After building the loving family she always wanted, a woman loses her youngest son to an unsecured gun, and turns her grief into a fight to protect other children.

Today’s episode featured Kristin Song. Kristin Miller Song is a writer and speaker whose work examines what it means to live through a profound before-and-after moment, and how a life is reshaped when certainty disappears. Her writing centers on loss, endurance, family, and moral reckoning, and is grounded in lived experience rather than instruction or argument. She has a memoir coming out next year.

You can email Kristin at [email protected]. Kristin is on Substack @KristinMillerSong1, on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kristin.song.58

On LinkedIn @Kristin Song

Kristin’s website where you can learn more about Ethan’s law and donate: https://songstrong.org/

Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Sara Marinelli

Content/Trigger Warnings: child death, gun violence, death by gunshot, unsecured firearms, traumatic grief, loss of a child, descriptions of a child’s fatal injury, parental guilt, suicidal ideation/depression, cancer and death of a parent, alcoholism, infidelity, divorce/family estrangement, financial insecurity, criminal/legal proceedings, and references to the Holocaust, explicit language

Social Media:

Instagram: @actuallyhappening

Twitter/X: @TIAHPodcast

Facebook: This Is Actually Happening Discussion Group

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com

Website for Sara Marinelli: saramarinelli.com

Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or visit Audible.com. 

Read more about Whit’s insights into each episode on Beyond The Story Substack: whitmissildine.substack.com. On the Substack, Whit will be sharing personal reflections on the deeper themes that emerge from each episode and from across the conversations he’s been immersed in for years, including the psychology of radical transformation, the power of storytelling, the lessons of trauma and healing, and how we die to an old Self and are reborn. He’ll share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making of the show and his own personal journey in creating it. 

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop. 

Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com

Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez

Music Bed: Uncertain Outcomes

Services

If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988 

National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.