Judy Fidkowski-Tetzlaff:  

I live on the Northwest side of Chicago, 7 miles west of Wrigley Field. There are 2 cats on the premises, and have had cats for many years!! I am obviously a Cubs fan, since I mention this important fact. The Bears, the Bulls and the Hawks are also in my "favorites" folder. Hope to hear from some of my old classmates here! I had the honor and pleasure to marry my best friend, Jim Tetzlaff in 1978.We were not blessed with children, so we became "cat people", always sharing our home and our lives with 2-3 cats. Unfortunately, Jim was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in fall of 2005. He was on of the "lucky ones". His cancer was operable, he had "whipple" surgery in December of 2005, followed by chemo and radiation, and a clinical trial at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Unfortunately, the cancer recurred in the original tumor site two years later. He started chemo again, and survived for another 16 months. We were fortunate and he was doing pretty well in the summer of 2008, when we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with 120 of our "closest friends and relatives". We had a catered "picnic" anniversary, filled with fun, stories, a renewal of our wedding vows and hope for our future life together. I lost him on April 18, 2009, exactly 3 1/2 years after the date of his original diagnosis. The last years of our marriage were the best years of our marriage as we faced our fears, and "fought" his battle together. Since his death, I've struggled, but was fortunate again to find YWBB, an online widow's bulletin board, where I've met MANY wonderful new friends in the Chicago area. I expanded my circle of friends with my widowed friends, where I've learned that it's OKAY and even HEALTHY to go on living, and find happiness and love after the death of a spouse. Life has been a struggle, BUT I'm also an "online dating success story". I met my boyfriend Don, via an online dating site. He's a really, really good man, and we are ve...Expand for more