Widow Warrior Rising

I hope my story inspires you to dream big, and hold the pen to your own destiny. Independence is strength every day woman should know. 💫

My home wasn’t a place. My home was a person.

Justin and I owned a beautiful property in New York; 12 acres we bought just two Christmases before he was killed. It was supposed to be our forever home.

After Justin was killed, nothing felt like home again.

I had to learn a different definition of the HOME.

When I picked up my life and moved from New York to South Carolina, I had never even been to South Carolina before. I bought my house here within 24 hours. I knew only one couple, 45 minutes away.

I took a chance on me. I held that pen writing my next chapter.

The interesting thing is, independence wasn’t new to me.

For years, I was a single mom raising four young children on my own. I worked. I provided. I built a career while building their lives. I did it all; just me successfully. Pure independence.

I was the mom running across a football field in heels at halftime, fresh from a client meeting, trying to make it to my side of the sideline before the second half started.

I knew how to do hard things.

Then I spent nine years building a life with Justin. When you become a we, there is a beautiful dependence that comes with partnership. You know who you are individually, who you are together, and the future you are building.

Suddenly and tragically, death changed all of it.

I knew who I was before Justin.
I knew who we were together.
I knew the plans we had made.

That’s woman Justin fell in love with was that woman he saw doing it all.

What I didn’t know was who I would be after him.

No surviving spouse walks into their present and future as the same person they were before. We are learning ourselves again while simultaneously trying to survive a life we never chose.

I leaned back into the independent woman I once knew.

I had no choice.

Widows don’t get a choice about surviving. We have to. And we will.

Now, as I begin my second autumn along the South Carolina coastline, I realize how much life can change.

Last night, I stood beneath the Harvest Moon watching it light up the sky.

This morning, I watched the sun rise over that same coastline.

And there it was, the reminder I needed:

Every new day, we rise again.

That lesson follows me everywhere, including into my professional life.

Change is uncomfortable. Starting over is scary. Sometimes the future looks absolutely nothing like the one you planned.

Start anyway.

Take the chance.
Bet on yourself.
Remember who you were.
Discover who you’re becoming.

And if you’re somewhere in life right now wondering whether you’re going to make it, let me be your reminder:

You will.

The sun rose this morning.

So did I.

And tomorrow, we get another chance to rise again.

From Cherry Grove Beach City of North Myrtle Beach South Carolina to the Hudson Valley New York or wherever you are, I hope I inspire you to carry on. 💫

Gillian Grater Widow Warrior Rising

𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡

I live for weekends where I can go to the place I can free my mind.

The second my feet hit the sand I am grounded.

The moment my body touches the water the salt frees me back to a place I know guy is in my soul forever despite what Monday brings.

This is the place I call home.

A place I can clear my mind back nothing in the world that can ever touch my person and me from heaven to home. It’s the one and the last only place I feel free.

Widow Warrior Rising

𓂃𓂃𓂃 ོ ☼𓂃𓂃𓂃 ོ ☼ 𓂃𓂃𓂃 ོ☼𓂃𓂃𓂃 ོ ☼ 𓂃𓂃𓂃 ོ ☼