The Widsters

Widowed sisters (widsters), Cardi Cooper and Tuney Thompson, hope that a change of pace and distraction of a bus tour will help them with their grief. However, they soon find out that their liberation from sorrow is as stop-and-go as the bus itinerary.

While exploring their home state of Iowa, the fun-loving, bickering baby-boomers make friends with an infectiously raucous group of four more widows. The Widsters get out of their comfort zones and into a few uncomfortable escapades, and even meet a ghost. But, underlying each minute is their love for each other and the shared bond of widowhood.

Laughter, tears, plans for the future, and memories of the past are sprinkled abundantly throughout the trip. By the time they return home, they discover that traveling is inspirational, exhausting, and exhilarating, but will they find the healing they want and need?

The Widsters is compelling, engaging, and sure to provide readers of all ages a true-to-life glimpse into the lives of intrepid, young-at-heart women.

Auteur

Becky Andersen is a native Iowan, a baby boomer, and loves to laugh at life whenever possible. She has a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Iowa State University, is Mom to two daughters, and "MoMo" to five grandchildren. Andersen has always loved to write, whether it's been poetry or stories for her children and grandchildren, speeches and newsletters for work, or lists of things for her husband to do! When the sudden death of her 57-year-old husband rocked her world, Andersen reluctantly found herself in the "sisterhood of widowhood. "The Widsters" contains a lot of the emotions, both good and bad, that the author experienced herself during the year of firsts and the subsequent years of living with half a heart seemingly gone. Through the fictional characters Cardi Cooper and Tuney Thompson, Andersen brings the stress, fear, tears and grief of widowhood head-to-head with the tranquility, strength, laughter and happiness that family members and friends can offer. Becky Andersen retired as faculty administrator at a liberal arts college and began writing the book "We're Not Sixteen Anymore" as a way to keep busy. And, she admits, as a way to chronicle her experiences dating as a "senior citizen" after her children put her on a cyber dating site. She is now married to her cyber-sweetheart, and happily expanded her heart and soul to include three more children and four more grandchildren. She and her husband love to travel, garden and entertain.