Pam (wife, for you three new readers) has been staying at home since our son’s death in April last year. It was (and still is) quite difficult for her. She’s had trouble sleeping and concentrating.

(One of the things that I have done to help out is establish a web site for Jason. You’ll find it at www.jasonhellewell.com , and includes some pictures, the music that Jason composed, and the funeral talks.)

One of her therapies (other than several discussion groups on the ‘net) is scrapbooking. She has gone through family pictures and made several hundred different scrapbook pages of Jason and our family and his friends. The office has a nice work area, and she has one wall of cabinets and shelves filled with scrapbook supplies. It has been a good thing for her to do as she works through her grief.

Lately she has decided that it might be a good idea to get back to work. She misses the social aspect of work, even though she does get out a bit and has a good support group of on-line friends.

Yesterday, she was offered a great job. Three days a week at a nice hourly salary, no overtime (that was a problem with her last job), and working with a known group of work friends (the job is with the same local government). She’s excited about the job; it will still allow her to pursue her “scrapping”, make trips to Utah to visit our oldest daughter and her family, and pursue other activities (like taking care of the house and me).

I think this will be good for her. There’s no financial or spousal pressure for her to go back to work; we’ve been able to survive quite nicely on my income. The extra income will help build up some long-term savings, and help with increasing her retirement options.