Brenda Lee Sieglitz of Lancaster uses her laptop at the Prince Street Cafe in Lancaster in 2011. Boitson comes to the cafe often to blog about her experiences. Her husband, Kevin, died unexpectedly in 2008 and she has used social media as a coping mechanism since then. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS — FILE)
Brenda Lee Sieglitz wore a white tiara, a fluffy boa and a satin cape when she left the church on her wedding day, Feb. 3, 2007. She smiled as she looked down, careful not to snag her dress on the steps. Her husband, Kevin, held her hand. The Lancaster resident posted the photo on Facebook on their three-year anniversary and under it wrote: “I once was a bride.”
Now, she’s a widow.
On Oct. 28, Sieglitz will honor the fifth anniversary of her husband’s death. But she hopes to celebrate, as well, for having reached a Kickstarter goal to self-publish her memoir, “Ebb from the Shoreline: How I Found Hope in Love, Anticipation and Loss.”
The crowdfunding campaign, which kicked off Sept. 29, sets a goal of $5,500. As with all Kickstarter projects, backers are only charged if the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal. If the project falls short, no one is charged.
Sieglitz described “Ebb From the Shoreline” as “the story of how she fell for Kevin online while he was over a thousand miles away in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As their relationships grew, they had a number of setbacks, including a long distance relationship, a difficult battle with U.S. immigration and financial turmoil while waiting on Kevin’s work permit once he moved to the States.
“When they finally overcame those hardships, Kevin was diagnosed with a rare cancer, angiosarcoma, just over one year into their marriage, which forced them to both leave their jobs and rely on friends, family and faith to see them through an intense 4-month battle with cancer that ended in Kevin’s death in 2008 at the age of 36. Brenda was 24.”
Find more details on the project by searching “Ebb From the Shoreline” at kickstarter.com.
Also of interest:
– Social media, a place to share life events, becomes a place to grieve as well