No parent should ever bury their child. But unfortunately for Shamel Mouzon, she was not able to escape the tight grip of a mother’s sorrow. Nevertheless, she did not let grief pull her down. I talk with this amazing and determined woman who talks about dealing with the sadness of losing her twins. She opens up on her struggles with her marriage, career, and relationships after the transition of her children – as well as how she overcame every single one of them. Shamel also talks about rebuilding her life, having another daughter, and her inspiring Team WOKE on TikTok. 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 episode here A Mother’s Sorrow And Determination With Shamel Mouzon Hello, Mel, welcome to the Widowhood.  Hello, how are you?  Good. Have you done a podcast before?  Not like this, no.  What type of podcast?  More on listening or being a part of something bigger than being about me and being able to ask questions to other people who were on this type of platform. If I had questions. It wasn’t anything visual, it was only audio.  Looking Back This is a new format. Lean in get comfortable, and whatever position works for you, is perfectly fine. I appreciate your willingness to be able to come on and share your journey. A lot of people read Widowhood Real Talk and I’m constantly telling them, that this is a platform that is beyond the death of one’s spouse. Unfortunately, you bring that dynamic to this conversation and I appreciate you being transparent about that. Where are you located now and what do you do for a living?  I am currently in Florence, South Carolina to be exact, and though I do many things for a living, I’m not going to say that these other things that I do don’t give me some type of lifestyle. Let’s see the best way to say it. I originally worked in the clerical field, I’m currently a truck driver and I’m currently in transition into being a truck driver, and CDL instructor. I just got that job last week and I’m excited.  Let’s talk about that. Truck driver is not something you hear women often say that that is their profession. How did you find yourself in that profession?  Originally, I was in the clerical field for 24 years before I turned a key to a truck. At a time, it was in 2017 I found myself working for a company and it was similar to the time when Hillary Clinton was trying to become the president of the United States of America. There was a lot of talk about corporate America and women not having their shot as far as financially, men were getting more income than women.  I didn’t understand what they were even talking about before this incident happened to me at work, where a young man who was 23, was getting paid $1.75 more than me. I had been in the field longer than this kid had been born. When I went to the HR department, I had a good friend there and we were never supposed to talk about pay.  I don’t even remember what the dollar amount was. I just know that the more, it was $1.75 more than me. I went to her office and I asked her, why was this person getting paid $1.75 more. She said, “Lord, have a seat and close the door. I did not want him reprimanded for such a thing.” She said, “I could fix 75 cents of it.”  I asked her how, and she said, “He was bilingual.” If I knew another language that would add to my repertoire, then I would have, then 75 cents more. I said, “What’s the dollar for?” She said, “Because he was a man.” It blew my mind. This is Corporate America, a very well-known company. I still use their services. That’s how well-known they are. They were the originators of a lot of things that we have here in the US.  I just didn’t understand the dynamic, so I went home and I started Googling what job you can have where it was equal and it popped up as a truck driver. I wish I could say that was the only reason I did that, but it’s not. It just seemed like that was God’s path for me because of my losses. Sometimes you have to try to do your best for yourself, but you do, I guess you could say, vicariously live for others.  You mentioned because of your losses, what does that mean for you?  I lost a set of twins, a boy, and a girl. I lost the girl first. She lived for two hours and my son passed away at seven and a half months old. He had a big heart, literally a big heart. His heart grew bigger than his body would allow him to have and they don’t typically give heart transplants to children that never leave the PQ.  I was wondering when he was going to graduate from PQ.  What I found out about that is they don’t graduate from PQ unless they leave the hospital and come back. It becomes something different. He passed away in the neonatal unit at seven and a half months old. My silly self, thinking that because he was transported to a larger hospital with more help and care, I asked, “Did we go to the PQ now?” They said, “No, he’s still in PQ because he never went home.  Having And Losing Twins What year did your children transition?  My daughter transitioned in 2006 and my son transitioned in 2007.