It's Okay That It's Not The Same - Grief At The Holidays
Grief Out Loud
[This episode originally aired December, 2023] This time of year can be grueling for anyone, but particularly for those who are grieving. So, each year we put out an episode to help you feel less alone and hopefully more equipped to traverse the next few weeks. Today's guest, Melissa Peede Thompson, M.S., is a Grief Services Coordinator at Dougy Center. While she has lots of professional knowledge in this realm, we asked her to talk about her personal experience of grieving during the holidays. Melissa was six when her sister died of gun violence. She was 13 when her father died in a...
info_outline
It Can Be So Awkward - Holidays & Grief
Grief Out Loud
It's our annual holidays and grief episode! In the past we've focused on more tangible tips and suggestions for supporting kids, teens, and adults during this time of year. This year we decided to focus on one person's lived experience with how the holidays can get really awkward when grief is involved. Ana Salazar-Walsh was just nineteen when her father died in a mountain climbing accident. A few months later, it was the first holiday season after his death, but it was actually the third Christmas in a row shadowed by grief. Two years earlier, her father left their family to start a new one...
info_outline
Grieving While Parenting - Reshma Kearney
Grief Out Loud
When Reshma Kearney's husband Sean died of suicide, her immediate concern was their three young children. She needed to figure out how to talk to them about his death - and his life - all while meeting their emotional and physical needs. Pretty quickly she realized her needs also had to be met so she could keep showing up for them. Reshma and her kids had an established mindfulness practice before Sean's death and those practices became integral for tending to their grief and finding ways to keep engaging with life. Note: this episode discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is...
info_outline
They Are Part Of Our Family - Grieving A Pet
Grief Out Loud
In May of 2024, Christine Passo's beloved dog, Maya Ray, took her last breath in Christine's arms. This wasn't the first time Christine experienced loss or trauma, but the grief she felt and continues to feel for Maya Ray caught her off guard with its intensity and depth. We talk about Maya Ray's last day, how Christine's other dog, Zoe, grieved, and how Christine and her partner are finding ways to continue honoring Maya Ray's life and her place in their family. is a coach who specializes in supporting women through life changes, many of which come with grief. She is also the co-author...
info_outline
Let's Hear It For The Kids - Grief In Their Own Words
Grief Out Loud
In honor of month, we asked kids and teens to talk about grief in their own words. This compilation episode includes clips from children and teens reflecting on their people who died, their varied responses to loss, and what they hope grief will feel like in future. Thank you to all the children and teens who contributed to this episode - and to their parents and caregivers for facilitating the recording process. Want to learn more? Register now for Dougy Center's Children's Grief Awareness Day webinar. Thursday, November 21st, 2024 - 10 - 11:30 am PST Be part of our ...
info_outline
Losing Them More Than Once - When Your Ex Dies
Grief Out Loud
No one is perfect and no one is just one story, but how do you grieve when the person who died was so different than the person you fell in love with? When Jenn met and fell in love with Jesse, she never imagined their relationship would unravel due to his struggles with mental health and alcohol use disorder. Jesse died in 2020 and Jenn's been left to reconcile the man she loved with the one she eventually had to leave. His death also left her unsure where her grief fits in the world of bereavement and how to support their son, whose grief is complicated by the impact his father's illness had...
info_outline
"We Never Talked About Her Again" - Susan Lieu & The Manicurist's Daughter
Grief Out Loud
, is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer. When Susan was 11 years old, her mother died from a routine plastic surgery. After she died, Susan's family stopped talking about her mother, leaving Susan on her own to figure out what happened and how to feel. Susan's debut memoir, recounts her quest to get to know her mother, avenge her death, and try with all her might to get her family to open up about it all. Susan is a compelling and accomplished storyteller, co-hosting podcast and speaking at , the Smithsonian, and at universities and companies across the...
info_outline
Grieving The Relationship We Didn't Get To Have - Maegan Parker Brooks, PhD
Grief Out Loud
It's our 300th episode and this conversation with Maegan Parker Brooks, PhD, is the perfect one to honor that milestone. Maegan is an Associate Professor at Willamette University and a volunteer at where she facilitates a peer grief support group for adult caregivers of teens who are grieving. Maegan is also a daughter and sister, grieving the deaths of her father, her sister Emily, and her mother. In this conversation we talk about grief and estranged relationships, relationships impacted by substance use, non-death losses, memorialization during the pandemic, and all the ways we talk to one...
info_outline
Is This Normal? Getting To Know Grief With Kendra Rinaldi
Grief Out Loud
knows a lot about grief. When she was just 21, her sister died in a car accident. Ten years later she had a miscarriage. Ten years after that, her mother died of cancer. Professionally, she is a grief guide and host of the podcast. But she didn't always get grief. When she was 21, she didn't realize that everything she was thinking, feeling, and experiencing after her sister's death counted as grief. In the years since, Kendra's gotten to know her grief well and uses that knowledge to support others. We discuss: The spectrum of losses Kendra's experienced Grieving her sister's...
info_outline
Building A World Worth Living In - Trends In Suicide Prevention & Postvention
Grief Out Loud
It might be better to ask Canada Taylor what she doesn't do in the realm of suicide prevention, postvention, and grief support rather than what she does because she seems to do just about everything and anything. This is part two of our conversation with her, so if you missed the first, , be sure to listen. In this episode, we talk about the holistic approach she takes to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. An approach that focuses on building a world worth living in. A world where youth - and people of any age - have their basic needs met and can access safety, community,...
info_outlineWhenever Annette & Mel connect, there's always a third person in the mix. That third person is Amy, their friend and chosen family member who died in 2012 of pulmonary fibrosis. While they each had a unique friendship with her, both connections were formative and deep. When Amy died, Annette and Mel's friendship grew stronger, because of their shared grief.
This episode is part of a series focused on grieving the death of a friend. As much as we decry there being a hierarchy of grief, most people still assume the death of a family member is harder than the death of a friend. In reality though, the death of a friend or chosen family member can be absolutely devastating, in ways that catch us, and others, off guard.
We discuss:
- Amy's magnetic personality - and what she meant to each of them
- What they both learned from being friends with her
- The different friendships Mel & Annette had with Amy, while still being part of the same circle
- How Annette & Mel got closer through Amy's illness and death
- Witnessing Amy's rapid deterioration
- How she tried to have end of life conversations with both of them
- When they each realized that Amy was going to die
- What grief has been like for both of them
- Annette being diagnosed with the same illness that Amy had
- The "Amy objects" they keep close
- Navigating new relationships with people who never met Amy
Learn more about Annette Leonard and listen to her podcast, Chronic Wellness.