The other woman

Six years ago Preston Hollow resident Nanci Masso received the news that her husband, who was out of the country for business, died after suffering a massive heart attack following a jog. He had no previous health problems. Dec. 13 marks the seventh year after her husband’s death, which left the mother of five and grandmother of six a widow after 28 years of marriage. Masso, now 56, looks like a woman to be envied with her thin frame and sparkling eyes — eyes that still water a bit when she speaks of the highs and lows that followed his death. “I went into phases where I’d shut down and put my head in the sand,” she says. “Then I’d fall into the all-work pattern,” she says of focusing her attention on the real estate company she and her husband operated. There are about 13.7 million widows in the United States alone, and Masso didn’t want to be another woman halted by grief, so she joined Widow’s Journey. Joy Kirsch, a wealth planning and financial coaching adviser, started the nonprofit in 2011 to give back to the community and touch the lives of women she may not encounter in her office every day. The group of about 20 women of all ages meets at Park City Club the second Tuesday of each month. Masso says she tried grief counseling, but until Widow’s Journey was not able to find a place that coupled the emotional, financial and friendship help that the nonprofit provides. “There are all sorts of stages you go through, and you can’t hurry the process,” she says. “We can help women deal with the different stages.” She’s now a member of the board of directors, and offers her perspective and experience to other women so that they may one day do the same. “I think it’s healthy for widows to talk about it in the same venue with others who have been through the same thing,” she says. Masso says the women in the group are trying to coin a new word for “widow,” as it has a negative connotation. They are playing with the term “the other woman.” As she says, “You are another woman after this happens.” —Monica

S. Nagy

FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit the widowsjourney.org or email info@thewidowsjourney.org. The next seminar, “Standing at the Crossroads: Redefining You After Your Loss” is Nov. 13.

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