Future Widow — Jenny Lisk | Author, Speaker, & Podcaster

Jenny Lisk’s young husband started feeling dizzy and stopped making sense. The next thing she knew, she was a widowed parent, desperately wanting to know: how exactly do you raise grieving kids, anyway?

A heartbreaking doctor’s visit. A fate she never saw coming. She’d dig deep for the strength she so desperately needed…

Seattle, 2015. Jenny Lisk was happy with a perfectly normal, busy life. But after the usual bustling week, Friday night turned from downtime into mild alarm when her forty-three-year-old spouse shared that he’d been feeling dizzy. And after ten days of his condition steadily worsening, she still wasn’t prepared for the stunning news: He was terminally ill.

Reeling from his diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, Jenny suddenly became not only a wife, mother, and career woman, but also a cancer-patient caregiver and parent of grieving children. And her many fears and uncertainties swirled around one relentless question:

Did she have what it takes to help her young family survive?

Through a vulnerable, honest account of preparing for the death of a loved one, Jenny shares tips and information about childhood grief, how to be there for mourning friends, and ways online communities provide essential support. And for those who feel lost and alone, or are grappling with any kind of loss, her deeply personal journey provides a universal beacon of hope.

Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice is a brave and raw narrative that doesn’t pull any punches on the realities of caregiving and bereavement. If you like captivating stories, authentic inspiration, and understanding the grieving process, then you’ll find encouragement in Jenny Lisk’s touching memoir.

What People Are Saying

"Lisk uses her pain to help others in this conversational, accessible memoir."

ZIBBY OWENS, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books
"Riveting, real and all too relatable, the kind of stuff you tell your friend in a late-night call when no one can hear you cry. Stunning."

LESLIE GRAY STREETER, author of Black Widow
"A heartbreaking but forthright, informative, and ultimately forward-looking cancer account."

KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A profoundly moving memoir and resource, this book provides a guide for future or current widows and widowers who are parenting grieving children."

MARY ROBINSON, MA, CT, CNN Hero and Founder of Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss
"Here is a book we need: a real look into what it means to be a caregiver. By sharing her family's journey, Jenny Lisk has given us both a poignant memoir as well as a de facto guide for the otherwise uncharted waters of caring for a loved one through illness and the healthcare system."

BJ MILLER, MD, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Physician, Author, and Founder of Mettle Health
"Frank, tender, real, and ultimately optimistic, Future Widow is the ultimate gift for someone going through the unthinkable."

JULIE LYTHCOTT-HAIMS, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult and Real American
A "Most Anticipated Book of 2021"

Badass Women's Book Club
"As a fellow widowed parent I found Jenny's book resonant in so many places.... It's both heartbreaking and optimistic and I truly believe that this book will help so many people!"

MELISSA GOULD, author of Widowish
"A polished heartbreaker touched with wit and insight...."

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY BOOKLIFE REVIEWS
"In Future Widow, Lisk reveals how she navigated the often conflicting priorities of Wife and Mother and she reflects on what she might have done differently.... Lisk's honesty is both compelling and instructive."

ALLISON GILBERT,author of Passed and Present and Parentless Parents
"In her gripping personal account of caring for her terminally ill husband, Jenny Lisk illustrates through her lived experience how to maintain hope and, at the same time, prepare for an unwanted future."

JUSTIN YOPP, PhD, Psycho-Oncologist, author of The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life
"It's been said that one person's survival story becomes another person's survival guide. With Future Widow Jenny Lisk has written that and so much more. This isn't just a story of surviving--it's also a story of thriving."

GINA WARNER,Badass Women's Book Club
"Future Widow offers a view of life inside a family impacted by terminal cancer that will inspire and help others heading down that road."

LAUREN SCHNEIDER, LCSW, Clinical Director of Child and Adolescent Programs, OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center
"Jenny Lisk poignantly shares the reality her family faced after her husband's glioblastoma diagnosis.... Her honest accounts of everything from dealing with hijacked intimacy with her spouse to uncertainty about parenting provide brave examples of doing hard things that many will never encounter."

MICKI BURNS, PhD, Chief Clinical Officer, Judi's House
"Jenny's honest reflections are real, heartbreaking, and inspiring.... For those in similar circumstances, Jenny shines a light, showing there is hope and support despite the difficulties."

BUFFY PETERS, Director, Hamilton's Academy of Grief & Loss
"This book provides valuable insights into dealing with personal loss and coming out on the other side, and shares a behind-the-scenes account of caring for a critically ill spouse that will be helpful to healthcare providers and families alike."

CHARLES S. COBBS, MD, Director, Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment, Swedish Neurosciences Institute

Jenny Lisk’s young husband started feeling dizzy and stopped making sense. The next thing she knew, she was a widowed parent, desperately wanting to know: how exactly do you raise grieving kids, anyway?

"Lisk uses her pain to help others in this conversational, accessible memoir."

"Riveting, real and all too relatable, the kind of stuff you tell your friend in a late-night call when no one can hear you cry. Stunning."

"A heartbreaking but forthright, informative, and ultimately forward-looking cancer account."

"A profoundly moving memoir and resource, this book provides a guide for future or current widows and widowers who are parenting grieving children."

"Here is a book we need: a real look into what it means to be a caregiver. By sharing her family's journey, Jenny Lisk has given us both a poignant memoir as well as a de facto guide for the otherwise uncharted waters of caring for a loved one through illness and the healthcare system."

"Frank, tender, real, and ultimately optimistic, Future Widow is the ultimate gift for someone going through the unthinkable."

A "Most Anticipated Book of 2021"

"As a fellow widowed parent I found Jenny's book resonant in so many places.... It's both heartbreaking and optimistic and I truly believe that this book will help so many people!"

"A polished heartbreaker touched with wit and insight...."

"In Future Widow, Lisk reveals how she navigated the often conflicting priorities of Wife and Mother and she reflects on what she might have done differently.... Lisk's honesty is both compelling and instructive."

"In her gripping personal account of caring for her terminally ill husband, Jenny Lisk illustrates through her lived experience how to maintain hope and, at the same time, prepare for an unwanted future."

"It's been said that one person's survival story becomes another person's survival guide. With Future Widow Jenny Lisk has written that and so much more. This isn't just a story of surviving--it's also a story of thriving."

"Future Widow offers a view of life inside a family impacted by terminal cancer that will inspire and help others heading down that road."

"Jenny Lisk poignantly shares the reality her family faced after her husband's glioblastoma diagnosis.... Her honest accounts of everything from dealing with hijacked intimacy with her spouse to uncertainty about parenting provide brave examples of doing hard things that many will never encounter."

"Jenny's honest reflections are real, heartbreaking, and inspiring.... For those in similar circumstances, Jenny shines a light, showing there is hope and support despite the difficulties."

"This book provides valuable insights into dealing with personal loss and coming out on the other side, and shares a behind-the-scenes account of caring for a critically ill spouse that will be helpful to healthcare providers and families alike."