Janice Wiemeyer Pens Book on Spousal Loss

Wednesday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Darvill’s Bookstore

— by Margie Doyle —

Janice Wiemeyer, retired psychologist, will be giving a reading from her newly-published book, Loving Again: After a Spouse Has Died at Darvill’s Bookstore on July 27 at 6 p.m.

The now-retired psychologist says the seed for Loving Again came about when she became acquainted with her current husband, Alan Wiemeyer, after the death of his wife. Their relationship had unique challenges, and Janice and Alan could find no resources to help with a relationship such as theirs, following the death of a spouse.

“We should write this book,” Janice remembers saying to her husband. “It seemed like we were well-suited: I was accustomed to the interview process, and Alan had had the experience of losing his wife.” And so she and her husband identified the specific issues they faced, developed a semi-structured interview and interviewed 26 couples. Over several years, they spoke with their interview subjects from Washington, California, Utah and Minnesota (the average age was 56 when widowed) on such topics as:

previous relationships,
incorporating the deceased in new relationships,
grieving,
the “shadow” of the deceased,
timing,
reactions of children and friends,
and belongings.

Janice says, “We found surprises and wisdom in the process of writing Loving Again. It was a great experience; the people we talked to were wise, honest, kind and insightful about the experience of how the death of a spouse affected them and how to be in a relationship again. ”

In the future, Wiemeyer hopes to provide workshops for people in similar situations.

Janice says she found the book publishing process slower than anticipated; she worked through W. Bruce Conway of Port Townsend. She expresses gratitude for the cover design by her friend and fellow Orcas resident, Betty Reynolds.

The book is available at Darvill’s Bookstore in Eastsound.

Jenny Pederson of Darvill’s says of the upcoming event, “Loving Again delivers important insights in the transition from love lost to love found. It’s helpful to anybody navigating a relationship. Janice is warm and caring and approachable. She’s helped a lot of people over the years, and we’re delighted to be sponsoring this event for Loving Again.”