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🔍 Episode Summary:

What if the stories we’ve buried hold the power to heal us? In this deeply personal and moving conversation, Brian D. Smith speaks with Kennerly Clay, author of Letters from East of Nowhere, about the long road to forgiveness, the wounds of parental abandonment, and the unexpected redemption found in decades of handwritten letters.

Kennerly’s father, an alcoholic and long-haul truck driver, was largely absent from her life. But through raw honesty, early sobriety, and years of storytelling, she found a way to forgive—and even to love—the man who shaped her pain.

💬 This episode explores:

• The power of writing to reclaim your narrative 🖋️
• How forgiveness frees us, even when others don’t change 🕊️
• Rediscovering lost love through preserved letters 💌
• Turning personal trauma into a purposeful message 🌈

You’ll walk away with a new lens on your own past—and perhaps the courage to look at it with more compassion.

👤 Guest: Kennerly Clay

Kennerly is a memoirist, speaker, and storytelling strategist helping others transform personal pain into powerful purpose. Her memoir Letters from East of Nowhere: Daddy’s Words to Live, Drink, and Die By is available now.

🔗 Learn more & get the book: https://lettersfromeastofnowhere.com

🔗 Links & Resources

• 💻 Visit our community: grief2growth.com/community
• 📘 Get Letters from East of Nowhere: lettersfromeastofnowhere.com
• 🎧 Subscribe on YouTube: Grief 2 Growth Channel

Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:

• Guided Meditations
• My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
• My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
• Mini-courses
• Mini-guides
  
  

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store

Do near-death experiences inspire you? Are you moved by the research showing we are more than our bodies?

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of near-death studies, IANDS has launched the Chrysalis Campaign. Join at the Supporting level or higher, or make a donation of $100 or more, you’ll receive a commemorative mug.

🌍 Visit IANDS.org and click “Give” to support this vital work.
 

What really happens when we die? And how can understanding near-death experiences transform the way we live?

Join nearly 1,000 attendees August 27–31, 2025 at the Hilton Oak Brook Hills near Chicago for four days of soul-stirring keynotes, healing practices, and conversations that expand your understanding of life, death, and everything in between.

Register now at Conference.IANDS.org
 

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