Radiant Reclamation
Grief will not have the last word.
This is the revolution for widows who refuse to be silenced, shamed, or diminished by loss.
Radiant Reclamation is where you rise from the ashes, claim your scars as power, and rebuild a life that is wholly, fiercely yours.
“And still, I rise.”
— Maya Angelou
Rise. Roam. Reclaim.
When the ground shatters beneath you, when death comes suddenly—especially by suicide—life splits into before and after.
You didn’t choose this loss. But you still hold the power to choose what comes next.
Radiant Reclamation is a revolution for widows who refuse to disappear into their grief. It’s a movement that says: I choose me. Not as betrayal, but as survival. As resurrection. As love.
This is for the women who wake up every day carrying both a scar and a flame. The ones exhausted by guilt, identity loss, and the silence of a world that doesn’t understand. The ones who know they can’t rebuild the same life—but dare to believe a new one can rise from the wreckage.
I built this movement because I had to. My own story cracked me open. Widowhood by suicide left me staring at nothingness. And still, I found myself reaching for light. Not to erase what was lost, but to claim the life that still beats in me. To remind myself, and every widow who joins me, that brokenness is not the end of the story.
The Three Pillars of Radiant Reclamation
Community
Radiant Scars Healing Circle
A sacred online gathering space held monthly with a featured guest ally. This is where widows find sisterhood in shared pain, and feel seen without judgment.
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Retreats
Widows to Warriors
Transformative, immersive experiences that blend healing, adventure, and courage. Designed to move you from surviving into choosing life again—on your terms.
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Photography
Your Radiance Sessions
Powerful, essence-driven photography that captures who you are becoming. For widows stepping into leadership, visibility, and the reclamation of self.
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This is more than a program. More than a retreat. More than a circle.
It’s a homecoming.
A remembering of your own power.
A reclamation of life after death.
The Radiant Reclamation movement exists so widows everywhere can rise from what tried to end them, roam into the unknown with courage, and reclaim their place in life—fiercely, unapologetically, radiantly.
Mary Gardella
Founder,
Radiant Reclamation
I never thought widow would become part of my name. When my husband died by suicide in 2019, my world shattered—and I spent years navigating grief, fear, and a silent identity. Yet through that rupture, I found a mission: to walk beside widows who feel lost, invisible, and silenced—and help them reclaim their voice, presence, life.
Photographer. Witness. Fellow traveler on the path of becoming.
Mary sees you. Her tool just happens to be a camera.
However, the special skill is her innate ability to hone in on “the” thing that makes you special.
She pulls on that thread creatively by making a safe space for you to move and to be vulnerable.
The result is always an image of yourself where even if you feel you are not fully “there” yet, it has now been visualized.
It is captured for you to literally see the future – a 100% fully capable version of yourself!
Mary has photographed my in-person retreats, my clients’ brand sessions, my team, and my own personal & family portraits.
Every image she takes is candid, raw, and honest.
She knows how to capture a real person in a real moment.
She makes me – and everyone she photographs – feel beautiful. Because she sees us.
As part of a rebranding of my business, I hired Mary to do the professional photography for my website.
Being someone who does not enjoy having her photo taken, I can say that it was a fun and no-stress experience.
And the photos were stunning!
Mary captured the essence of who I am and has a remarkable talent for light and shadow, as well as choosing the right setting for me.
I highly recommend Mary for anyone who is up-leveling their business and needs the photography to reflect that shift.
