AND NOW We are three

Suddenly solo after her husband’s unexpected death, poet Elizabeth Alexander made a bold move with her two sons — and found that we never really walk alone

I AM A SINGLE MOTHER,” I say to myself aloud in the mirror, loudly and surprised. The grief has settled enough for me to breathe and look into the future more than a moment. The man who was an unflagging husband to me and a devoted father to our two teenage boys is no longer here, which means finding a new way to be a mother. In April 2012 I lost my husband, Ficre, very suddenly and unexpectedly to cardiac arrest at home on our treadmill. He had seemed to everyone to be perfectly healthy and robust, and we had celebrated his 50th birthday joyously just a few days before. But it turned out his arteries were severely blocked; in a flash, my lovely, peaceful, devoted partner of 15 years was…

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Good Housekeeping (Digital) - 1 Issue, Jun-15

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