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Rose Gomez
Holly K. Guile
ENGL 2010-018
2 March 2014
Mourning Alone Does Not Work
Many times we dont realize just how much we miss something until its completely
gone, like in the case of losing someone. Especially, if that someone is your soul mate, someone
you feel you cant live without. Every day when we venture out of our homes there is uncertainty
as to our fate. What are we to do if we find ourselves in such a situation that we are forced to fill
the void? How do we carry on after a loss? On her website, The Widdahood Catherine Tidd,
opens up about becoming a widow at 31 years old with 3 young children after her husband dies
in a traffic accident. And how hard it was to find support. As a widow she became proactive in
her search but realized it wasnt easy. She thought it should be an easier process and instead
created her own site to make it easier for widows, widowers, partners and everyone in between
looking for mutual support and encouragement. She is a woman that through her own need grew
the duty to also help others. Through her website she constructs an ethos of a community that
values support and encouragement to get through everyday life challenges.
One of the ways she employs ethos is by the visuals and theme portrayed as an online
community that is close as if from the same neighborhood, hence Widdahood, this gives its
visitors a warm welcome. Drawing from the design is the scheme of colors blue and green. They
are no accident in the way they were put together. They create an aesthetically pleasing color
combination that means much more than mere colors splashed on a webpage but instead do what
colors do well, to evoke certain feelings from its audience. For example blue tones have a way
with making people think about something secure and full of experience. Thus blue is calming
and associated with the sky. Green tones on the other hand, give a feel for optimism. Green is
refreshing and can make people feel inspired. And therefore the color green is associated with
growth and hope. This shows the thought process that must have been applied into creating the
color scheme of the website. Also this presents its creator as a knowledgeable and caring person
who has built a relaxing place to gather while building peoples optimism and hopes back up
where there might not be any. Also the layout of the website is very user friendly, you get tabs
along the top to get to information quickly and the right-hand side has links to social media,
events, or articles.
Catherine Tidd also creates for her website an animated version of herself to represent
her website calling herself Widow Chick a real but virtual self, meant to show she is always
there when you need her but doesnt want to overwhelm her website with many personal
touches. This place isnt meant to be personally all about her life. One thing she wants to make
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clear is that this space is really everyones space. To be an environment where the user can let
their guard down and grieve freely. She understands that although her audience might be there
for the same reasons, its still different in how we all process grief. She encourages her members
to seek out other members for advice. Another way her website creates a feeling of close-knit
community is by implementing the discussion page under the Town Hall tab. A place where
one can come to express their worries and ask for help. Or post their random thoughts. For some
its a place to post advice and even a way to be someones pick -me -up. This social platform is
truly meant for the audience to connect with other people in the same type situations. The idea
came from Tidd from a time when she needed emotional support and the realization of needing
to chat with someone in the middle of the night and not knowing anyone she can go to. That is a
feeling that she believes is an all too common feeling among widow/widowers. To be feeling
alone and not know who is out there to chat with whom has been in their shoes. For good reason
Tidd, values communication among members and continues her efforts to create an easygoing
atmosphere by giving her users the freedom to interact with others members of the site. This
demonstrates that she knows she may not have all the answers but encourages seeking out help
from other members. The members are the ones that really make this website thrive. In
continuing to maintain the idea of a supportive community, Tidd also provides under the
Community Center tab a resource page. It provides a list of recommended books and
nationwide non-profits. Users are encouraged to suggest any resources to be added the list. This
section stays faithful to one of her purposes for the website. To make resources easily accessible
and be ways to get professional help. They are one of various ways to get help on the website
and its an integral part.
The Widdahood Post, on the other hand is a segment that offers short articles from different
users including Catherine Tidd (aka Widow Chick) with insights, funny stories, awkward
parenting moments or ways to reinvent oneself. To reinvent oneself must be hard to do without
any advice but with this website reinvention is something that is encouraged. The idea is to
hopefully as a widow/widower to be able to one day restart and just commence on the journey to
reinvention. In this segment there is much range of topics but thats what is great about them,
there is something for everyone. There is also an upcoming events calendar which showcases
the days that there will be retreats; they range from city to city for example San Diego Ca. to
Tampa Bay Fl. Tidd does this to be on an emotional level almost a one-on-one with her
members, to empower them and offer her support. This proves that she genuinely is there for
them that its what she values most, the community that she created. Also she has announced that
she has a book coming out the following year called Confessions of a Mediocre Widow: Or,
How I Lost My Husband and my Sanity a book of her journey of being a widow. This
announcement doesnt overwhelm the webpage and its put on the upper left-hand side as a way
to discreetly promote her book. Tidd continues to work on keeping the website to be about the
Widdahood community more than solely based on her.
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Catherine Tidd uses ethos in all aspects of her website from the first thing you see as in
the design layout, the consideration into the color scheme to build a safe and relaxing
atmosphere. Also the ease in the navigation of the webpage seems to be another way she makes
it simple and less tedious to get information. This makes an impression that its creator is
someone that caters to her audience, while reflecting through her own widow hood experience.
Even the online identity that she has invented for herself (Widow Chick) to leave as an online
presence to give the feel as if she is always available to offer support. For example whether it is
through the discussion page or through social media or through comments she posts on articles
on the Widdahood Post. All are ways she continues to keep the Widdahood community
together. This community that is made stronger through its members is what she values and it
would seem that ethos stems from a moral principle behind this website, which is to treat others
the way youd like to be treated.




Works Cited


Catherine, Tidd. N.p.. Web. 24 Oct 2013.
<http://www.thewiddahood.com/>.
Tidd, Catherine. "Confessions Of a Mediocre Widow." N.p., n. d. Web. Feb 25 2014.
<http://catherinetidd.com/>.







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