EDMONDS, Wash. -- They were having the time of their lives. Inger Josund and her husband Martin were vacationing in Hawaii back in 1993. It was an escape to paradise that unraveled into paradise lost.
Inger's husband Martin had gone snorkeling with a friend and suffered a fatal heart attack.
"I had to ask the life guard point blank if my husband was dead," she recalled. "He just kept telling me he was so sorry,"
After 39 years with the love of her life, Inger was suddenly all alone. It's something she said you get used to, but that doesn't mean things get any easier.
"The older I get, the more I think about him not being there with me to see all the things that are happening," she said. "You just get used to be alone."
But Inger isn't alone anymore.
On Monday she was surrounded by a room full of widows and widowers, dozens of them, now meeting regularly at Edmonds Lutheran Church.
They share their sadness and their joy.
It's more than a support group. It's a "social club" to connect people and get them back to enjoying life while still dealing with death.
"This isn't about grief counseling. It's going for a walk or going to a movie," said organizer Linda Bloom. "Maybe we never talk about that loss, but maybe there is a day where you need to talk. Someone will be there to let you know it gets better."
The group gives hope to those wonder whether they can go on without their spouse. Inger offers some simple words of support -- that a broken heart may never be the same, but it can be put back together.
"One day you will wake up and realize you haven't cried all day," she said. "You just have to find a way to hold it together."
For more information on the social club, contact Edmonds Lutheran Church at 425-744-8090.
