington political cliché has taken on new meaning and new life recently, generally referring to character and behavior rather than policy decisions. But the term has resonated with me in a totally nonpolitical way. I often find myself in situations where a tiny voice in my head reminds me, “Be the adult in the room.” Somehow, that message is more effective in curbing …
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