In Britain today almost four million people are widowed: left to face the emotional and practical problems of life without a partner in a society where talking openly about death has become the great 20th-century taboo.
In a series of four programmes Jenni Mills talks to widows and widowers about some of the problems they have been left to face.
1: Margaret and George Margaret lost her husband six months ago - he died suddenly, leaving her with three growing boys to bring up alone with very little money.
George's wife died three years ago when she was only 28. They had two very young sons, and George has found the juggling of both mother and father roles on top of his emotional feelings extremely hard to cope with. Producer SARAH ROWLANDS Listeners can speak to a member ofCRUSEon [number removed]. (Lines open
9.0-10.0 pm)