Introducing Darcy Thiel
I'd like to introduce a new blogging friend and fellow widow, Darcy Thiel. Darcy contacted me recently to say that she has been following Riding Bitch for a while and wanted to see if we could join forces because we have quite a bit in common. My response was, "Sure!" So, please welcome Darcy here and take a moment to learn about her story.
Darcy Thiel is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in NY State and has been a couple and family therapist in West Seneca, NY since the mid-1990’s. She is also an accomplished speaker and presenter on various topics throughout the western NY area. Most recently Darcy completed her first book, Bitter and Sweet, A Family’s Journey with Cancer, which she is releasing via her her own Baby Coop Publishing LLC (go, Darcy!).
In the next few weeks/months Darcy and I will be exchanging information and sharing our experiences as caregivers, widows and authors. We started by asking each other a few basic questions.
Q: Hi Darcy, welcome to Riding Bitch. Can you tell me how you become a widow?
A: In May of 2010, my husband Tim was diagnosed unexpectedly with stage IV gallbladder cancer at age 48. One of the hallmarks of this rare disease is that there are no warning signs. It is often not discovered until late stages. Five months and one week later, he passed away on October 14, 2010. It was obviously a shocking whirlwind of change. It’s hard to believe it’s already been two years. I think I am still trying to understand that it even happened sometimes!
Q: I understand you are writing a book about this. Had you written before?
A: No, I have always thought about writing, but this is my first professional attempt. Tim and I were introduced to a website called CaringBridge when he was ill. We chose to make our situation public and both journaled our experience as it unfolded. People often told us we should make it into a book. It was an exciting idea, but one I never dreamed I would actually make happen. The book contains a lot of the writing from that site. I started writing in earnest in February of 2012. We are hoping to release the book this March.
Q: Who do you think is the audience for such a book?
A: This book is meant to be an inspiration to many: To the person who has been diagnosed with cancer, this book can give them an option of how they might choose to deal with their illness and its progression. To the caretaker, it can help them to feel normal with all the different feelings one goes through as they are trying to care for a person with a terminal illness. To the family and friends of those who know someone struggling with a terminal illness they will not only be able to understand more fully what their loved ones are going through (both patient and caretaker), but they will be given loads of practical ideas of how to support them. Lastly, is the human being in general. It is part of the human condition to be struggling with tough issues, many of which are unfair. Perhaps people will be inspired to try and find the gift in whatever struggle they are facing, and in turn catapult their spiritual growth.
For more information about Darcy Thiel, please visit her website www.marriageandfamilycounseling.net and/or her blog www.helpforhealing.wordpress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HelpforHealing1.
Riding Bitch thanks Darcy for reaching across the blogosphere, and is looking forward to future collaborations
Tomorrow (Saturday) Riding Bitch will be traveling to Vermont for the writer's residency and therefore not blogging. But I'll check in with you after the puppy and I get settled.
Happy creating!