Grief Transformation

Finding Faith And Healing In Widowhood With Danny Lesslie

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Danny Lesslie | Widowhood Faith And Healing

  Dr. Tina Fornwald connects with author Danny Lesslie to discuss widowhood, faith, and healing through the lens of profound personal loss. They discuss the raw reality of losing a spouse to terminal illness and how to navigate the overwhelming isolation that follows. Danny shares how he and his late wife co-authored a unique memoir, Thank You, Cancer, that captures both of their voices during a five-year cancer battle. Together, they explain why friends need to sit in the mud with grieving spouses rather than trying to fix unfixable pain. You’ll learn practical ways to involve children in family healing and honor your late partner while building a renewed life. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World. — Watch the episode here     Listen to the podcast here   Finding Faith And Healing In Widowhood With Danny Lesslie Thank You, Cancer is a powerful memoir about love, loss, resilience, and faith, co-authored by Danny and his late wife, Raffi. It tells the story of their journey through Raffi’s five-year battle with stage four cancer and the life they built together in the face of it all. Let us get into this conversation now with Danny as we talk about Thank You, Cancer.       Overcoming Awkwardness To Connect Through Grief Danny. Welcome to the Widowhood. How are you? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. When you first heard widower, were you thinking, thank you so much? Absolutely not. I can tell you that it feels wildly alone. Hearing someone say welcome is nice, right? A lot of people just tend to run away from the conversation. They tend to run away from all of it, and we cannot run away from it. That gets weird. That was why I was like, “Thank you.” That is probably one of the things that I try to work on the most with my nonprofit. When you said it is wildly alone, I do not think that people around us realize how much we need connection more so than maybe before. We need to get over being awkward and lean in. The awkwardness I have found is not due to someone not caring. It is due to lack of experience and tools, and they just do not know how to connect. I always tell people that the way it felt to me when this first started was that after the initial period when your person passes, and family is around, and people are checking on you, it feels like you are sitting on an island and it is just drifting further from the mainland. You have no control over it. Life is going on as it is. You are just watching it. There is so much distance that people really avoid it because they do not want to make you sad, or then eventually they do not even know. We live in a new city now, so no one knew her here. It is this huge separation. That is so real, and it is so invisible. I have thought about the idea of people relocating, and now do I tell people when I introduce myself, or do they just get to know this version of me, and we do not make that part of the original introduction? How have you navigated that? Honoring Your Late Spouse In New Surroundings There is beauty in both. We moved six months before we lost my wife. Her name is? Raffaella. Say that again. Look at that smile. Go on. We moved here, and she was very ill. Her out-of-the-house time was very minimal. There is no one here that knows her. That is really nice in some regards because you do not bump into people that want to do the emotional. That is nice because if I were in my hometown where everyone knows me and I knew people all over, that would be a constant hurdle where I would want to stay at home. I would not want to go out because I keep running into people. It has been a real gift in that regard. There are people that I meet that are genuine relationships, and I feel like I am lying to not tell them about her because she is the heart of our family. She is the mother of my children. She is the love of my life. How do I meet someone and not talk about her? Rarely does that conversation find someone who can hold space for it without either emotions or trying to get out of it or feeling awkward or apologizing to me. I can solve them, and that is weird. There are just so many things. I can totally relate to that. My husband and I spent 32 years together. I cannot talk about my life and not talk about him. No part of that exists. I have learned just to share past that being uncomfortable because he is a part of my life. My children, we had together. That is part of it. People really care. It is not that they do not care. They just do not have the tools to have that conversation. I was that person. I was the one. I did not know how to deal with grief or what to say. I was the platitude guy or whatever. It is just that awkwardness. You just have to get through it. I love that you said that you were that guy. When my husband passed, I had this Rolodex going in my mind of all the people I knew that had passed. It is like, “Did I say that to them?” It was just like all

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Life After Loss: Gina Sevey On Widowhood, Grief Support & Healing After Spousal Loss

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Gina Sevey | Spousal Loss

  Losing a spouse can feel like the end of your world, leaving you navigating a landscape of grief and hopelessness. In this heartfelt conversation, guest Gina Sevey draws a poignant parallel between the slow, deliberate process of baking sourdough bread and the journey of widowhood, emphasizing that grief cannot be rushed. Through her personal story of loss and her mission to support others, Gina explores how to manage overwhelming emotions, the necessity of community, and the transformative power of shifting your thought processes. Listeners will gain actionable insight into how to honor their past while finding the strength to embrace a future where joy and grief can coexist, ultimately learning a new way to stand in their own lives. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World. — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   Life After Loss: Gina Sevey On Widowhood, Grief Support & Healing After Spousal Loss When your spouse died, did you feel like your life was over? Did you feel like you were hopeless? Did you feel like nothing was worth doing anymore? Have you been looking for a way to change that thought process, to be hopeful, to think that there are opportunities for you to have joy? If that is you, this is a conversation you want to be in with Gina. Let’s get into this discussion.       Gina, welcome to the Widowhood. Thank you so much. I’m so glad and honored to be here. When I say, “Welcome to the Widowhood,” and you say you’re honored and glad, the backstory or the ticker tape is what we would read, or would it be something else? I’m sad that I have to be here. There we go. I always say to the ladies in my group, “I wish I were teaching you how to make sourdough bread, but this is where we are at.” The Sourdough Metaphor: Processing Grief What are some similar processes to make sourdough bread as it relates to dealing with, managing, and surviving widowhood? Are there similarities? There are. The thing about sourdough bread, rather than making regular bread, is that with sourdough, there’s a long fermentation. You can’t rush it. Grief is the same thing. It’s something you cannot rush. Timing is so important with sourdough bread. You put that starter in with the flour and water, and then you let that levain rise. That’s a seven-hour process. You’ve then got to make the dough, and there’s even a process within making the dough. It’s not mixing it up and then slapping it in some stuff. There’s a process, and it requires time. It is the same thing for widowhood. There’s a process, and it’s your process. Grief is the same. We all lost our husbands. If you’re a widow, you lost your husband. The process can be different depending on how you look at it. Thank you for diving into that impromptu question. I could see some similarities. Would you share your husband’s name with us? Sure. My husband’s name is Lew. When you heard me ask for his name, what image came to mind or memory? His smile, his presence, and his joy for life. If you knew Lew, you knew Lew. He’s bold and fearless. Whenever I hear his name, I think he made an impression on my life and on so many other people’s lives. Do you remember the first time you met Lew? Yes. Do tell. We were both at a community college. He was in the Military. He was going back to school so that he could become an officer in the Military. I met him because I had a boyfriend at the time, and he introduced Lew to me in the common area. He was so funny and so different. He’s seven years older than me. I was like, “He’s a cutie,” but I was dating somebody. He was dating someone, too. That next semester, I had broken up with that guy, and I wound up seeing Lew again. He had gotten out of jump school. He had short hair. I remember putting my hand on his head, and I was like, “You got your hair cut.” He asked me, with my friend, like, “How about if you, your boyfriend, and I see a movie together?” That’s how it started. I used to live in Chicago. We went down to the city, and it was so much fun. Do you remember the movie? First Blood. Appropriate for a Military guy. Were you into the movie or into Lew? Which one was it? Lew. I do remember thinking as I was in the movie, “Why did I say yes to this?” but it was a good movie. Have you seen it since? No. It was not that great. It wasn’t one of those Sunday afternoons repeat movies. Navigating Love, Faith, And Early Marriage You and Lew go out on this date, and where do we go from there? I was telling my daughter that the night that Lew took me home, because he dropped everyone and me off and walked me to my door. He gave me a butterfly kiss. I remember thinking, “He didn’t kiss me on my lips. He kissed me and gave me a little butterfly kiss.” I was like, “He’s different.” We started dating from there. We dated for a couple of years and then got married. Let’s back it up. At what point did we become exclusive? How did this come about? Was it organic? It was organic. He was fun and funny. My parents weren’t super excited about him because he was older. He had been married before.

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Actively Grieving: Choosing Joy After Loss With Kari Driskell

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Kari Driskell | Actively Grieving

  Actively grieving is often described as a heavy shackle, yet Kari Driskell joins us to share the profound realization that while grief is lifelong, the state of active devastation does not have to be. As a widow who turned her personal loss into a “Heart Work” methodology, Kari discusses the vital distinction between the permanent presence of grief and the choice to move toward a sense of aliveness again. We explore the “messy and ugly” reality of parenting through acute loss, the importance of witnessing a friend’s sadness without trying to “fix” it with a tissue, and how to nurture that tiny flame of hope that says life can be beautiful again. It is a raw, honest look at the “buffalo” mentality—running straight into the storm of healing to find the calm on the other side. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World. — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   Actively Grieving: Choosing Joy After Loss With Kari Driskell Choosing Joy: The Difference Between Grief And Active Grieving Our conversation with Kari Driskell is going to challenge you. Have you ever wondered, “Could I choose to find joy? Could I choose to no longer be in a depressed state?” This conversation with Kari is going to allow you to think about whether it is a choice. What are the choices you are making daily? Let us get into this conversation now.     Kari, I am so grateful for you to be here. Before we get into the whole part of the conversation about how grief has shaped you, tell me about who you are today. I am grounded. I am sure. I am not afraid. I am happy. I am calmer. As people listen to this conversation, what is something important that you want them to take away from this discussion? My biggest message that I can share as a widow who has been through some s***. I can cuss. I probably should not have used that word. This is not TikTok, but be warned that on certain platforms, they do have to bleep it out if that is going to happen. It is up to you. This is your discussion. I am just guiding it. After having gone through some hard times of losing my own husband, I want people to know that there is a difference between grief and actively grieving. You do not have to actively grieve forever. You can choose not to. Actively grieving. What does that mean, the difference between the two, assuming that someone is listening to this conversation, and they are like, “Grief has different words? I’m grieving, what are you saying here?” After my husband, Eric, died, I had some girlfriends come over. Of course, I am at a low point. I am in acute grief. I am actively grieving. I remember people are witnessing me, they are listening to me, and they are validating me. Some of them are dismissive because sadness is hard to be around. One of my very good friends said, “Kari, you are going to grieve Eric forever.” When she said that, I was like, “The hell I will.” I was 38, because my kids were 18 and 11, and because of how I was feeling, I could not do that the rest of my life. That is a hard way to live. I was able to take a three-year sabbatical, and I just became a student of grief. I am a former teacher, and I have a Master’s in Education. I used to teach middle school math. I have always been a helper of people, and everything is figure-outable. I am going to figure this out. I became a student of grief, and I was like, “Listen, grief is something that we deal with our entire lives.” When we are born grieving, leaving the womb, we grieve small things, we grieve big things, we grieve inconveniences. We grieve significant losses.” Actively grieving is like when your grief is so big that it affects your everyday living ability, your sense of aliveness, and your ability to find happiness. You do not have to actively grieve a significant loss forever. You can choose not to. Does grief show up? Do I grieve Eric still, even nine years later? Sure. I am not constantly actively grieving him. Thank you. How does that relate to acute grief? You mentioned that term too. They consider acute grief to be in the first two years after a significant loss. Acute grief is actively grieving. I would say it is like the first year. They say statistically the second year is harder, and that is because the administrative part of death is usually finished, and now the reality of the loss has set in. Your brain is still rewiring all of the things. Acute grief generally lasts for the first two years. Yes, you are probably actively grieving consistently in acute grief. You said you had become a student of grief and everything is figure-outable. Is grief figure-outable? This is your new term. I am going to use it. After grief, we are going to go from the span of my first dog dying to someone close to me, because grief is beyond the death of a loved one. It is expensive. You talked about the different types of things that we grieve. I would dare say also the patterns in which we learn to manage those different griefs come up, and how we show up in life. Is it something that one can figure out?   Yes and no. It is something that we learn to live with. It is something

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From The Pit To Purpose: Unmasking Resilience And Redemption With Tami Franklin

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Tami Franklin | Resilient Faith

  In this episode, host Tina sits down with Tami Franklin, author of Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free. Tami shares her raw and honest “lived experience” of surviving the loss of her daughter, Brittany, and her stepson, Christian. After 14 years of trauma therapy and writing, Tami explains why she believes grief is “holy ground” and how resilient faith allowed her to move from a three-year pit of despair to a life of liberation. This conversation is a roadmap for anyone wearing a mask of “fine” while feeling broken, offering a powerful reminder that while we don’t always get what we “ordered” from life, healing is an intentional daily choice. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.   Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World. — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   From The Pit To Purpose: Unmasking Resilience And Redemption With Tami Franklin Grief oftentimes can leave you feeling broken, wearing a mask, hiding your true feelings, and questioning, “Why is this happening to me?” Our guest Tami Franklin shares her personal lived experience of trauma, grief and heartache. Not wanting to be here anymore, but pulling up from all of that in her faith and her strength-encouraging God to know her life has purpose. That healing is possible, and resilience is not just a word. It’s an intentional choice that she chose daily. Three years in a pit, a pastor praying, being by her side and being in resilience have kept her through. Let’s get into this conversation with Tami because resilience and hope are what you need.     Tami, welcome to the Widowhood. Thanks for having me. I’m honored to be here. When you hear widowhood and welcome, what’s the ticker tape message? If someone could open up your mind, what would come across? The Meaning of the “Hood” The first word that comes to mind is sisterhood, community, and grief community. Welcome is that arms are open. It may not be the same, but you have a story too, and you’re welcome. You nailed that because that is exactly what I want to convey in something that is very difficult. I’m from Chicago. The word hood is family. It’s that collective. It’s that group of people. It may be the widow, but there are surrounding losses. As you mentioned, those losses may be different, but they have similar components. I believe experiencing a profound loss makes life different if you’re willing to lean into the process. It’s not just what happened to me. It’s what I have done in this process. When I reached out to you to have this conversation, I knew you were a bit hesitant. It’s like, “Not my story,” but we had a conversation and realized the similarity of it.     I’m glad we had that conversation to talk through what your goals were. It did help me understand that the stories are aligned in different ways. Tami, you flipped through multiple losses and still found the courage to write about it. What made the right time to tell your story and write your book? The 13-Year Journey to the Page I’ve been writing the book for nearly thirteen and a half years. That within itself has been a journey. When I got to a point in late 2025 where I had written out all the chapters, read them over and over a million times. I had nothing else left to write. I knew that I was empty, and it was time to get the book published. Given the way the world is now. Every day, we’re more and more in need. People are in need of hearing stories of survival. Life is hard. We all grieve something. Whether it’s a person that we’ve lost, a job, or something that was significant. It’s important to hear stories of survival and faith more and more. I believe now is the time. The appointed time is now. Your book title is? Un-Masked, Un-Broken, Healed & Set Free: A Journey of Healing, Liberation, and Redemption. When you selected this title, what did it represent for your personal experience? What did you want to convey to the reader? Unmasking the Core Self It’s because of the losses I’ve been through and trauma. I have placed a different mask on and showed up in different ways where I thought I would be accepted. There were different masks that I wore. At this point in my life, after so many losses and compounded grief, it became painful to wear all those masks because it wasn’t the person that I truly was at the core. To become unmasked, to unveil the real me or who I am, and to be unbroken.     Throughout that journey of writing, I also completed fourteen years of trauma therapy, deliverance, and getting set free. It’s unmasked, unbroken, and healed. I am walking through healing, thinking from a healed place, having my mind be renewed, and learning coping strategies and mechanisms. Being set free was the deliverance from the things that plagued me for so many years I carried that didn’t belong to me. That is for you. When someone is skimming through Barnes and Noble or Amazon and they see this book. What are you hoping that they see? I hope that they see a story from a woman who was resilient and has gone through so many things. If you can see the cover, I’m on the cover. I don’t look like what I’ve been through. I hope that they see hope. I hope that they see courage. Most importantly, I hope they see a resilient type of faith. The type of faith that can move mountains. That

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Healing The Shattered Soul: Your Journey Through Grief Transformation with Julie Halbert

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Julie Halbert | Grief Transformation

  Moving through the unimaginable pain of loss is the beginning of a profound grief transformation and conscious new life. Tina Fornwald sits down with Julie Halbert, a Transformational Soul Coach, Death Doula, and former lawyer, to explore the powerful journey from victimhood to light, discussing her upcoming book, Divine Ashes Ascending. They speak the raw truth about the guttural reality of grief, the importance of building community, and how spiritual practice can move us from mere survival to a state of being and profound peace. Julie also sheds light on the often-overlooked emotional needs of grieving sons and the crucial role of the 504 plan in providing accommodations for children in school. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World. — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   Healing The Shattered Soul: Your Journey Through Grief Transformation with Julie Halbert Oftentimes, the children who have lost the parents, going back to school is not easy, but a 504 plan can help them. This conversation with Julie is going to give you very detailed information on how to execute a 504 plan for your child. At the same time, have you been curious about the term death doula or transformation soul coach? This conversation’s going to give you insight to that too. Julie and I have some things that are very similar to the passing of our husbands that I did not know until this conversation. Let’s get into this discussion now. It’s going to bless your soul.       Julie, welcome to the Widowhood. Thank you for having me, Tina. I’m happy to be here. Redefining Widowhood: Finding Transformation Through Grief Thank you. Happy to be in the widowhood. If you were to like the subtitles that was not shown, what would that look like when you hear the word widowhood the first time? You’re asking me a very big question and I’m glad that we’re starting here. Okay, so I’m with you. I practiced law for 30 years. When Jim died, which was December 6th, 2018, and I’d like to honor his birthday, October 24th. I wanted to honor doing this with you and honor his birthday. Just calling in the energy of his spirit to be with us and just being present in a beautiful way. My first experience with the word widow, I was at literally at the OBGYN and I guess at that point in time, the GYN for myself. I remember seeing it on the form and I started to cry and I was like, “This word does not sit well with me.” It’s very interesting. Jim died at 51 and I was 50 and I just didn’t identify with it. I didn’t identify with the word and the language. As I was preparing for you, I said, “I don’t know how Tina’s going to feel about this.” I really was doing a lot of research into the root of the word, the historical patriarchy, where it came from, the whole idea of being bereft and empty and lost. I really have taken it to a place of transformation. I was playing with a new word. Actually, luminara, and being the whole idea of like yes, we have this deep painful loss and we all are shattered in the space of it in different ways in our grief. It’s so real and it’s so painful. I guess the question is how do we go through it? You said a lot there, and I almost could throw away all my questions here, but I’m just going to pause. My husband Mark was 51 when he passed. I was 50 when Mark passed. Mark passed in 2017. I think as the concept of a death doula, ushering people through their loved ones and then those remaining through this transition process, there is a lot of illumination that happens. Our society, I believe, has made death such a horrible, dark, unwanting instead of welcoming the process of the transition of life that is inevitable. If we go into it afraid and scared, that’s not a good way to go into the next version of our life. I miss Mark dearly. I happen to wear his gym shoes because we wore the same size shoe, but at the same time, I’ve come into a place that I know his life, his journey was over. Mine continues. There’s a difference with that that I think requires someone to a spark of light because we are so alienated from the idea what good could ever come from this. I’m with you 1,000%. I could echo every single word that you said. First off, I just want to honor that we were both 50 and 51. I find that intriguing. I think we should just honor that as a factual truth. They’re always with us. We carry them with us everywhere. It’s like their journey was over and I think they continue with us in our journey. You are doing amazing work with the work you’re doing with widows and others and children and just amazing giving back. For me, I do believe, as a Death Doula, we have this sacred breath at the end of life and that it should be celebrated the same way we celebrate the sacred breath at birth. We do so much around birthdays, but we don’t honor that sacred final breath. Our society avoids and denies it. I’m with you. It’s a problem. It is. Thank you. The work that I do is, one, to normalize the thing that we’ve been doing since the beginning of time. How dare we have been a spouse to someone and they

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Grief Transformation: Actively Healing From Unresolved Grief With Ghulam Fernandes

Podcast /
Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Ghulam Fernandes | Unresolved Grief

  Oftentimes, people are stuck in grief and don’t know how to get out of it. And that sucks because most of the time, the other parts of our lives are perfectly fine but we aren’t present enough to enjoy them. Healing from unresolved grief is an active process, not a passive one, as today’s guest explains. Ghulam Fernandes is a grief transformation coach who specializes in unresolved grief. Ghulam has had multiple bereavements, something that she draws upon a lot when working with her clients. Ghulam believes that you can and should take active steps to heal yourself from grief and live your life fuller. She shares some of the resources that will help you do just that. Tune in to learn more about her transformative work and how it can make all the difference in your grief and rebirth journey! — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   Grief Transformation: Actively Healing From Unresolved Grief With Ghulam Fernandes Our guest is Mrs. Ghulam Fernandes. She is a grief transformation coach. She has had multiple bereavements growing up. Without the right knowledge, tools, and processes was stuck for years in pain and therapy. She is now passionate and training others in how to deal with unresolved grief, so they can move forward and get their life back. She had extensive personal experience with grief and training for over two years with the Grief Recovery Institute and also with Edu-Therapy UK in January 2022. She started her handling grief practice and has been working with individuals who are stuck in the pain of their grief to teach them the knowledge, tools, and processes that they can use to identify the process of all past, present, and future grief. She loves seeing lives transformed. Let’s get into this conversation now.     Ghulam, thank you for joining me. It’s my pleasure. Thank you so much for the invitation. I’m so excited to be able to be here and for us to have a conversation that can be a light to people who may be struggling in the dark. Same here. What would you like to share about yourself initially? I just became a grandmother, which has revolutionized my life. Are you a good grandmother or are you one of those grandmothers that maybe get away with everything?  It’s still early days. I’m trying to be a good grandmother because I know that without a lot of love, but also clear boundaries, children can grow up a bit wild. That doesn’t serve anybody. She makes me laugh so much. We live in a world that is full of challenges at the moment. Everywhere you look, there’s bad and sad news or even sadder and worse news. I’ve created a little file of my granddaughter, and all the different pictures and videos that my son sends me. Now and then, I think, “I need some granddaughter time.” I go in there and I’ll just laugh and smile until I feel restored, and then I’m back to being able to cope with the reality of the world that we live in. We all need something that brightens our hearts and brings a smile to our faces. She’s my first granddaughter, so that’s made it special. She has your heart in a different way. My youngest sister’s daughter and her husband who is in the Navy, your reaction is the same reaction I see from my sister when she talks about her grandson and how it bubbles her up inside. It’s that newness of life, the freshness, and the innocence of it all. It’s all so good and pure before they’ve been bombarded with things in life. It’s that purity of expressing themselves by saying, “If she’s not happy, you’ll know about it. If she’s smiling, you’ll know about it.” We get into, “Should I say this? Shouldn’t I say this? What will people think?” Monitoring and censoring ourselves and not being ourselves is not helpful to anybody. She’s extra special. We’ll talk about that in a little while. In my brief journey where I had multiple losses growing up, one of the things that happened was I had three miscarriages, and we don’t know about the first because the baby never really started forming. The second two were little girls. I had two sons and my husband. I always felt outnumbered. I was very excited when I thought I was going to have a little girl. After the miscarriage, that didn’t happen. It felt really special now that we have got a little girl in the family. Thank you for sharing that part because what we don’t know oftentimes is the backstory of a situation. Having this authentic, real talk brings some of those things to light that we generally may not be able to have a conversation with someone. I know that sometimes people’s friends will listen to a podcast and find out something about their friend that they didn’t know because the conversation didn’t come up or there wasn’t a safe space to have it. I appreciate you sharing that. Unfortunately, I also have experienced having a miscarriage. The first trimester was right around my late husband’s birthday, and that was my first introduction to grief. As you and I know, grief is surrounded by a lot of different things. Oftentimes when people hear grief, they dive towards someone who has lost a loved one, which is absolutely grief, but it does expand further than that, which is what complicates life because we don’t realize by the time we’re dealing with the death of a loved one, it’s compounding from 6 or 7 other different things that we handle. This was the one that may have broken us or put us in a place where we can never pay attention to everything else because it’s not only the death of that loved one, but it’s a compounding of other grief experiences that we’ve had. Now, everything crumbles

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Beyond Loss: Transforming Grief And Embracing A Life Of Joy, Love, And New Beginnings With Brandy Bell-Trapp

Podcast /
WRT 32 | Grief Transformation

  From grief to growth, widowhood taught our guest that even in the darkest moments, love’s light finds its way. In this powerful episode, Brandy Bell-Trapp opens up about the unexpected loss of her beloved husband during the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound grief transformation it had on her life. She shares how she found solace through social media, particularly TikTok, and the unexpected community she built with fellow widows. Through laughter and tears, she shares the support, positivity, and understanding that this community brought into her life. Brandy also explores the complexities of dating after widowhood. She delves into the concept of “Widow Fire” – the overwhelming physical and emotional longing for companionship, revealing the challenges and newfound perspectives on love and connection. Tune in to discover how Brandy’s outlook on life shifted over time, allowing her to honor her husband’s memory while embracing new experiences and possibilities. Join us in finding strength, joy, and a renewed sense of purpose through the most challenging of times.   Thank you for viewing this post. I am not a licensed therapist or professional life coach. I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others.  Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/suicide/suicide-prevention-hotlines-resources-worldwide — Watch the episode here   Listen to the podcast here   Beyond Loss: Transforming Grief And Embracing A Life Of Joy, Love, And New Beginnings With Brandy Bell-Trapp The conversation in this episode is with Brandy. I connected with her on TikTok, and the girl is real. Our conversation is about the passing of her husband, Tim, how he passed, and her journey forward, him being the lighthouse of their family. This is a conversation that will inspire you, educate you, and give you hope. Let’s get into the conversation.     Our guest is Brandy. We’re going to be nice because she’s a little nervous and welcome her to widowhood. Welcome, Brandy. Thanks for having me on here. Even though the Lord knows we didn’t want to be a part of it, at least we’re connecting with people who understand. That is a big thing. That is why I’m guessing you’re doing your TikTok, sharing and making it vocal between your faith and the death of your husband. You are transparent, the music and the rawness. I don’t want to fast-forward into all of that. I want to say thank you. As widowhood knows, I am reaching out to people who want to share. Sometimes people don’t want to share. It’s value-added because it creates a community to talk about this because none of us had a clue how wretched this was. You’re sitting up there sending your vows, “Until death, do us part.” We skipped over that. We don’t think what that looks like. That whole death do us part is like, “What? I didn’t agree to it at this time.” I figured I was going to be old, like a notebook old. We’re lying in the same bed together old. What is this? Tell us about your husband. How do you guys get together? When my husband and I met, I was in high school. I was working for McDonald’s. I got a management position. They transferred me to a Walmart store where they had a McDonald’s inside. I was one of the closing managers. I worked there a lot. That ended up being his second shift job. It was funny because I remember this older woman was like, “You need to ask him out.” I’m like, “I’m not his type. You’re crazy.” I always had a complex because I’ve always been a fluffy girl. He was thin as a rail. Thanks to Sesame Street. It gave me a complex and a half because they did the numbers and Count Dracula went through and did all the counting. For the number ten, they used a real thin man and a short chubby woman. I’m done with you already. First of all, my first job was at McDonald’s. I am relating to all of that. She’s like, “I think he likes you.” I said, “I think you’re crazy.” I had been up there for several months working. He kept coming in. He’s the last person to come in on his break. He would always come in and ask us and see if we had any more pies. I started putting in some extra pies because I knew he’d be coming. How do you get to a man’s heart? His stomach. That’s how you get to it. I ended up transferring back to my home store in my town. I decided to switch jobs to nursing. Back in that day, they had layaway. I put all my nursing scrubs and everything in layaway. If I didn’t have bad luck, I have no luck. I ran an order out, slid across the drive, sprained both my ankles, messed up my knees, and ended up in a wheelchair for a month because of the nonsense. What was it? I hit a hole in the drive-thru and slid right underneath the car. Were you coming by to try to see him and be cute? It was someone completely different. What ended up happening was my mother taking me up to Walmart to get my scrubs. She had to check out puzzles. He worked in the toy section. I didn’t realize that. Here he is, the toy stockman. My mother is trying to check out puzzles. All of a sudden, this man comes over. It was him, sickening sweet. He was like, “I’ve got brand-new ones that came in. Hold on, let me get the ladder. Let me help you out.” He’s over there. I’m like, “I can’t deal with this.” I rolled around the corner in my wheelchair. My wheelchair was taken off. He starts

Beyond Loss: Transforming Grief And Embracing A Life Of Joy, Love, And New Beginnings With Brandy Bell-Trapp Read More »

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Bringing Joy & Support to Widowed Families

This application is open to all widows and widowers with children between the ages of newborn to 18 years old. Special needs children over the Age of 18 are also eligible.

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  • Nominations will be announced on September 1st.

Walk For Love 2025

Support grief awareness and Walk For Love in style. Proceeds help fund free grief support programs. Merchandise is available now, with new batches printing every 15 days — so order early to ensure you receive your items before the August kickoff on August 3,  2025

🛍️ How It Works

- Order anytime — Bonfire prints new merchandise every 15 days

- First shipping window: Orders placed by July 11 ship between July 1–11

- All items ship directly from Bonfire

- Order early to wear your gear for Walk For Love in August!

👕 Apparel – T-Shirts, Sweatshirts & Hoodies

🛒 Order here: https://www.bonfire.com/walk-for-love-2025-1

💲 Price: $23–$42

📏 Sizes: Youth to 3XL

Over 20 different colors

📝 Notebook

🛒 Order here: https://bonfire.com/walk-for-love-2025-notebook-1

💲 Price: $22.99

Great for journaling, writing affirmations, or gift-giving.

☕ Mug

🛒 Order here: https://bonfire.com/walk-for-love-2025-mug

💲 Price: $19.99

Sip your morning coffee with a message of love and remembrance.

🚶‍♀️ Travel Mug

🛒 Order here: https://bonfire.com/walk-for-love-2025-travel-mug-1

💲 Price: $24.99

Keep your drinks hot or cold while walking for love.

💧 Water Bottle

🛒 Order here: https://bonfire.com/walk-for-love-2025-water-bottle-2

💲 Price: $29.99

Hydration meets heart — perfect for walkers everywhere.

📣 Additional Notes

At checkout, encourage shoppers to select your board member's name from the referral dropdown to help us track outreach.

Use and promote hashtags: #WFL2025 and #WRTWT

Perfect for walking during the event or repping all year long.

Mental Health Walkathon to provide encouragement and inspiration for the grieving struggling with depression and isolation.

During the Walkathon, we walk together, united in our mission to support mental health. From August 3 - 9, 2025 we encourage you to walk one mile daily. Share your journey by posting a picture on your favorite social media platform with #WRTWT #WALKFORLOVE, and let’s inspire others to join us.

Funds from the Walkathon will allow Widowhood Real Talk With Tina to conduct an Annual Grief Garden and a Butterfly release ceremony and provide participants journals & pens.

Three ways to participate

Purchase merchandise ~ In Development

Donate: https://app.99pledges.com/fund/walkforlov

Make your pledge, 1-mile daily day August 4 – 10, and post #WRTWT #WALKFORLOVE: https://app.99pledges.com/fund/walkforlov

To Start your pledge team, email widowhoodrealtalk@gmail.com for details.

Register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1223004923649?aff=oddtdtcreator