Grieving Process Archives - Widowhood Real Talk with Dr. Tina

Unfiltered Moments Of Grief: Love, Loss, And Memory With Shundra Chamberliss

Podcast / July 31, 2025

Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Shundra Chamberliss | Moments Of Grief

In a world where loss leaves echoes, how do we navigate the labyrinth of memory? Join us as Shundra Chamberliss bravely confronts the hidden corners of grief, where the past intertwines with the present in unexpected ways. Discover how life’s diverse experiences shape our sorrow and what happens when grief is complicated by more than just the absence of a loved one. Get ready for a candid conversation that will explore the power of unlocking buried memories and the profound impact of our moments of grief. This is widowhood, unfiltered. 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 Unfiltered Moments Of Grief: Love, Loss, And Memory With Shundra Chamberliss My guest, Shundra, has information to share that’s going to blow your mind. The idea that our memories can be hidden, and the desire to want to unlock them when we lean into our grief. How do different experiences in our lives impact our grief? What is a grief that’s complicated by more than just the passing of a loved one? Let’s get into this candid conversation. Hello, Shundra. Welcome to the show. Thank you. What do you think about Welcome to the Widowhood? When you heard that, what was the ticker tape across your forehead that I couldn’t see? The Impact Of Grief & Loss The first thing that came to mind was family and community. When you say that, I feel relaxed. I feel like I’m at home. I love that. I’m going to share something you shared with me when I first started this show. I remember you asking me, “Is that for anybody that’s dealing with loss?” I said, “Absolutely,” because it is family. I’m glad that you picked up on that part because grief and loss are a universal experience. If we’re fortunate enough to have lived a life where we had someone we love, then that was a gift. Living life in their absence is a lot of work. Even to be able to talk about this, I feel the emotions come on because I need them. I need the release. Some things we hold are bottled up, and we don’t even know we are doing it. I feel tense. Thank you for sharing that, because that tension does arise when it comes to our loved ones. There’s also something very interesting that you talked about with that release, and knowing that the talking, the crying, and the release are on the other side of that. Can you remember a time when you cried or addressed something, and that weight was lifted? If so, can you share that with us? That’s hard because I haven’t talked about my grief with anyone. I’ve talked with people about their grief, and I was very supportive of their grief. When you talk to somebody about their grief, I personally don’t like to add my grief to theirs because I don’t want to downplay what’s going on with them. I never get a chance to talk about it. This is the first time that I’m able to get whatever is inside because I don’t even know what I’m going to say. I’m waiting for you to ask the question. You joined me on a live, and we had a bit of a conversation. You’ve got to share there. How was that for you? That was good. When somebody else is talking, it makes me remember. I don’t know if you have sporadic times when you don’t remember stuff. For me, it’s because of the trauma that I’ve learned to suppress. I’m having a hard time remembering my childhood and the times with my mom because I learned to push it down. We do learn to push it down, but it does not go away. It doesn’t go away, but I keep pushing it. I feel like it has piled up. What has made you decide you’re done with pushing it down? I am in the place of my life where I’m getting ready to step into a new level of my life, like another stepping stone. It was this one stepping stone in particular when my daughter was sixteen and pregnant. The first thing I did was pick up the phone to call my mother, only to find a man answering on the other side. It dawned on me that my mom is not here. This is another stepping stone. I’m thinking about her. I’m thinking about her advice. I’m thinking about what she would say about my decisions and where I’m going. I’m remembering the things that she said I would do. I wanted to celebrate and hear her congratulations for me. That makes a lot of sense. How old were you when your mother passed? I was 36, about to be 37. Thank you for sharing that. Your mom’s name? Ruth. When Ruth passed, somebody said, “At least you were an adult by the time your mom passed.” You hear different things people say to the bereaved. Someone said, “You were 36 when your mom passed. You should be okay.” What is your gut response to that if it were unfiltered? I’m not going to be mean. What is the real answer if it were unfiltered? You happen to bump into each other at the grocery store, and somebody goes, “Don’t you love the month of May?” You go, “My mom passed this month,” and they go, “How old were you when your mom passed?” You say, “36.” It’s like, “You should be fine already.” If you didn’t have to filter that, what would you say? I’d

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Yolanda White’s Intentional Healing Journey

Podcast / April 17, 2025

Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Yolanda White | Healing

No one deserves to lose their spouse in an untimely manner, but such is the bitter reality of life sometimes. Yolanda White became a widow at a pretty young age, and she initially drowned in isolation and depression. But thanks to social media, she found a community that helped her through the grieving journey and allowed her to undergo an intentional healing process. Tune in to our conversation as Yolanda looks back on the challenges of navigating grief with young children, the difficulties of celebrating holidays and anniversaries after her husband’s passing, and the importance of focusing on self-care despite the sadness. 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 Yolanda White’s Intentional Healing Journey Welcome, Yolanda. Normally, I say welcome to the widowhood, but I don’t know right now. I’m just going to say we are here. I want to say thank you for wanting to have this conversation. This is something people do not want to do, but I feel like for you, it’s part of your healing. It’s part of your coming to terms to not let it swallow you up, but that’s my perspective. Why are you wanting to have this conversation? When I first became a widow, I started to look for support, but I couldn’t find anyone who looked like me. My idea in my head of what a widow was and that picture when I close my eyes and hear that word is an 80-year-old woman or someone who has lived their entire life with their spouse and has grandchildren and fulfilled this dream that I had and that got ripped away from me. As I was looking out on the internet for support groups and things, I wasn’t finding anyone who faced the same struggles that I did, or at least someone who was vocal about it. I chose to live this journey out loud and ask questions and see if there were other people who could relate or give me advice. In turn, that ended up finding you and a ton of other people on social media. It’s just been a really cool experience to know, A, that I’m not alone and B, I’m now helping people. That wasn’t my intention. I was like, “Help me,” in the beginning and now we all help each other. It’s just been a really cool community to form. I actually met someone in person that lives local to me that I met on TikTok. Do you know Liz Cannon? Yeah. I never imagined that it would turn into this. I’m glad that I stopped being afraid and I just put myself out there and started talking. You said so much. One, Liz is one of the board members of Widowhood Real Talk with Tina. I didn’t know that. I want to circle back. You said you didn’t see someone that looked like you. How much did that impact you feeling like you were widow and not seeing someone that represented you? In a big way? It made me feel alone. It made me cry. Finding Support On Social Media You mentioned about not seeing someone that represented you. How impactful was that to your journey or your grief? I felt very alone and hopeless there. A lot of times, like you, I look for other people and those who have gone before me so I can follow in their footsteps. I just didn’t see that. I didn’t see anyone who had gone before me, who was 39, had plans and dreams for the rest of my life with him. We’ll get into this, I’m sure, but I didn’t just lose him. I also lost my three stepdaughters. It was a lot at once. They’re still living, but unfortunately the relationship has been severed. Thank you for sharing that. I’m going to say this for you. You lost your husband by him taking his own life. Someone has taken their life young, hopeful and now alone and feeling like no one can relate to you. You find out on social media that there are other people and people go, “I’m not going to go on social media. That’s just so weird. You don’t have anybody you know? You have friends and family, don’t you?” I’m going to say this, our friends and family love us, but they oftentimes do not have the mental capacity, knowledge, or emotional bandwidth to know how to show up for us. It drives us to people that can validate, understand and relate because so much of this we cannot really articulate. When you’re in a space with another person that’s lost a spouse, you can almost start a sentence and go, “Yeah,” before you have even. What did you think about going to social media for your grief? My very first video was after my husband took his life. I don’t have local family. My family was here. My mom stayed with me for I think six weeks. My sister came. It had been a total of like seven and a half weeks where someone was in my home because I also have three children. Someone was here to help because I was just a mess. At that time, this was before EMDR, I should say I found my husband. There was an image and a video, if you will, of that moment that would replay. I was just numb. That very first night when there was no one here. No one was in my bed because my family was sleeping in my bed with me and I was alone.

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Permission To Grieve: Getting Through Loss With Suzanne Jabour

Podcast / October 10, 2024

Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Suzanne Jabour | Permission To Grieve

In a society that does not know how to properly deal with people who are getting through the loss of a loved one, one must learn how to give themselves permission to grieve in their own way. Suzanne Jabour, a certified grief educator and transformational coach, is changing the paradigm around grief through her very own three-pronged approach. She explains how individuals can navigate through grief according to their own terms, as well as what it takes to create grief-resilient workplaces. Suzanne also celebrates his son Ben who died at 22 and shares how she cherishes his memory by sharing stories about him. 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 Permission To Grieve: Getting Through Loss With Suzanne Jabour Our guest, Susan, is a grieving mom who found meaning in her loss through providing grief education, sharing how grief works, and how we can support people experiencing it. Her three-pronged approach is designed to change a paradigm around grief. She works with grievers to chart their path through conscious and curious grief coaching. She trains grief-informed leaders and transforms businesses through her Grief Resilient Workplace Program. She is available as a speaker to share her story and help normalize grief as a healthy response to loss, big and small. She has a BA and BED and decades of experience as a trainer. She is a Certified Grief Educator, Transformational Coach, and Workshop Leader. This conversation with Susan is going to empower you about things people shouldn’t say in grief, how to manage grief in the workplace, and being able to transform memories and experiences as we create our new normal. Let’s get into this conversation now. Susan, welcome to the widowhood. Thank you so much for having me. When you hear welcome to the widowhood, what came to mind just hearing that put together? It’s such an interesting phrase. I think for me, because I’m not a widow, I feel like this honored guest because I have all these other kinds of loss, but I don’t have that particular one. I just feel like this honored guest in this space of women who get that aspect of grief and that experience. It’s so interesting to me because I often feel like there’s a parallel between the loss of a child, which is the most recent grief that I experienced, and the loss of a spouse because it’s those people who are so intrinsically tied in your life. I’m sure we’ll end up talking about that, but I’m so fascinated by that parallel. I just feel like an honored guest in this space. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for being here. I want to expound a little bit on the particular choice of widowhood because I am originally from Chicago and the word hood means family to me. When my late husband Mark passed away, oftentimes, people just looked at me being a widow, but Mark’s loss encompassed more than me. It was his children that lost a father. It was his siblings who lost a brother. His nieces and nephews lost an uncle. My siblings grew up with my husband being in their life and they were at a young age that even though he was their brother-in-law, he was more like Uncle Mark. My nieces and nephews looked at him as a dad. The intentionality was not just to frame this only to include the loss of widows but to include the loss of everyone. If my husband’s parents were still alive, they would have lost a child. His parents left this world, but it was intentional to make sure that everyone who has lost a loved one knows that they have a place in this conversation. As you mentioned, grief, I don’t try to compare it. Everyone’s most difficult grief is the one they are experiencing now. I know, and you probably heard this, that people try to compare, well, the loss of this is worse than the loss of that. No one’s going to win that argument, but what I can do is win by holding space for you and being a safe area and letting you know that I see your pain and what you are feeling is real. You are welcome here as we all learn to walk in this process and this journey together. Thank you for that. I love two things about that. I love the idea that it’s like your family, like this is your widowhood. It’s your people, your squad. I think that’s so important because one of the things that happens in grief in our culture is to end up feeling so isolated. That concept of having this space where. We get you. You are welcome here. We get you. We will not turn our backs. We will not run away. We will not say something. We might say something awkward, but it won’t be a cliche or platitude because we’ve all heard those and thought about how stupid they are. We can almost land there, but I will mention this. If you’re reading this show, Widowhood Road Talk 15, and we do have our own Discord, and it is a safe space for people to connect because sometimes you meet people, you don’t want to particularly give them your phone number, but you want to be able to engage with other people and find encouragement in community. That is something that I am very encouraging for people to have a community. We found that by doing it on our Discord. If you’re interested in being part of the Discord, you can message me,

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Navigating The Tough Part Of Grief Together With Tina Fornwald, Founder Of Widowhood Real Talk With Tina

Podcast / May 16, 2024

Widowhood Real Talk with Tina | Tough Part Of Grief

Navigating the grief process is hard, and nobody knows just how tough it is better than the person who is going through it. But even the most challenging aspects of the whole healing journey are surmountable with the right mindset and tools. In this episode, Tina Fornwald takes special attention to speak to us about navigating the tough part of grief. Specifically, she shares tips on overcoming the anger, guilt, and isolation that many people experience upon their loved one’s transition. Tune in to hear more of Tina’s wisdom! — Watch the episode here Listen to the podcast here Navigating The Tough Part Of Grief Together With Tina Fornwald, Founder Of Widowhood Real Talk With Tina It is the month of May 2024, and Widowhood Real Talk with Tina is celebrating our Founder’s birthday. Yes, that’s me, and we invite you to help us celebrate. How? By donating $5 in the month of May. Five and five. See what we’re doing there with that? How do you do that? Text Hopeful Hearts to 53555. Thanks for helping us celebrate and support a worthy cause. Let’s get into this episode. — I am staying true to my promise of conducting a solo podcast at least once a quarter. Today is May 16th, 2024, and you are helping me celebrate my birthday. I want to say thank you in advance for the $5 donation going towards the Widowhood. Widowhood Real Talk with Tina is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to support the people who are grieving in our world. At some time or another, we are all grieving. Having a community is helpful, which leads to our conversation. Why People Get Stuck In Grief I am going to tackle things that people have asked me about, where I have found the pattern of people being stuck in grief, and what my recommendations are for working yourself out of grief. The first thing that I’d like to tackle is when people feel the death of their loved one was a personal attack. Let me say this is not related to the death of a loved one that has a crime related to it, or there was a murder or something that was intentional. That certainly has different implications, which I am sorry for. I am referring to situations where, such as my husband having a heart attack at the age of 51, someone’s mother, cousin, uncle, sibling, or child dying earlier than they anticipated, maybe an accident, but feeling like their loved ones’ leaving of this Earth was a personal attack to them. That is something that I find often puts people in a place of feeling like they’re stuck and unable to move forward. That also goes to the second item, which is guilt. When people carry an immense amount of guilt related to their loved one’s death, it keeps them in a place of being stuck. They cannot move forward. They feel as if they would have only done something different if they had stayed home, not gone to work, done CPR better, given them that last meal, or forced them to go to the doctor. They think that there was something they could have done to prevent their loved one from leaving this world. That often leaves people in a place of being stuck. The third thing that I have seen that allows people to be stuck is isolation. It is being alone. These three things you may say don’t relate to me, and that’s fine. I am sharing three things that I have found as a pattern overall when dealing with people related to grief. That is the person who feels like the death of their loved one was a personal attack. They feel like God or a higher power took their loved ones from them. That is the person who wrestles with guilt, feeling as if they could have controlled the situation. The third person is isolation, where they are alone. They are disassociated from society, and they do not want to interact with anyone. They have come to a place where they feel like no one cares. They feel like no one understands their pain or grief. They feel like they have lost themself in the grief fog, and being around other people will not help them. I want to encourage you to do the opposite of that. It may be hard to digest, but I would ask you to entertain three other things that are different from that. One, death and life are a part of our existence. All of us will transition from this world. That is the reality. If we are able to come to peace with that reality, it will disassociate the idea that the death of our loved one was a personal attack. If we’re able to find peace with the reality that life and death are part of our existence, it will eliminate us from thinking that the death of our loved one was a personal attack. It’s not granted. I’m not a fan of it. I won’t be happy that it happened. That is not what I’m asking you to consider, but I’m asking you to consider the reality that our loved ones leaving this world is part of human existence. If you’re able to take a sliver of that concept, it will eliminate you from feeling like somebody, someone, some power, some being, and God made this happen to you. It is part of life. As our own existence will end, the ability to now harness the love that we have from our person who is no longer here, harness everything we learned in our relationship with them, harness everything that they were good and the things that we learned that they were not good to use that in our existence in living. We get to honor every person with whom we have traveled this life journey. We get to show

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Embracing The Ugliness Of Grief With Alison Tariq

Podcast / April 20, 2023

This is a discussion with my friend Alison Tariq. On March 11, 2018, we celebrated the first anniversary of Mark’s death in her home. After moving to VA, I became closed off, and Alison came to my home to comfort this behavior. Alison told me she didn’t care how ugly my grief was when she was staying with me through the entire process. She took me to dinner and we just talked. Her actions made me realize I need to find a new therapist and continue doing the work of facing my grief. — 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 Embracing The Ugliness Of Grief With Alison Tariq OGs In this episode, my conversation is with my girlfriend, Alison. I love her. I love her commitment, even though she is totally uncomfortable, but that’s what hood does. They roll up and Alison rolled up. Welcome to this conversation. Let’s get right into it. My guest is my girlfriend, Alison. We are so close that she could have walked over here, at least her husband has before, but she chose to drive. Let’s get into the conversation, Alison. Tina, how are you? I’m a little nervous, to be honest with you. She is, but she loves me. She is doing this for the hood because the hood comes in hard. Yes, I’m doing this for the hood. I’m equipped with my glass of wine. Alison, tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Alison? Alison’s a person, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a hard worker. Are you from this area? I was born in North Carolina, but I moved here to Hampton, Virginia, when I was a baby and have resided in Hampton most of my life growing up. I went to college and all like that. I moved away a couple of times, but mostly the pull was pretty strong for me to come back to the area. I love the water in this area. You can’t beat that for the water. I have moved away. I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a while. Go, Steelers. After college, I lived in Pittsburgh for a little while. I then came back to the area, moved to North Carolina for a little while, and then moved back to the area. I decided that this probably is where I wanted to be. I can go to other places, but I feel at home here. This is where my mother and my sister are. I only have one sibling, my sister. It’s very comfortable for me to be here. Also, I have a large network of friends, acquaintances, and things like that. Where did you go to college? I initially went to North Carolina Central University. My mom and dad went there. My mother was pushing me to go there, but after a year and a half of paying out-of-state tuition, I decided to come back to Old Dominion University. I went there and graduated from Old Dominion. I got my Bachelor’s degree there, and then I went to Hampton University for my Master’s degree. Let’s back up on the whole Steeler thing. She breezed over that, but I need you to understand it is not a light matter. Let’s talk about the Steelers thing a little bit. I am a crazy rabid Steeler fan. I love the Steelers. I’ve been watching them since I was twelve years old. I used to have friends that would come over on Sunday with their mothers. They were two guy friends. Our mothers would talk and chit-chat in the kitchen and whatnot, and because they were company, I had to turn to what they wanted to watch on television. Being boys, they wanted to watch football. The team that got a lot of airtime around here was the Steelers. They were Steeler fans. They taught me the game and taught me to love the Steelers. Fortunately for me, at that time, the Steelers were good and they were winning and beating everybody. I have lived through the good times and the bad times with the Steelers. That is my team. They’ll always be my team. My son is a big Steeler fan too. He tells me, “Mom, I’m more of a Steeler fan than you are.” I said, “How is that even possible?” He said, “It’s because I was born from a Steeler fan. Your mom is a Redskins fan. You were born from a Redskins fan. I’m more of a Steeler fan than you are.” Although I disagreed with him, on the other hand, I could see why a child would have that logic. I never knew that. You have a lot of Steeler stuff. What are some of your favorite Steeler items? We have a home theater in my house. Half of the home theater is decorated for Steelers. There are banners from the championship years and framed pictures in there. All kinds of Steeler paraphernalia are in there, like rugs, pillows, bean bags, chairs, tables, towels, everything. I have the table towels framed, as well as ones that I can spin around. The other side of the home theater belongs to my husband. We won’t talk about the other side because it’s not Steelers. I was wondering how you were going to play that out, “The other side of the room is another team that we’re not going to talk about.” We don’t even need to mention that. I was expecting you to do something different. You surprised

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Chris Wissmann On Drawing Strength From Faith And Friends When Grieving

Podcast / April 13, 2023

Losing your partner siphons everything from you. During such a low point in your life, never forget that you can always turn to your faith and friends to get through with grief. In this discussion, Chris Wissmann talks about drawing strength from God and the people around you when you are grieving. She provides a candid insight into our friendship, the people Chris has lost in her life, and how her faith has been her strength. We also discuss our friendship over the years and our families. Chris provided a safe space and immense interest in my thoughts and grief for Mark. I sincerely appreciate her willingness to honestly want to know every idea, concern, and stressful part of missing my late husband. — 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 Chris Wissmann On Drawing Strength From Faith And Friends When Grieving The OGs My next conversation is with my girlfriend, Chris Wissmann. We have had children and went on a road trip together. She’s going to talk about that. We have lived life together. We are not paid actors, but we are friends that love each other. We are sharing our life and our story in hopes of encouraging someone else along this way. I am sorry for the person that you have lost that has driven you to this conversation, but I’m glad that you found us. I thank you for being now part of our hood and our community. Let’s get into the conversation now. My guest is my girlfriend, Chris. Let’s see what she is going to say. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself? I am a wife and a mother. I enjoy friendships. I need more questions. I like to cook. What about that belly wash? That is grape juice. It’s grape concentrate like the frozen stuff and a package of Kool-Aid. You could get a grape tropical punch and prepare the Kool-Aid like you would normally, but with less sugar. Put the grape juice concentrate in there with the appropriate amount of water and stir it up. It’s a belly wash from Wisconsin. That’s what Mark’s mom and grandmother would fix for the people who were helping them with their harvest and stuff on the farm. It seemed way more complicated than that, and the baking skills that you’re underestimating over here. Thank you. I am not an elaborate baker. I only bake easy things. Which are? Brownies, pies, cakes. We like to eat a whole lot of sweet stuff. How did we meet? You met my husband first. My husband was a non-traditional student at CNU. We moved from farming back to Virginia so he could go to school. CNU is Christopher Newport College. That was before it became a university. I was working and Mark was in school full-time. He was busy meeting all these people and they all had female names. He told me he was going to be meeting Tina to play racquetball with her. What time? On Saturdays is how it came to me. I’m like, “Okay, but who is Tina?” The time became important because it was 6:30 in the morning. Who would get out of bed to play racquetball at 6:30 in the morning besides my husband and especially a female? I didn’t know any girls or women who would get out of bed to do that. Not anybody in their right mind. They were supposed to be married. That’s what he finally told me. I’m like, “Why is she getting up? Why are you playing racquetball with her?” “Because she likes to play racquetball.” “Is she married? What does she do on Saturdays?” “Her husband likes to sleep in as you do.” I’m like, “Ouch.” They played a lot and I didn’t still know who she was. I got up early one morning on Saturday to meet her. This was way before cell phones. I got up early because I had not met her. He hadn’t made any effort for me to meet you. I came home a different day and there was a blonde in my house. He was tutoring her. Now he’s meeting Tina to play racquetball. Who was the blonde? Lori. I had no suspicion that he was being unfaithful, but I also was not comfortable that all his friends at college were girls. I didn’t hear men’s names anywhere. He even got a welcome letter from Christie. I’m like, “This is too many, Lori and Tina. I got to meet her.” Whatever was going on this day, she was making sure Mark was not coming downstairs. I drove to their apartment complex and Mark would normally come down. Before cell phones, I could not honk my horn at 6:00 in the morning because the whole apartment complex would wake up. I’m like, “Where is this dude at? If he did not get up, I’m going to be upset.” I go upstairs and knock on the door. She says, “Hello.” I was like, “Is Mark here?” She’s like, “Who are you?” I was like, “We are about to have a whole situation. I just want to play racquetball.” She starts drilling me and asking me all these questions. I was like, “How do you know if I like playing racquetball with him that much? This could be over.” It might not be worth it. After a while, Chris and I became more friends, and Mark became boring. Her husband’s name is Mark, just like my late husband. Both of our birthdays

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The Power Of Friendship In Times Of Grief With Geraldine Newson

Podcast / April 6, 2023

The power of friendship is truly mind-boggling. It serves as crutches when you can’t walk. It is your most reliable support system during desperate times. In this episode, Geraldine Newson shares the value of having friends you can rely on when you are grieving the loss of a loved one. She explains the importance of keeping people you can trust by your side during the long process of grieving. Geraldine also opens up on the significant role of friends in achieving inner healing. — 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 The Power Of Friendship In Times Of Grief With Geraldine Newson The OGs My guest is Miss Geraldine Newson. You will remember her from our first episode because she interviewed me and now it is Jerri’s turn to sit in that seat and tell her journey and share her experience. My girl has got some pearls of wisdom to give to you. We should have got the tissues early. I need to do better about that. Let’s have this conversation. My guest is Miss Geraldine Newson. She did my initial interview. Now the eye is on Jerri. We are going to get to know a little bit about Jerri and I get to interview her. Jerri, tell us a little bit about yourself. Tina, I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. I’m the youngest of five. I had 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Now there were three of us. I moved here in 1987 with my then fiancé, and we later got married. I have been here since. I have been working. I have 3 wonderful adult children, 4 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. All of them are my heart, every single one of them. I have come to love living here and the relationships I have built. A lot of that started with our relationship together because I believe this is the longest relationship friendship I have had since I moved here. I never told you that. I am not here with my tissue. I am not here for this. It was hard to find friendships. Why is that? The mothers of my children’s friends were a little bit standoffish. The first church that I attended was predominantly White, and I had female relationships with the women. It was a little tough to keep those to be lasting relationships. It is a come-and-go type thing for a season, but our season is still going because it is a lifetime. You said working. What type of jobs have you had over the years since being here in Virginia? When I first came here, I was working for an attorney. In what capacity? I was the transcriber. I transcribed all of his recorded documents. It was a lot of typing all the time. I was there for several months. He merged with another company and he couldn’t take the whole staff. I started working with commercial and residential real estate. That was one of the things I thought I wanted to get into because I loved real estate management. I did learn the tricks, trades, and some of the things about it. However, the agents that worked there weren’t working. This was a hobby for them. There wasn’t a real grind going on. After three years, I knew I had to start looking for another job. There was no growth potential. None at all. I was the office manager. You name it, I did it. The owner of the company had her own thing going on. Even the owner had a side gig. She had a side life. I’m going to leave that with the tea. I’m going to leave that right there. I’m going to drink my tea on there. I finally started looking for another job. I saw a job that I had vacated when I left Pittsburgh. I worked for Duquesne University. I was working in the Admissions Department. At that time, they had newspapers. The daily press was out. I was looking through the newspaper, and I saw this job. I looked at my husband and said, “My job is in the paper.” The first thing he thought was I was getting fired from my job. I said, “No, the job I left in Pittsburgh is here in this paper, and I applied for it. It was Christopher Newport College, and it was in the Admissions Department. I was excited. Back then, there were paper applications, and it was long. It was a legal-size paper. It was a lot to do, but I couldn’t wait to get it filled out and turned in. When they called for the interview, I went for the interview. They called and made me an offer. I was excited and stayed in that capacity with Christopher Newport for many years. I had hit the ceiling in that office, but I couldn’t find myself working in another department. I applied for another job. I applied, at that time, to Thomas Nelson Community College, which is now Virginia Peninsula Community College. I stayed there for many years. I have been in this field for almost 36 years in 2023 because my time in Pittsburgh was six years doing that. You also worked at the University of Pittsburgh. You said you stayed there for eighteen years. What happened after eighteen years? I retired on January 1st, 2023. It took a while to get into the mode of being retired because I have been working since I was in high school. No one counted low-key babysitting at other subways. The

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