Her husband died after they moved to Spain. Now this American woman says she’s determined to live their dream

CNN — As they neared their retirement, Madeline Waid and her husband Jim, both from the United States, were eager to spread their wings. So it would have been much more difficult.” Madeline also notes that Jim’s treatment would likely have been “much more expensive” back home. “And I’m not sure it would have been like that in the US, even in the town I lived in in Vermont for six years.” When asked if she considered going back home after her husband’s death, Madeline says she always knew that she’d remain in Spain and had talked to Jim about it well before they became aware of his illness. “There’s one shopping center I can’t even go to anymore, just because it was right next to the hospital,” Madeline says. My husband was really against hanging out with expats… And I was like, ‘Jim, we’re not going to hang out with anybody unless we start hanging out with some expats,’ Which we did.” Among Madeline’s many friends are a younger Spanish couple with two children who often invite her along to local family events “that tourists never get to go to.” “We really hit it off,” she says.