LAUNCH PRICE Save 45% $49.99 $27 e-book · pay once · instant download + 2 free printables, reserved for 30:00 See the e-book →
Elmer · an old widower up in the hills Still Standing
For anyone past 65 who's been left with a quiet house

The house got so quiet you can hear the kitchen clock. The worst days aren't the anniversaries. They're the Saturdays.

I'm Elmer. I'm 86, and going on five years ago I buried the girl I married. Folks figured I'd sell the place and move to town. I didn't. Some of you asked if I ever wrote down what got me through. I did. It's twenty plain lessons: the first nights, cooking for one, the hospital, the winter, the money, the folks who only come around when they need something, and the days heaven goes quiet. One thing to do before you turn in, at the end of every one.

Get the e-book · $27

E-book: PDF + EPUB, nothing is mailed + 2 free printables · instant download

Still Standing, by Elmer
How it works

Three steps. No mail, no waiting.

  1. You pay once, on a secure checkout page. No subscription.
  2. The book opens on the page that comes up right after. Tap it and it opens like a photograph does.
  3. You save the files on your phone, tablet or computer, and print the pages you want by the phone. The download page works for 30 days.
Free with the book

FREEThe Porch Light List
+
FREEThe Nine O'Clock Plan

Included today, no extra cost

Plus 2 printable pages for the refrigerator

free $24.

I. If you've felt even one of these

Nothing is wrong with you. Nobody ever told you how this part goes.

"A man is allowed to grieve. Nobody told me that either. I'm telling you."
II. What's inside

20 lessons in four parts. Each one starts with something that happened, and ends with something you can do tonight.

Part 1 · The House Got Quiet (5 lessons)

The first night in a quiet house, still saying goodnight, supper for one set like it matters, a man's right to grieve, and Saturdays, holidays and the other long days.

Part 2 · When Nobody Seems to Hear You (5 lessons)

Being looked past at your own table, finding a reason to get up, more funerals than birthdays, the small company of a dog, a neighbor and a porch, and the door you keep open for a child who stopped calling.

Part 3 · Hard Times, Plain Help (6 lessons)

Coming home from the hospital to an empty house, asking for help without feeling like a burden, who knows you're all right by nine in the morning, staying in your own house, getting through a winter alone, and living on less without the shame.

Part 4 · Keeping Your Door and Your Peace (4 lessons)

The ones who only come up the road when they need something, sweet talk on the telephone and strangers at the door, forgiving the younger man you were, and faith when heaven goes quiet.

At the back: the numbers worth keeping by the phone. Where the book gives a fact, it says who it comes from: Social Security, the CDC, the National Institute on Aging, Medicare, the FTC.

III. The questions you don't say out loud

The ones that come at three in the morning.

IV. What this book isn't

Not a sermon. Not a memoir. Not medical advice.

It isn't the story of my life. Every lesson starts with something that happened up here, because that's how an old man explains things, and then it gets down to what you can do. It has faith in it, the way my life does, but it doesn't preach, and it doesn't tell anybody God has a plan for their grief. I'm not a doctor and I'm not a preacher. Where it talks about your health, your money or your rights, it tells you who to ask.

What folks usually tell you
  • "Keep busy."
  • "She's in a better place."
  • "Maybe it's time to sell the house."
  • "Have you gone back to church yet?"
What this book does
  • Puts a name on what you're feeling
  • Gives you permission to grieve your own way
  • Shows you what staying home really takes
  • Leaves you one thing to do before you turn in
V. Who wrote it

An old widower who stayed in his own house.

I'm Elmer. I'm 86. I worked with my hands all my life, up in the hills, and I was married sixty years, near enough. My children went off to the city a long time ago, the way children do. When my wife passed, I learned everything in this book the hard way: the quiet, the Saturdays, the hospital, the winter, and the phone call I kept putting off.

This book is what I'd tell you if you came up and sat on the porch a while.

VI. The e-book

Pay once. Read it today, on any device. Print the pages you want.

$49.99$27

$49.99 is the regular price. $27 is the launch price, while the book grows.

This is an e-book, a digital download. Nothing is printed or mailed.

  • 20 lessons in four parts, and the numbers worth keeping by the phone
  • Plus 2 printable pages, free (worth $24)

  • A PDF laid out like a book in large, easy type, and an EPUB for e-readers, tablets and phones
  • Download page right after payment, good for 30 days
  • No copy protection, on all your devices
  • Pay once. No subscription.
Get the e-book · $27
VII. Questions

Before you ask

Is this a printed book?

No. It's an e-book: a PDF and an EPUB you download right after you pay. Nothing comes in the mail. You can make the letters as big as you like on a screen, or print the pages you want to keep.

I'm not good with computers. Will I manage?

After you pay, a page opens with the book on it. You press it and it opens. Bookmark that page or save the files, so a son, daughter or neighbor can help you open them or print them later.

I'm not from the mountains. Is this for me?

Yes. The hills are just where I happen to live. A quiet house is a quiet house anywhere.

Is this a religious book?

It has faith in it, the way an old man's life does. It doesn't preach, and there's a lesson for the days you can't feel anything at all.

Are these just the videos written down?

No. A video gets one lesson told in a few minutes. The book has all twenty, with the practical parts the videos leave out, and something to do at the end of each one.

My father is a widower. Is this a good gift?

That's a good part of who it's for. You can buy it, print it for him, or sit down and read a lesson with him.

Is it medical, legal or financial advice?

No. Where it gives a fact, it names who it comes from (Social Security, the CDC, the National Institute on Aging, Medicare, the FTC), and it tells you to ask your doctor, your local Social Security office or someone you trust about your own case. If you're having thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988.

Is Elmer a real person?

Elmer is a character. His stories draw on the experiences of a great many long lives, and they're told through one old man so they read like a conversation on a porch. The facts in the book are real, and each one was checked against the agency it comes from.

What if I don't like it?

Write to us at the address at the bottom of this page within 48 hours of your purchase and you'll get your money back.

The last page

She left the porch light on for me for sixty years. I leave it on now for whoever comes up the road.

If you're reading this at night in a house that got too quiet, you're not the only one, and you're not done yet. Twenty lessons, one at a time. Start with the first one tonight.

Get the e-book · $27