High five to you!  I too lost my husband/best friend 20 years ago. I was left with two small children, a business to run and home with a almond crop. It was a very difficult time for us. I did the best I could. At first, I burried my head in work.  Then I relized they my children were my priority and I need to be there with them. I sold the business, moved to the country and enjoyed what I had left of my husband, my children.  They were my strength. We were strong together.  I never remarried, my children were my focus.  We have been through lots of things in the last 20 years, good and bad, but mostly good.

We are all very independent women, but we hold tight.