The Unexpected Widow: A Young Family's Battle Against Cancer

How does a young family come to terms with a devastating diagnosis of cancer? What does it feel like to watch your toddlers play, knowing you’ll never see them off to kindergarten?

These are the issues that confronted Daniel Shomate, who died of mesothelioma at age thirty-three. And they’re the questions that continue to haunt his widow, Rachel. In dealing with her grief, she has offered The Unexpected Widow, a beautiful and heartbreaking memoir of the mere seventy-six days between Daniel’s diagnosis and death.

Told through personal journal entries, GoFundMe updates, family photos, and transcripts from Daniel’s vlog, The Unexpected Widow offers a close-up view of the family’s journey—a journey that takes them through pain that’s both physical and psychic. Beyond denial, grief, and acceptance are myriad other considerations—from how to break the news to others about Daniel’s illness to how to simultaneously maneuver a wheelchair and a double stroller along a crowded sidewalk.

There are also unexpected moments of joy and wisdom, and a peek into the legacy that Daniel left behind. Filled with love and practical life lessons, The Unexpected Widow is ultimately Rachel Shomate’s declaration that life, in whatever altered version, does indeed go on.