A club no one wants to be in because the initiation is too big of a sacrifice: the loss of a child. Unthinkable. Unimaginable. Warrior Moms is local group in north Atlanta filled with strong, courageous, funny, and fiercely loving women who are surviving and thriving amidst horrific grief. This podcast features Amy Durham and Michele Davis, two of the Warrior Moms, who will guide listeners through their grief journey. Every fourth or fifth episode will showcase another Warrior Mom, the traum ...
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This is a podcast FOR bereaved parents BY bereaved parents. Join your host, Jill Sullivan, as she talks with parents who have lost children of all ages to all types of circumstances. This is a podcast of stories ... stories of devastating loss and grief and heartbreak and struggle ... and stories of hope and healing and faith, and yes, even joy. Underlying every conversation will be the hope we have in Jesus Christ, which makes it possible to not just survive the loss of a child, but to live ...
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An outreach of The Empty Chair Endeavor designed to support and equip survivors of child loss in rediscovering life, hope, and joy after unspeakable tragedy. Additionally, our mission involves educating the public about the life altering impact the death of a child has upon survivors, both parents and siblings, and equipping them to better support and minister to them. Join us as guests share their stories of heartbreaking loss and how God has shown up on their journeys to restore hope, mean ...
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Unlocking Joy After Grief | Christian Grief Support, Life After Child Loss, Bereavement, Hope and Healing for Grieving Moms
Courtney Williams | Christian Grief Support
Does the thought of having to live in a world without your child cripple you? Do you lay awake at night with the ”what if’s” and the ”why’s” constantly playing in your mind, wondering if you’ll ever feel peace again? Does everything seem hard, even the little things? Do you just want someone to understand how you feel? I see you friend. In this podcast you will find the hope you’re looking for, the healing you’re longing for, and the key to living again after losing your child, all through t ...
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Life After Child Loss is a personal and deep podcast with focus on, not only my journey, but the journey of other parents all over the world who have lost children of various causes and reasons. It's the grief many don't understand and other's aren't willing to talk about. An in depth, uncensored talk about parent's trying to live a life after they lose their child. Walk with me as I take you on my journey of twists, turns, highs and lows of fighting from merely existing to living, but also ...
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Welcome to the Worst Club Ever - the club of people who have lost a child. We're really glad you found us, and we're so sorry you're here. Losing a child is a horrific experience unlike any other; if you're looking for understanding, resources and community, you've come to the right place. Join bereaved mom and licensed psychotherapist Allie Kramer as she sets out to rebuild her life after the loss of her 4-year-old son to brain cancer. She'll be talking to experts in grief, trauma, medicine ...
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Grief can feel overwhelming when you’re just starting your journey, and you may be wondering where to begin. Are you feeling lost or unsure of how to take your first steps toward healing? In this episode, I’m sharing 6 essential tools and resources that can help guide you through this difficult time and provide support along the way. Stay tuned to …
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As Christmas 2008 approached, we found ourselves in a very surreal position ... Profoundly grateful for the fact that Hannah was still with us, yet fully aware that without a miraculous intervention from God (and we absolutely believed that was possible), this would be our last Christmas with her. We could already sense her gradually slipping away …
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Stories and Strategies for missing Max Gruver and Cole Couey During the Christmas Season: Ep 32
31:40
Facing the holiday season after losing a child is an unimaginable challenge. Imagine the struggle of embracing Christmas traditions when the absence of a loved one is overwhelmingly palpable. In this episode, we're joined by Rae Ann Gruver and Brandy Couey, two courageous mothers who bravely share their journey through grief during the holidays. To…
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With no symptoms or warning signs to prepare her for what was to come after an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery, Stacey and her husband Richard's beautiful baby daughter Trinity died shortly after birth in February 2006 leaving them crushed and broken. Doctors could only speculate on the cause, but ultimately it was to remain a mystery. How do …
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Today's episode is a continuation of my conversation with John and Carrie Guenther, whose only child Gideon went to Heaven in the fall of 2020. Today we go deeper in our discussion, including the Guenther’s advice for newly bereaved parents, their response to the dreaded “How many children do you have” question, what they’ve discovered about God’s …
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It was chemo day at last! Almost two months after this new chemo was recommended to start, it was finally underway. We weren't given the go-ahead because Hannah's platelet issues were resolved; no, we were starting in spite of the fact that they were not resolved. As Christmas approached, we were simply grateful to be moving forward with a plan for…
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Today was the day Hannah would finally be starting her long-postponed chemotherapy treatments, and a predicted ice storm was not going to keep us away! We were anxious to find out when her new MRI would be scheduled so we could get some answers to the increased nausea and headaches she was experiencing. Our appointment at Children's Hospital was at…
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After our appointment on Monday, we expected that Hannah would continue with school since she was still not able to start chemo. Instead, the ongoing side effects from the radiation began to unexpectedly intensify. The morning nausea and near-constant headaches were increasing, preventing her from attending school. This exacerbation caused us to qu…
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I am so excited today to introduce you to my friends John and Carrie Guenther. We met the Guenthers when they attended our very first While We’re Waiting Weekend in Ohio back in September of 2023. As they shared the story of their son Gideon at that retreat, I was struck not just by the grace with which they expressed it, but by the profound loss p…
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As much as we were enjoying the relative normalcy of both girls being back in school leading up to Christmas break, we were really beginning to feel the urgency of starting chemotherapy before too much time elapsed following radiation. The initial plan had been to start her new chemo treatments at the beginning of November, and here we were approac…
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Hannah's brain cancer diagnosis did not legally preclude her from driving, but we all agreed it was best that she not drive during her treatments. So I ended up driving her around a lot during that year, including those days she returned to school in early December of 2008. One day as I drove her home from school, one of her favorite songs came on …
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The holiday season is so hard when you’re walking through the grief that comes with losing your child. Just getting through this season seems hard enough. Thinking about feeling joy too? I know it seems impossible. But that’s why I wanted to bring you this episode. To not only tell you it is possible to feel joy during this season, but also to give…
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In a previous episode, I described the moment Hannah first became my hero. They day she returned to school for the first time since her cancer recurrence in September was the second. Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage…
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Melanie DeSimone is well-known in the bereaved parent community as the author of the blog “The Life I Didn’t Choose”, which has had over 4,000,000 hits since its inception in 2014. She writes daily … pithy, practical posts … that speak directly to the hearts of grieving parents. Over the last several months, the Lord has led her to expand her minis…
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Even as we enjoyed our family time over the Thanksgiving holiday, we found ourselves looking ahead to Monday when Hannah would finally get to start her new chemotherapy treatments. The reprieve from treatments had been wonderful, and we were so glad Hannah was finally feeling more like herself, but we were really beginning to feel the urgency to ge…
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As we stepped through our holiday traditions, Brad and I were fully cognizant that this could be the last time we did these things together as a family of four. My emails gave no indication of what an excruciatingly difficult time this was for us as Hannah's parents. We were beginning to see daily indications that she was already leaving us, little…
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Welcome to episode #231, which is a continuation of my conversation with Lynda Wake, who is a wife, mom (or “mum” as she would say it), and grandmother. She is also the author of two amazing devotional books, “Heartbreakingly Beautiful” and “Waiting Well With Jesus”, and the founder of the BE Blessings ministry, which you’ll hear more about today. …
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By most accounts, March 18, 2023 was just another ordinary day in Abilene, Texas. For Deana Morris and her family it was the day that turned their lives upside down as they discovered their dearly loved 28 year old son Travis had taken his own life. Suicide blindsides loved ones, leaving them with unbearable pain, a lifetime of too many unanswered …
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We returned to the Hem/Onc clinic at Arkansas Children's Hospital on Monday morning, fully prepared for Hannah to be admitted so she could finally start her new chemotherapy treatments. But when her bloodwork showed a platelet level of 3,000 (normal is over 150,000), we knew we would not be starting that day. With a platelet count that low, she was…
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This time of year brings about all sorts of emotions, especially as grieving parents. This year, it’s causing me to really think about what’s important in my life. What are my priorities? Am I spending enough time in my life doing what matters most to me? How can you answer that? Is your life so busy that at the end of the day, you look back and th…
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How do you navigate the ups and downs of grief during the holiday season, especially Thanksgiving, after losing a child? Join us, Amy and Michele, as we sit down with our guest, Jenny Stanley, to share personal stories and offer strategies for managing the complex emotions that accompany this time of year. Jenny invites us into her world of grappli…
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Though Hannah's ANC was rising, she was technically still in isolation due to her low blood counts. In spite of this, we made the decision to attend one of Bethany's basketball games together as a family. We sat by ourselves in an empty area of the bleachers. Several well-wishers came by to speak to Hannah, and that was great, but we didn't allow t…
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Lynda Wake and her husband have served with Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1998, and currently reside in Melbourne, Australia. She is a grandmother of two and a mom of four, including her daughter Bethany Joy who lived her brief life to the max! She is the author of two devotional books, “Heartbreakingly Beautiful” and “Waiting Well with Jesus”, …
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Hannah's Facebook status from sixteen years ago today was this ... "Hannah is back from the hospital for the second time in 2 weeks but feeling great!" And an excerpt my email ... I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about Hannah in my update today. I don't usually say much about her personally, because she is a very private person and has been …
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So after being told we would be in the hospital a few more days ... Boom, just like that, they were telling us we would be heading home tomorrow. A welcome disruption to our schedule for once! As long as Hannah's counts continued their upward trend, we would be busting out of the hospital soon and we couldn't have been more pleased! Thank you for j…
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My name is Jill Sullivan ... and I have a calendar problem. I like calendars. A lot. I love filling in all the little boxes with appointments and special dates and activities. (Not that I want to do all the activities -- as an introvert, I enjoy writing them down much more than actually doing them, ha!) I even keep my calendars from year to year ..…
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Have you ever felt like you’re just barely keeping your head above water in your grief? Like no matter what you do, you’re sinking deeper and deeper? Maybe you’re wondering if you’ll ever catch a break or breathe a little easier again. I so understand you friend. In this episode, I want to share three ways to help you rise above the waves, take a b…
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Hospital life is strange. You would think that the doctors and nurses want the sick person to rest ... but no ... you would think wrongly. All through the day -- and all through the night -- there are blood pressure checks, antibiotic infusions, and temperature measurements. There are even people who come in and clean the room during the night -- t…
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Molly Huffman is my guest on the podcast again today. She is a wife, a mom, a stepmom, and the author of a wonderful book titled “The Moon Is Round: A True Story of Extraordinary Loss, Grief, and the Fight for Faith.” Last week, Molly shared the story of how her precious son Tage was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease when he was just six mo…
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We had all thought, rather naively, I suppose, that once this second round of radiation treatments was completed, Hannah would have some time to enjoy just being a typical teenager for awhile before starting chemotherapy treatments. She was excited at the prospect of having a healthy immune system and no longer being isolated. She had not attended …
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Jenny Schick joins us to share the courageous story of her daughter Logan, a young woman whose vibrant spirit was shadowed by struggles with anxiety, ADD, and, ultimately, addiction. Jenny opens up about the early signs of Logan's mental health challenges, like the day-to-day anxiety that spiraled from something as simple as a social interaction in…
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In the U.S., approximately 270 people die of a drug overdose every day based upon May, 2024 statistics. For Kellie Sipos and her family, these statistics became very personal on July 22, 2018 when their precious 24 year old daughter, Emilie, lost her battle with an addiction. Far too many parents have have had their lives shattered as a result of t…
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Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows that I am a "control enthusiast." I like my plans to be made in advance, my schedule to fall neatly into place, and my calendar to be without eraser marks. A cancer diagnosis is a great reminder that none of us are really in control of anything From one moment to the next, things can change r…
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Sixteen years ago today, Hannah and I sat down together at our big desktop computer and she helped me set up my Facebook page. And she also wrote the very first post on my page ... "Eww ... My Mom has a Facebook! jk jk" It still makes me smile today! :) Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this ye…
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"Greatly improved." The two most beautiful words in the English language ten years ago today. There were still a lot of questions ... Would Hannah need additional radiation? How would this new chemotherapy affect her? Did the fact that the treatments were working mean that a cure was actually possible? There was so much we didn't know. Thank you fo…
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One thing about a week-long stay in the hospital ... It sure makes you appreciate a good night's sleep in your own bed! The folks at Children's Hospital do their best to accommodate parents who stay in the rooms with their children, and provide either a reasonably comfortable recliner-type chair or a cushioned bench-type area in front of the window…
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We were greatly encouraged by the news that the radiation had been effective in shrinking and even eliminating some of the tumors on Hannah's spine and brainstem. It made all the trips back and forth to Little Rock, the painful throat, the isolation ... even the hair loss .. all worthwhile! We understood that this put her in a much more favorable p…
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I am excited today to introduce you to my friend Molly Huffman, who is a wife, a mom, a stepmom, and the author of a wonderful book titled “The Moon Is Round”. She joins me today to share her experience with both the loss of her mother and the story of her son, Tage, who was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease at just six months of age. We di…
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I'm so thankful God did not give us a road map sixteen years ago. If we had known the destination, I'm not sure we could have kept on walking. As it was, He gave us just enough grace for each step. My email from sixteen years ago today explains ... Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-lo…
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When you have a child who has been diagnosed with cancer, you quickly acquire an entirely new vocabulary. Our current word of the week was "neutropenia." Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hannah battled glio…
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While we were still somewhat surprised to be hospitalized, we adjusted quickly to our new surroundings. This was Hannah's first hospitalization since her brain surgery in February ... which is pretty amazing in and of itself, considering all the treatments she'd been through. Arkansas Children's Hospital does an amazing job of making their patients…
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We arrived at Arkansas Children's Hospital on Monday morning all prayed up and psyched up for Hannah's MRI. We had no idea we would be admitted to the hospital instead. Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the While We're Waiting podcast in this year-long series in which I share our family’s experiences as our teenage daughter Hann…
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Prayer is something we know we need to do daily. Connecting our hearts with God, praying protection over ourselves and our family. We know that it's crucial to our relationship with Jesus, to talk with him daily. But sometimes it can seem hard to "fit it in" with the busyness of life. In this episode I wanted to bring you 3 creative ways that you c…
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Fifty-two radiation sessions completed. Seven months of chemotherapy treatments in the rear view mirror. Countless needle sticks. Multiple bags of blood products on board. A bald head and an extremely sore throat to show for it. And one MRI scan which would reveal whether or not any of these treatments had had any effect against the tumors in Hanna…
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Welcome to episode #227, which is a continuation of my conversation with John and Lisa Cleland. Last week the Clelands shared with us the story of their son Zac, who was fulfilling his dream of serving as a United States Marine until December of 2021, when he was the victim of fentanyl poisoning. Today, they very honestly discuss the impact of losi…
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One difficult aspect of Hannah's cancer journey was how it affected Bethany. You might remember that when Hannah was first diagnosed, she was in the middle of a prolonged battle against mono. Once she finally recovered from that, she jumped back into all of her school, social, and church activities. But no matter where she went, she was no longer B…
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April 7, 2011 was the day Heather and her husband Mac had been anticipating with such excitement for 9 months. It was the day their precious, beautiful son Bowen was born. However, within a few short minutes he was whisked away by medical staff because something was very wrong. A day that was supposed to be filled with celebration, suddenly took a …
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Hannah's Facebook status from sixteen years ago today was this ... "Hannah is gonna give God the glory when all this is said and done ... no more radiation!" We were so thrilled that Hannah had come through 52 total radiation treatments relatively unscathed. The dreaded side effects outlined at the beginning of the process, for the most part, had n…
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Hannah was now isolated ... but she wasn't alone ... not really. God was with her every step of the way. He had redeemed her and called her by name. There's no other explanation for how she could have accepted everything that happened to her with such grace and peace. I'm so thankful that even though she was isolated, she was never truly alone. Tha…
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