Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach continues to chronicle her grief as she comes to terms with her new life after the sudden death of her husband, Michael, after 40 years of marriage. Last week, her daughter, 10-year-old grandson and a cadre of friends released Michael’s ashes into the Pacific. Sternbach isn’t a swimmer. She watched with fear and pride and disbelief from the sand.
Claudia Sternbach
Claudia Sternbach has lived in Santa Cruz for almost four decades and from 2022 to 2025 was a Lookout columnist. In 2023, she chronicled the sudden illness and then February 2024 death of her beloved husband of 40 years, Michael. She is the author of three memoirs, “Now Breathe” (Whiteaker Press), “Reading Lips” (Unbridled Books) and “Dear Goldie Hawn, Dear Leonard Cohen” (Paper Angel Press) and has also written columns for many newspapers, including the Santa Cruz Sentinel. She now lives in New York City.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Table of memories: I’m celebrating Michael’s life at a Seacliff picnic table dedicated in his honor
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach is spending the weekend celebrating the life of her husband, Michael, who died in February after a two-month cancer battle. Her friends dedicated a picnic table at Seacliff State Beach in his honor and they are having a party. She has mixed feelings and wishes she had appreciated her old life more.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I’m not looking for love at Ikea, but I am starting to discover Santa Cruz’s senior nightlife
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach is starting to venture out in the evenings with her friends. She is discovering that many of her fellow seniors are having quite a good time in Santa Cruz and that quite a few venues are packed and humming with high-spirited folks “who remember when the Beatles first came on the scene.” She still misses her husband, Michael, who died suddenly in February after a two-month battle with cancer. But she is trying to venture out into the world a little and lists a few places she has discovered.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Lessons from my first trip to New York since losing my husband: ‘Keep kissing, even in public’
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach lost her husband six months ago to a fast-moving cancer. They had been married 40 years and she is using this space to chronicle her grief. Here, she details her first trip to New York City since his death, the memories and nostalgia it evoked. “Keep kissing, even in public,” she writes. “Feel the warmth of fingers entwined.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How many men does it take to replace a husband?
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach can no longer pump gas. Her arthritis gets in the way. She also can’t sweep her yard or fix the stuff that breaks in her house. These are all chores her late husband did. Here, she thinks about – and thanks – all the men who have stepped in to help her since her husband’s death.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I’ve managed five months without my late husband. I’m still weepy, but does moving on mean I need him less?
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach continues to chronicle her grief after her husband Michael’s February passing. Michael was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma cancer just weeks after he retired. He died two months later. Sternbach is now learning to build a different life than the one she and Michael had planned.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Katie Couric lost her husband to cancer – I’ve admired her for years and she is still teaching me
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach still remains shaky, five months after suddenly losing her husband to cancer. Here, she remembers the stunning 1998 death of NBC anchor Katie Couric’s husband, Jay Monahan, 42, and how graciously and privately Katie handled it. She’s trying to absorb the lessons.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Can I please speak to a manager? I want my husband and the life we had back
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach lost her husband of 40 years to cancer in February. The diagnosis was sudden – they learned he had cancer only in December. Now, she is adjusting to life on her own and doesn’t like it much.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
When my wedding ring slipped off my finger and vanished, I felt I had lost my late husband all over again
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach can’t believe summer fruit is here and her beloved husband of 40 years is not. Michael died in February, two months after being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Recently, she misplaced her wedding ring – the one he put on her finger just months before he died. Here, she writes of loss and longing and how unfair it is that time keeps moving forward as if nothing has changed.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Yes, I consulted a psychic who says she’s talking to my late husband; she says he’s happy – and still using the F-word
Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach doesn’t know what she believes about the afterlife. But, when a friend connected her with a psychic who claims to be talking to her late husband, Michael, Sternbach couldn’t resist a meeting.