When people go through grief, they often handle it so self-consciously that it becomes a performance-based experience. They tend to “check off boxes” of how the grieving journey is supposed to look. Tina Fornwald discusses the importance of honoring one’s own timeline for release and healing with Dannie D. He reflects on how he addresses the stigma around Black males crying and showing emotions when grieving, as well as the negative perspectives around going to therapy. Dannie D. also opened up about his experience as a widower after the death of his partner Dale, who passed away from a heart attack at age 50. 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     Grief, Love, Moving Forward After Loving Larry With Dannie D. Widowhood, what do you do when you are a trained mental health professional, and your person dies? How do you manage the mental health side and the I am the griever side? How do they work together? This conversation and more are going to be answered in this conversation with Dannie D as he talks about the love of his life and what life looks like now. Let us get into this discussion.       Dannie, welcome to the Widowhood. I am surprised. When you hear, “Welcome to the Widowhood,” what comes to mind first? Like no bars, no holding back, no social media, no bad words to not say. What comes to your mind when you hear that? I like just the sound of it. It makes me feel like I am in this environment where there are flowers and dewdrops and falls and springs. All of these wonderful things make me feel comfortable. I hear community and connection, and I am not alone. Most people may not understand why you feel that way when you hear that word. Why does it bring you comfort? I am at a place in my life where I have done all the things that I wanted to do, or I should say set out to do. I was a professional dancer. I said I wanted to be a professional dancer when I was about 2 or 3 or 4. I was a little bit older, maybe like four. I did that. I became a choreographer. I became a teacher. I became a clinician. I am licensed, and I bought property. I have done all the things. It allows me time to really settle into who I am and identify what is around me. I am a big proponent of mindfulness and implementing self-care practices within your daily routine. I find myself in this present moment a lot of times in life. Let me ask a different question. Who is not here in your life that has brought us to this conversation? Dale. You will respect me calling him Dale. I like Larry. Larry is a much better name for me. We are going to get into that. I need to know, so now you got me with my nose hat out. Dale Miller. It was very interesting because I was not in a place to actually meet anybody. I was just not mentally or physically prepared. I was going through some illnesses and just transitions in general. This was prior to my injury, and I was still trying to figure out who I am, as a person, as an individual, my identity. All of those different things because I was a dancer, and that is who I was, that was it. Hold on for a second. Not just a dancer, I mean, drop some of these things that you have done, the places you went to school. Dancing would be like Tina saying, “She was dancing.” No. As a professional, can you elaborate on that for the scholars in the dance world so they can understand who you are and what you have done? I always say that Debbie Allen is my unofficial first dance teacher because I started watching Fame, the TV series. I had not seen the movie yet. I started watching Fame, the TV series. I saw Leroy, and I was like, “Wait a minute,” because I had seen dance before. I had not seen dance with people who looked like me, which is a good reason why presentation matters. I saw Leroy, and I was like, “I can do that.” I was like, “Wait, no, I want to do that.” For years, I just sort of watched Fame, put on my sister’s leg warmers. I was just emulating, mimicking what was going on on TV. I would sit in what we call the center splits, which is your legs wide open in a second position. I would just sit there and watch the show. Eventually, I went to a performing arts school called San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. I met my dance mentor there, Mr. Donald Robinson, who is still my mentor to this day. I call him my dance dad, and he pushed me in directions that I had no idea I was capable of going in. From there, I graduated, and I went to the Alvin Ailey Academy, or Alvin Ailey Dance School, and then I got bumped up into a position where I was able to actually perform. I had a little bit of a nervous breakdown just because of the culture shock moving from California to New York. It is a completely different experience. I ended up coming back home for a little bit. I went to Colorado and danced with Cleo Parker Robinson, and traveled a lot with that company around the