Mary Gardella

I never expected to carry the word widow beside my name. We had a whole life still to live. But when my husband died by suicide in 2019, my world imploded. My identity shattered, my sense of safety disappeared, and I was left trying to make sense of a life I didn’t choose.

Even now, years later, I sometimes feel like I’m walking around in borrowed skin—learning to live again while carrying grief as a constant companion. I know the ache, the fog, the confusion. And I also know the quiet, stubborn courage that begins to stir beneath it all.

It has taken me nearly six years to find my footing—to crawl, stumble, and slowly rise toward a life that feels like mine again. Along the way, I saw other widows—women just like me—feeling lost, unseen, and unsure how to begin again. Their pain mirrored my own, and I knew deep in my bones that this couldn’t be the end of our story. Something in me refused to let grief have the final word.

Radiant Reclamation was born from that knowing—a movement for widows who are ready to rise again. It’s not about fixing what’s broken; it’s about remembering what’s still whole. Through community, retreats, and creative expression, we walk together as we reclaim our voices, our identities, and our lives.

Community offers connection and belonging—the reminder that we’re not alone in this wilderness.
Retreats create sacred space to rest, rediscover, and rise into possibility.
Creative expression, including my work behind the lens, helps us see our radiance and the beauty still living inside the ache.

I’m still on my own journey of reclamation. I haven’t arrived; I walk this path with you. As sister, ally, and witness, I stand beside you as we find our way—together—toward the light that never left.