Cecilie Surasky is my guest in this special episode of GSB. Her stories of love and loss and ritual and divine connections with her 18 year old son Teo, who passed accidentally by unknowingly ingesting a lethal substance, will move you, sometimes make you laugh, and honestly might just inspire you to think differently about we can stay connected with our loved ones even after they’re physically gone from this earth.

Cecilie is a longtime movement-builder who is currently the Director of Communications at the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, and she reached out to me last year to share a sweet note of praise after her colleague john a powell was a guest on my show. We soon entered a beautiful back and forth series of emails about the nature of grief and how Immediately following the sudden loss of their 18 year old son Teo, Cecilie and her spouse Carolyn Hunt reached out to their son's friends and their extended family and friend network so they could all grieve and heal together. The result, still in progress, is an entire community that has been forever changed through storytelling, ritual, and deep listening...and also regular Zoom calls. 

A recent article Cecilie wrote about Teo in the Berkleyside

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(06:04) - Cecilie’s earliest memories of grief (and how her family addressed it)

(18:18) - A blended family: Cecilie shares stories about the life and personality of her son Teo

(26:55) - Teo’s passing event: Why is anxiety among adolescents so normalized?

(30:30) – Cecilie’s observations about the fact that this loss happened in an uncertain moment in history?

(35:07) - The lack of farewell rituals due to the pandemic and Teo’s garden ceremony

(47:59) - The magic of building a supporting community of humans around grief

(55”42) - The afterlife: Recent spiritual experiences that have connected Cecilie and Teo

If you love deep, honest, authentic conversations, get ready to love Grief is a Sneaky Bitch. From CEOs and social workers to best-selling authors, educators, filmmakers, and stay-at-home moms, her guests open up about the complexity, confusion, and even confidence they have gained by navigating a grief journey of their own. To learn more about the show and how host Lisa Keefauver is reimagining grief, sign up for her not-so-regular newsletter follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or visit www.lisakeefauver.com today!

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