Preparation for widowhood?

Well, Mary, you say that no one is prepared to be a widow, but just think of all the life changing events for which there is no preparation. Almost all of them. I lived for nearly six decades without knowing anyone really close who died. In that I was unusual, perhaps even fortunate. I also think of you nursing your husband for over three years while he slowly left life as you two knew it together because of his

Alzheimer's. And yet, even you were not prepared for the finality. No one can be. I thought I was prepared in the sense that in my situation there was no hope in those final weeks in the hospice, but the difference between the body that breathes and the one who does not is beyond description. I feel so sorry for your friend whose husband went into the hospital  for "a routine procedure" and two days later was gone.