Friends Missing Friends

Today’s episode is all about friendships. I talk to my guest Sydney about the book “Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship” by Kayleen Schaefer. This book includes history, sociological perspectives, research, and more, about how female friendships have evolved and changed over the years. (Surprise surprise, the Patriarchy has impacted how female friendships have been treated throughout history. So, yeah -- some of the history might make you mad…)

Sydney and I chat about:

 Resources:

Read “Text Me When You Get Home” by Kayleen Schaefer: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35268117-text-me-when-you-get-home

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you

If you’re interested in being a part of a friend-loss grief

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @friendsmissingfriends

Website: friendsmissingfriends.com

Spotify for Podcasts page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends

Leave a VM at FMF’s google voice number: 312-291-1781

Feel free to reach out by email or VM. I will respond! (And

Today it’s just me, thinking out loud about something I’ve been grappling with for a while: if my friend died in a situation that is now a True Crime, can I talk about it?

I speak about this struggle, and also what I learned in Lilly Dancyger's essay collection "First Love" about how to engage in conscientious, rather than gratuitous, True-Crime.

Resources:

Read “The Hot One” by Carolyn Murnick: https://www.carolynmurnick.com/the-hot-one

Read “First Love” by Lilly Dancyger: https://www.lillydancyger.com/books

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review—it’s so appreciated, and it helps the podcast reach more listeners!

If you’re interested in being a part of a friend-grief group, fill out the interest form at friendsmissingfriends.com/griefgroup

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @friendsmissingfriends

Website: friendsmissingfriends.com

Spotify for Podcasts page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends

Leave a VM at FMF’s google voice number: 312-291-1781

Feel free to reach out, by email or VM. I will respond! (And if you want me to share it on the podcast, be sure to explicitly give me permission to do so. Thanks y’all!).

Today we’re hearing from Ariel, a listener who shares her story of grieving a friend she was disconnected from at the time of their death. It’s so important to talk about this, and I don’t think we talk about it enough.

Thank you so much, Ariel, for reaching out and sharing your story.

Resources:

If you’re interested in being a part of a friend-grief group, fill out the interest form at friendsmissingfriends.com/griefgroup

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review—it’s so appreciated, and it helps the podcast reach more listeners!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @friendsmissingfriends

Website: friendsmissingfriends.com

Spotify for Podcasts page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends

Leave a VM at FMF’s google voice number: 312-291-1781

Feel free to reach out, by email or VM. I will respond! (And if you want me to share it on the podcast, be sure to explicitly give me permission to do so. Thanks y’all!).

How do you process your grief when an ex-friend has passed away?

Today I talk to Alex Kuisis about the complicated and messy grief that can come after an ex-friend’s death – in her case, the death of a friend who had majorly betrayed her—falsely accusing her of 7 felonies she did not commit (which she details in her memoir Truth Matters, Love Wins).

Alex describes the complex tangle of feelings that came with this kind of loss, and how she chooses to focus on the happy memories, rather than the bad. We also talk about signs from loved ones who have passed, deciding how we want to remember someone, assigning meaning in our life, and more.

I want to mention too, that grieving a former friend/ex friend/distanced friend, whatever you want to call it—can look a million different ways. Alex’s experience might be very different from yours—and both are valid. We all grieve in different colors and shades. It’s the beauty of the universality and also the complexity of the human experience.

If you haven’t already, listen to my other episode with Alex (Episode 5: My Best Friend Katie). You can learn more about Alex at www.goaskalex.org

Resources:

Get your copy of Alex Kuisis’ book Truth Matters, Love Wins at https://www.goaskalex.org/truthmatterslovewins.html

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review—it’s so appreciated, and it helps the podcast reach more listeners!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @friendsmissingfriends

Website: friendsmissingfriends.com

Spotify for Podcasts page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends

Leave a VM at FMF’s google voice number: 312-291-1781

Feel free to reach out, by email or VM. I will respond!

So you’ve sent flowers and cards to the bereaved, and

If you’ve ever wondered how to support your loved ones who are grieving – far beyond the initial weeks of grief – you don’t want to miss this episode. My conversation today is with author and psychotherapist Aly Bird about her book Grief Ally, which teaches us how to support the bereaved.

We talk about:

Aly Bird is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) who is changing the way our culture recognizes and supports those who are grieving. Aly is the author of Grief Ally: Helping People You Love to Cope with Death, Loss, and Grief.

Beyond writing, Aly offers virtual therapy and coaching to youth and adults in advance of death or after as well as supporting individuals who are actively dying themselves. Aly is also a speaker who is passionate about teaching beginners that grief is unique to every individual, natural to being a human being, and deserving of more attention than is usually given in the world today.

To learn more about Aly, visit www.alybird.com

Connect with Aly on social media @thealybird

Join her Facebook Group Grief Ally Nation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/880590376440855/

Resources:

Get your copy of Aly Bird’s book Grief Ally at https://alybird.com/book/

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review —it’s so appreciated, and it helps the podcast reach more listeners!

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @friendsmissingfriends

Website: friendsmissingfriends.com

Spotify for Podcasts page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends

If you have a question, want to reach out, or want to share a story with the podcast listeners, leave a VM at our google voice number: 312-291-1781

Today I talk to Jenna Golias, the founder of The Light Hereafter. She is a Registered Nurse, End of Life Doula, Grief Educator, and Energy Practitioner. Her mission is to not only change how we provide end of life care, but to create a world where we no longer fear the end of it. Providing mind, body, and soul support at the end of life, she is dedicated to making the transition one of comfort and peace. 

You can learn more about Jenna here:

IG: @thelighthereafter

Website: https://www.thelighthereafter.com/

On today's episode, Jenna and I talk about the work she does as an End of Life Doula (which is another word for Death Doula), how our society deals with grief, how grief has affected how we approach life, and so much more.

We also talk about:

Resources:

Find out more about End of Life Doulas here: https://inelda.org/

Find an End of Life Doula near you: https://inelda.org/find-a-doula/

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review—it’s so appreciated, and it helps the podcast reach more listeners!

You can send in your questions to [email protected], send a voice clip on the Spotify for Podcasts page https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsmissingfriends, and follow us on IG @friendsmissingfriends. For more information, you can visit our website: friendsmissingfriends.com.

Today I talk to Rob Farquhar, a Sydney voiceover talent and podcaster. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to check out my previous conversation with Rob in Episode 59: Life’s Too Short to Rush. In that episode, Rob was getting ready to make a big move across the country, and we talked about what it looks like to redesign your life, friendships, and relationships after a major loss.

Today’s episode was recorded one year after Episode 59, and we talk about how his big move went, how he’s been redesigning his life, what it’s like to build a community of new friends, and so much more.

We also talk about:

You can learn more about Rob here:

http://www.robf.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/RadioRobVO/

Twitter/Instagram: @gmradiorob

Facebook: Rob.Farquhar

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review – it’s so appreciated! 

You can send in your questions to [email protected], send a voice clip to our google voice number 312-291-1781, and follow us on IG @friendsmissingfriends. For more information, you can visit our website: friendsmissingfriends.com.

Today I talk all about dreams with Alejandro Salinas, including:

Alejandro is one of the co-founders and current president of the Chicago Death Doula Collective, a non-profit collective dedicated to providing support, advocacy, education, and care around death and dying in Chicago. It was formed in 2020 not long after the death of his father. He has hosted death cafés for 6 years and has recently created The Coffin Cards, a deck of 115 questions about death, dying, and grief, and The Coffin Cards Podcast to have even more conversations on the topic with various guests. He fronts the Chicano goth rock / post punk band Grave Love. He teaches yoga twice a week at Chi Yoga Shack, practices massage, and is a former teacher at The Soma Institute. He previously co-hosted The Dream Freaks podcast with Tree Carr and Jennifer Claroscura.

Check out the Chicago Death Doula Collective here: https://www.chicagodeathdoulacollective.com/

Check out The Coffin Cards here: https://www.thecoffincards.com/

Listen to The Coffin Cards podcast

Follow the band Grave Love @grave_love_band

Resources:

The list of books Alejandro recommended:

The Toltec Secret: Dreaming Practices of the Ancient Mexicans: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21535017-the-toltec-secret

The Art of Dreaming: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12847.The_Art_of_Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4803306-lucid-dreaming

Dreaming through Darkness: Shine Light into the Shadow to Live the Life of Your Dreams: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34196974-dreaming-through-darkness  

Man’s Search for Meaning: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review – it’s so appreciated! 

You can send in your questions to [email protected], send a voice clip to our google voice number 312-291-1781, and follow us on IG @friendsmissingfriends. For more information, you can visit our website: friendsmissingfriends.com.

If you're looking for a film about friendship and grief, look no further! Dan Levy's 2023 film Good Grief is about a man mourning the loss of his husband as his two best friends help him on his journey of grief.

(SPOILER alert: I don't give away juicy details but I do discuss the main character's emotional arc related plot points -- if you don't like to know anything before a film then just be aware!)

I also talk about how the movie acknowledges the nuances and complexity of grief, the realities of supporting a grieving person, some of my favorite quotes, and more!

Do I recommend the film? Yes! Maybe just grab some tissues first.

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review – it’s so appreciated! 

You can send in your questions to [email protected], send a voice clip to our google voice number 312-291-1781, and follow us on IG @friendsmissingfriends. For more information, you can visit our website: friendsmissingfriends.com.

Today I talk to Sydney Bauer about what it’s like to grieve a friend who’s still alive. When she was in high school, her best friend of 9 years abruptly ended their friendship, leaving her reeling. We talk about what that’s like, including:

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to Friends Missing Friends. If you enjoyed it, please follow/subscribe, leave stars and a review – it’s so appreciated! 

You can send in your questions to [email protected], send a voice clip to our google voice number 312-291-1781, and follow us on IG @friendsmissingfriends. For more information, you can visit our website: friendsmissingfriends.com.