What do you do when the person you love dies suddenly, your prayers seem unanswered, and everyone expects you to “move on”?
Book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/046M4w5J
Healing Journal: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LTPHopeShop
Website: https://ltphopeauthor.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LTPHope
Podcast: When Goodbye Comes Too Early, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio
In this deeply honest episode of The Brave Widow Show, Emily speaks with Lucy, also known by her pen name LTP Hope, about losing her husband, Tim, just four weeks after his diagnosis with stage four T-cell lymphoma.
Lucy’s message is simple but powerful: you do not have to rush grief, and you do not have to walk through it alone.
00:00 Why this conversation matters
02:00 Lucy’s story and losing Tim
03:00 Receiving the cancer diagnosis
04:00 Fighting for answers and medical advocacy
05:00 Wrestling with God after loss
06:00 Tim’s final morning and the angel at the door
07:00 Coming home to an empty house
08:00 When friends disappear and grief is misunderstood
10:00 Functioning does not mean you are okay
11:00 Journaling, therapy, and learning to breathe again
15:00 Finding courage to share your story publicly
20:00 Practical advice for widows in early grief
24:00 Faith, hope, and surviving the second wave of grief
27:00 Upcoming Brave Widow events and resources
💬 If this episode helped you, please:
If you’re new here, my name is Emily Tanner. I’m the founder of Brave Widow and Brave Widow Academy.
I help widows move from barely surviving their loss… to rebuilding a life they can actually love again without feeling like they’re betraying their person.
By day (and for 20+ years), I’ve led large teams and complex operations in the corporate world.
After my husband Nathan died in 2021, just shy of our 20-year anniversary, I took everything I knew about leadership, systems, and change — and started applying it to grief.
Shared my story publicly to make widows feel less alone.
Launched the Brave Widow podcast, now with 180+ episodes and listeners around the world.
Coached hundreds of widows 1:1 and in groups, and talked with thousands more through the podcast, communities, and events.
Built Brave Widow Academy, a 6-month coaching program with a clear framework for moving from deep grief to rebuilding a life you can love again.
I don’t teach “just think positive” grief tips.
Stop waiting on “time” to fix everything.
Take small, brave steps toward a life that feels meaningful again.
2021: My husband Nathan dies unexpectedly. I’m 4 kids in, overwhelmed, and drowning in paperwork, decisions, and pain. Therapy helps, but I still feel stuck with no roadmap.
2021–2022: I start devouring books, interviewing widows, trying grief groups, and studying coaching — desperate to find something that actually helps me feel different.
2022: I start the Brave Widow podcast, recording episodes while terrified and crying between takes — but determined that no widow should feel as alone as I did.
Year 1: I begin coaching widows 1:1. Word spreads quietly. The same patterns and problems keep showing up, so I start building frameworks instead of one-off advice.
Year 2: I launch Brave Widow Academy — a structured, 6-month coaching program with a step-by-step path: from deep grief, to stability, to rebuilding.
Year 3: Brave Widow has listeners around the world. I’ve personally coached hundreds of widows and spoken with thousands more through consults, lives, emails, and DMs.
Today: My work is simple:
Help widows stop surviving each day… and start rebuilding a life that makes them genuinely glad to be alive again.
