I’m Amy Gabrielle, a 56 year-old native New Yorker, mom to a tween son, and a widow. My husband Steven died in August 2021 from a rare cancer, soft tissue sarcoma. We met on J-Date.com in 2007 and were married for 13 years.

This is the story of how I used my grief as a catalyst for growth and creativity after my husband died. I tapped into my inner sensuality and first reinvented myself as a lingerie model, boudoir photographer, and midlife influencer Jenny the Manhattan MILF.

I began using the caption sections of my social media posts to write about grief, loss, and widowhood. I soon realized there was so much more I wanted to write about: being a mom to a child with special needs, sex worker’s rights and decriminalization, the legacy of Western colonialism in the US, censorship on the Internet and more!

When my captions began exceeding 2,200 characters (the limit on Instagram) I continued writing in the comments of my own posts. That’s when I knew I had to find a more suitable home for my writing, and here I am, on Medium! I’m excited to share some of the beautiful and heartbreaking insights I’ve had as I continue to rebuild my life after loss.

Thank you for being here for the journey!

Love, Amy