I focused on my husband and put myself on the back burner. I couldn't acknowledge my own pain. Many women who come to the group have similar reactions. They are unable to make the transition from lover to nurse and eventually widow. What often seemed to be a solid relationship is rocked by their partner's diagnosis.
Silence creates guilt.
And guilt inhibits their ability to own their confusion, anger and grief. She says it's because of the stigma. I feel this woman will not be able to leave the group and live her life freely until she is able to share her situation with the outside world. Even Elizabeth found herself silenced for a time by the disease that killed her husband. Her husband had asked her to keep his illness a secret, but after his death she became adamant about telling the truth.