Tara, Sheri’s niece, was so determined to tell her story, and through that, her daughter Naomi’s story, that she drove five hours across the full length of Nebraska to spend the night, record with me, and turn back around the morning to drive home. Tara’s journey as a medical parent and the lessons she learned from Naomi’s six-year fight against all the odds is a true inspiration. And despite still being in deep grief, Tara’s passion, strength and courage shine through as loudly as the voice she found while digging through the mountain. This episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast is for everyone, parent or not—anyone who needs some encouragement as they struggle through something that feels impossible to overcome.

This is the thirteenth recording session of the Discoball Tour, the second in Nebraska—by a lake surrounded by cornfields—and the epitome of what this podcast is all about. Getting to share stories like this one is the whole reason I do any of this. I am beyond grateful to Tara, all of Naomi’s family, and Sheri in particular for arranging this meet up (and to Craig for hosting all of us).

So, I invite you to get comfortable, sit back, and listen in.

LINKS

All things Tara:

If you are a medical parent in search of support, Tara is willing to connect with you via Facebook: @Tara.Sudbeck

All things Hella Rader:

Every link in one place: linktr.ee/hellarader

Contact me here for 1:1 mentoring, writing or speaking engagements: hellarader.com/contact

Follow me on Instagram or check out my Website for more about me

The Discoball Tour DocuSeries on YouTube is a companion video blog for the podcast episodes I recorded during my 30-day cross country drive to record eighteen women’s stories in ten different cities. New episodes will resume shortly after a brief hiatus and will be available on my Substack so subscribe to that or to my channel on YouTube.com/@hellarader for new releases. (pro tip: you can catch up the current episodes here).

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hellarader.substack.com/subscribe