Friends Missing Friends

Enjoy this bonus episode of cut material – or “deleted scenes” as I like to call them – from today’s interview!

In this episode, Isabella and I discuss:

· The research behind her thesis

· The stigma behind death-related careers

Additional resources:

To learn more about Isabella's book recommendation THE MANSION OF HAPPINESS: A HISTORY OF LIFE AND DEATH by Jill Lepore, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13154889-the-mansion-of-happiness 

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.

About today’s guest, Isabella Cheremeteff: She is currently studying to get her Master's degree in Forensic Psychology at George Washington University and interning with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Skidmore College in 2020, with her senior thesis focused on the significance of the corpse to the grief and bereavement process. She’s extremely passionate about deconstructing the social taboos around death, dying, and grief, and hopes to continue her career in helping families and loved ones suffering from ambiguous loss in situations where there is no body to bury or recover (such as natural disasters, abductions, large-scale terrorist attacks, etc.)

Follow her on IG here: @iz_thisthingon

On today’s episode, Isabella and I discuss:

· Her thesis, which aimed to answer the question: why do humans care about what happens to the bodies of their loved ones?

· The funeral business in America, and how capitalism has shaped how we grieve

· The shift of how we interact with our loved ones’ dead bodies in the last 100 years

· How certain animals interact with their loved ones’ dead bodies

· How averse our culture is to death and dying

· Ambiguous loss when the body cannot be recovered or found, and how that affects the grief

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.

In today’s episode, I talk about my deep, complicated feelings about the gorgeous A24 movie "Close," which recently came out in 2023. Just so you know, there are SPOILERS halfway through this episode (but don't worry, I warn you when they're about to start!). 

Additional resources:

To learn more about the film, go here: https://a24films.com/films/close 

Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EJGnU2AmV4 

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.

I used to carry my grief around like it was a secret. Then storytelling became a conduit for me to live a more open baggage lifestyle, which lifted a thousand pound weight from my shoulders. If you want to tell your story -- reach out to me! I will listen. 

Additional resources:

To learn more about Green Shirt studio in Chicago (where I took the storytelling classes), go here: https://www.greenshirtstudio.com/

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.

Enjoy this bonus episode of cut material -- or "deleted scenes" as I like to call them -- from today’s interview!

In this episode, Alex and I discuss:

· How our life grows around our grief, instead of grief getting smaller

· Signs from loved one who have passed

Additional resources:

To learn more about the book “Signs” by Laura Lynne Jackson, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42583943-signs

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.

About today’s guest, Alex Kuisis: Alex Kuisis is a best-selling, award-winning author, a professional organizer, and a life coach who thrives at the intersection of truth and kindness. Her coaching practice, Soul Fitness Coaching, joyfully empowers human beings around the world to design lives they love, one habit at a time. Visit her website here: www.goaskalex.org

On today’s episode, Alex and I discuss:

· How Alex met her best friend Katie, and the grief after her passing

· Learning to balance the anger of grief

· Reactions versus chosen responses

· How society pressures us to act “fine” as quickly as possible after the death of a loved one

· The complexity of not crossing boundaries with our deceased friend’s family

· The idea of our friend living on in us

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.

I LOVE Christie Tate’s new memoir, “B.F.F.”, which is all about the power of female friendships, and the grief after the death of a friend.

Additional resources:

To learn more about the author Christie Tate and buy her memoirs “Group” and “B.F.F”, go here: https://christietate.com/

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.

In Western society, there are very few public grief and mourning channels for those who are grieving friends. 

I talk about that and more, 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.

In this episode I discuss my thoughts and feelings about the interview with Anna, including:

· How much I’ve changed since the interview, which was recorded in Aug 2021

· How I hope I’ll continue to grow

· The Death Doula Collective and Death Café in Chicago

Additional resources:

To learn more about the Death Doula Collective in Chicago, go here: https://www.chicagodeathdoulacollective.com/

To find a local Death Café (a safe space where people eat, drink, and discuss the concept of death and grieving), go here: https://deathcafe.com/

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.

About today’s guest, Anna Zeisel: Anna is a local INELDA trained Death Doula and Yoga Instructor working towards her Mdiv to become an interfaith chaplain.

How do you navigate grieving the death of a friend without stepping on anyone’s toes? That’s what Anna and I discuss in this very first episode of Friends Missing Friends, including:

· The experience of losing a friend while in college

· How to integrate the death of a friend into the story of our life

· How we have the desire to know what we meant to the friend who passed, in order for us to know how to grieve

· How our grief seeped into our dreams

· How hard it is to avoid the urge to fix people’s grief

· Death Doula work

Additional resources:

We mention Megan Devine and her grief community, Refuge in Grief. Visit her website here: https://refugeingrief.com/

Learn more about Megan Devine's book IT’S OK THAT YOU’RE NOT OK, here: https://refugeingrief.com/book/

Learn more about Death Doulas and find one in your area through INELDA’s website here: https://inelda.org/find-a-doula/

Get in touch:

Thank you for listening to the very first episode of 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.