The Hungover Widow, Loss, Grief, and Dating for the first time at 50

Debbie Weiss is a successful writer but she didn’t begin to write for publication until her husband of 32 years died of cancer. She was living alone for the first time at age 50.

She is, according to the Kirkus Reviews, “a dryly amusing writer who tells it like it is.” And our conversation proved that to be true.

 Debbie shared honestly about caring for a man who was in such denial that he refused to allow Debbie to bring in someone to help with his medical needs, would not agree to a hospital bed so he could get comfortable, and she could get some sleep, and lied to his parents about his illness, even as they were going to lose their only son.

 It's no surprise that she was diagnosed with PTSD.

 “Over the next few years, I sort of got better, in dribs and drabs, but the loneliness enveloped me. For 32 years, George and I had eaten dinner together almost every night, then curled up in bed to wake up beside each other each morning. I still wonder, where does all that love go? Is it transmuted into protective energy or is it just gone?”

 Debbie takes us on her journey back into life—but not before she played the role of Hungover Widow--and then into dating—for the first time in her life at 50!

 And date she did, with a vengeance. Some of her stories are funny and some include warnings about the kind of guys you might encounter out in the midlife dating world.

 At some point Debbie says,

“I began to feel that midlife dating was less an earnest romantic endeavor and more a battle of the sexes . . . and the line in the sand was how much women were willing to tolerate.”

 Her book about this time in her life is titled, “Available, As Is”. I love that title.

 She says this about her book. “Available As Is is for women like me, who were long married, but now have to learn how to be alone for the first time. If you’re looking for a full-hearted, darkly funny, unvarnished account of becoming your true self at middle age, then this is the book for you.”

 Debbie finally got offline and met her current partner, Randal.

 Find Debbie on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok