Welcome to a very special episode of Grief, Gratitude, and the Gray In Between. Today, we celebrate a milestone—our 200th episode! Over the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of sitting down with nearly 200 incredible individuals, each sharing their unique experiences and perspectives on grief.

Grief is complex. It’s not just about loss—it’s about transitions, expectations, healing, and everything in between. In honor of this journey, we’re revisiting some of the most profound moments from past conversations—voices that have shaped this space, challenged misconceptions, and offered wisdom on navigating grief and finding light through the darkness.

Join me as we reflect, honor, and learn from the many voices that have guided us over the years. I’m so grateful for this community. If you feel you resonate with any of the insights shared by my guests, I invite you to look for the full interview I've done with them. 

• Episode Timeline:
• Jana DeCristofaro – The layered emotions of grief, relief, and guilt.
• Kendra Rinaldi – Reframing grief as transition through Baha’i teachings.
• Carol Schneberg – How we grieve the way we live, shaped by hospice insights.
• Tawny Platis – Finding comfort in metaphysical views on time and connection.
• Sophie Mills – How loss led her to question lifelong atheist beliefs.
• Jenny Robinson – Surrendering to a loved one’s journey and finding peace.
• Daniel Rinaldi – Honoring his mother’s passing through music and reflection.
• Aijia Grammar – The isolation of grief when it’s unacknowledged.
• Colin Campbell – Confronting denial and choosing to live with purpose.
• Bevin Mugford – Learning from hardship and finding wisdom in pain.
• Rabbi Steve Leder – Rejecting grief “stages” and embracing waves of emotion.
• Edy Nathan – Grief as a dance—fluid, messy, and deeply personal.
• Nathan Peterson – Floating through grief when pushing forward feels impossible.
• Pixie Lighthorse – The power of permission to fully experience grief.
• Grant Garry – Letting grief express itself instead of suppressing it.
• Tatiana Zamir – Processing grief through unfinished business and peace.
• Stephanie Matos – Using grief as a catalyst for personal growth.

For more information about the different services I offer (Speking, Grief Education, Grief Coach)  Or to be a guest on the Podcast reach out: [email protected]  or on my website. https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Brittni Cosgrove is a Transformational Life & Business Coach. She helps ambitious souls become their most magnetic, authentic, and confident self so they can create a bigger impact doing what they love. Whether you’re scaling your business, starting a nonprofit, or deepening your relationships, Brittni will help you overcome subconscious set points and master your mindset so you can stop self-sabotaging and see the results you crave. Brittni is a certified Mastery Coach, breathwork facilitator, and speaker. Additionally, Brittni sits on the board of the nonprofit Travel Through Trauma and is the organization's resident Life Coach.
Brittni uses her voice to help humanity break free from self-imposed limitations, shatter glass ceilings, leap into the unknown, and collectively uplevel to shift the world into one of more passion, purpose, and peace.

Links:

IG: @brittni.cosgrove

Website: brittnicosgrove.com

Show Highlights:

• Why subconscious blocks often stem from unexpected past experiences—and how identifying them leads to breakthrough moments.
• The power of curiosity and trust in self-discovery, allowing emotions and sensations to be witnessed rather than resisted.
• Brittni’s philosophy of working with emotions like a compassionate observer, helping them settle rather than suppressing them.
• The ripple effect of healing—how personal transformation impacts families, communities, and even the world.
• Navigating growth through coaching, whether in business, confidence, or life alignment.
• The unique impact of the nonprofit Travel Through Trauma, which combines self-work with solo travel as a healing experience.
• Encouragement to embrace life as it unfolds—understanding that every step, even moments of uncertainty, are exactly as they should be.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest on the podcast https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Jaya Saxena is a devoted mother of two spirited girls, a champion of inclusion, and an aspiring death doula. Her journey through grief began in 2002 with the profound loss of her mother, a pivotal moment that shaped her understanding of life after loss.

In recent years, particularly during the Covid pandemic, Jaya’s view on grief has deepened. She recognizes that loss transcends the death of loved ones; it encompasses the loss of friendships, health, livelihoods, and even the versions of ourselves we leave behind. This broader perspective has informed her approach to navigating life’s challenges.

Professionally, Jaya serves as an inclusion strategist, leveraging nearly 20 years of advocacy and professional development experience. She is passionate about the intersection of grief and identity, believing that it can lead to feelings of marginalization. Jaya advocates for greater empathy and compassion in both personal and professional realms, emphasizing the need to create space for grief in our conversations at work and in everyday life.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayasaxena/

Instagram: @being.jaya

Show Highlights:

• Exploring Grief Through Conversation: Jaya reflects on her reluctance yet yearning to share her experience with grief and the importance of creating spaces for open dialogue.
• Family and Cultural Legacy: Jaya recounts her parents' immigrant journey to the U.S., navigating dual cultures, and the values she strives to instill in her daughters while honoring her mother’s memory.
• The Impact of Illness and Loss: Jaya shares memories of her mother, who lived with ulcerative colitis, and the transformative year she spent with her during her health's decline, leading up to her passing in 2002.
• Marking Milestones After Loss: Jaya discusses the emotional weight of milestones without her mother present and how these moments, including becoming a mother, continue to shape her grief journey.
• Transitions and Identity: Reflecting on motherhood and life changes, Jaya speaks about the shedding of one identity for another and the evolving nature of grief through life’s transitions.
• Curiosity About Death and Becoming a Death Doula: Jaya shares her deep fascination with death, her journey toward understanding it, and her inspiration to train as a death doula, finding beauty in the process of transitioning out of life.
• Broader Perspectives on Grief: Jaya broadens the lens on grief, discussing its manifestation beyond the loss of loved ones to include identity shifts, workplace changes, and friendships, encouraging empathy and support for shared experiences.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest on the podccast or for infroamtion about coaching with her. 

https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Reshma Kearney is a trauma-informed mindfulness and healing guide dedicated to empowering individuals navigating grief and mental health challenges. After losing her husband to suicide in 2022, Reshma became a solo parent to three young children and turned to mindfulness as a grounding tool to help her family move forward with resilience. Drawing from her personal journey, she now guides others through loss and emotional challenges with compassion and practical mindfulness tools. Through her mindful healing circles, 1:1 support, and advocacy work, Reshma creates space for healing, connection, and growth. Her mission is to remind others to give themselves grace, ask for help, and to just keep going.

Instagram: reshmakearney

www.reshmakearney.com

Show Highlights:

• Reshma's Journey Through Grief: Reshma Kearney reflects on becoming a solo parent after the loss of her husband, Sean, to suicide in 2022, and her courageous path of healing and resilience.
• Leaning on Family and Staying Grounded: A moving account of how her parents and brother became her backbone of support, and her decision to prioritize her children's stability by staying in Washington for the school year despite challenges.
• Mindfulness as a Healing Tool: Insight into how Reshma and her children naturally turned to mindfulness practices developed during COVID, which became essential in their grief journey.
• Reconnecting Through Shared Activities: How Reshma and her children stay connected to Sean by continuing the outdoor activities and routines he loved, including their emotional journey back to skiing as a family.
• Advocacy and Awareness: Reshma’s decision to return to social media during May Mental Health Awareness Month to share her family’s story, raising compassion for those navigating mental health struggles, and honoring Sean's memory.
• Messages of Grace and Self-Care: Reshma encourages others to treat themselves with kindness, seek support, and embrace self-care, emphasizing that these are essential for a journey of healing and hope.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest on the podcast 

https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/book-online

Jeanette Koncikowski has dedicated her career to helping survivors of trauma heal and thrive while teaching others how to support them best. With a background in psychology, education, and community development, and working now as a consultant and grief coach, Koncikowski has empowered countless people to tell their stories. She is the founder of Widowed Parent Project, an online resource for widowed parents. She has written and spoken extensively on parenting, complicated grief, family bereavement, and recovery from trauma.

Website: widowedparentproject.com

Instagram: @widowedparentproject

https://store.bookbaby.com/book/shipwrecked2

Show Highlights:

• From Harvard to Home: Jeanette reflects on her journey as a mom, therapist, and Harvard graduate balancing career ambitions and family life.
• A Love and Loss: Her 21-year relationship with her high school sweetheart, Mark, and the mental health struggles they shared.
• The Shipwreck Metaphor: Jeanette describes grief as a shipwreck—navigating drowning emotions, dragging herself and her kids to shore, and rebuilding life from the wreckage.
• Prioritizing Mental Health: The critical decision to focus on counseling for her children and herself early on, and her advocacy for therapy as a universal tool.
• Evolving Grief: How her children’s grief transformed over time, and the role of therapy and support networks in their healing.
• Writing Through Grief: Inspired by her own experiences and the absence of resources for young widowed parents, Jeanette created the Widow Parent Project and wrote Shipwrecked, with a second book, Stronger Than the Storm, on the way.
• Lessons and Legacy: Jeanette’s journey to recognize the value of her story and how it offers hope, guidance, and resilience to others facing profound loss.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest on the podcast  https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Moira Khan is an International Certified Grief Educator & Cosch, originally from New Zealand, now living in Spain.  Her story is one of tragedy to resilience and purpose, after the death of her mother, brother and father in a space of 5 years.  All whilst becoming a new mother, moving to a non-English speaking country and battling physical ailments with the condition, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  Now Moira helps grieving individuals navigate their grief journey via 1:1 and group support.

www.griefspan.com

https://www.instagram.com/griefspaneducation?igsh=ejA5b3ZvZTFsanF3&utm_source=qr

Show Highlights:

• Moira Khan shares her deeply personal story of navigating multiple layers of loss while balancing the complexities of motherhood.
• The emotional challenges of being away from loved ones during pivotal moments, including the heartbreaking experience of losing her mother while six weeks pregnant.
• The devastation of her brother’s untimely passing and the grief of informing her father, all while managing physical and emotional limitations after childbirth.
• Reflections on generational grief, parenting with loss, and how trauma influences the next generation.
• The concept of "shadowed milestones," where key life events are intertwined with the memory of loved ones, and how Moira coped with turning the same age as her late brother.
• Exploring signs, spiritual connections, and how loved ones continue to show up in our lives through meaningful moments and symbols.
• Moira's powerful belief in healing through legacy—how honoring her parents and brother has been integral to her healing journey.
• Practical insights from Moira’s work supporting others in grief, emphasizing the importance of accompaniment and creating safe spaces to lean into difficult emotions without judgment.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi for coaching or to be a guest https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Shana Belyeu, founder of Speak on Suicide (www.speakonsuicide.com), began her grief journey after the tragic loss of her 15-year-old son, Adam, to suicide.  Shana is driven by a promise to Adam that his story wouldn’t end with his death.  She has dedicated herself to sharing his life, the impact of his loss, and her own path toward healing.  Through her advocacy, she fosters open and honest conversations about suicide and mental health, challenging the stigma that too often silences these topics.  Through her grief, Shana has found gratitude – for the love that remains, the lives she touches, and the support of those who have walked beside her in this journey.  By speaking out, Shana hopes to remind others that even in the darkest moments, hope and healing are possible.

Contact and social media:

www.speakonsuicide.com

[email protected]

instagram.com/speakonsuicide

facebook.com/speakonsuicide

Show Notes:

• Adam’s life, his unique challenges, and his incredible resilience.
• The stigma surrounding suicide and the importance of open conversations.
• The emotional complexity of grief—how joy and sorrow often coexist.
• Shana’s journey toward healing and how Adam’s legacy inspires her advocacy work.   This episode highlights the intersection of love, grief, mental health, and the courageous act of sharing one’s story for the greater good.
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ANNIE SKLAVER ORENSTEIN is a qualitative researcher, oral historian, and storyteller who has spent over a decade collecting stories from people around the world. Her work has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Comedy Central, Huffington Post, Politico, TIME, and Mother.ly. In 2020, driven by a desire to share these stories beyond the walls of corporate America, Annie founded Dispatch from Daybreak, a collection of letters written by womxn to their earlier selves. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, children, dog, and chickens.

After her brother was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, Annie Sklaver Orenstein was heartbroken and unmoored. Standing in the grief section of her local bookstore, she searched for guides on how to work through her grief as a mourning sibling—and found nothing.

More than 4 million American adults each year will lose a sibling, yet there isn't a modern resource guide available that speaks directly to this type of grief that at times can be overshadowed by grieving parents and spouses and made even more difficult by the complexities of sibling dynamics.

In ALWAYS A SIBLING: The Forgotten Mourner's Guide to Grief (Hachette Go, 9780306831492, 5/28/24, 272 pp, HC, $30), Annie uses her own story and those of others to create the empathic, thoughtful, practical resource that she sought. Divided into three sections: With, Without, and Within, it creates a framework that enables the reader to ground themselves in order to process and validate this often overlooked grief. Annie guides readers to capture the memories and emotions of life with their now-deceased sibling, then moves to addressing the grieving process in detail as they navigate life without them. Ultimately, readers will find ways to experience their sibling's presence within themselves and acknowledge their legacy.

With practical strategies rooted in proven grief processing techniques, trauma recovery, and psychoanalysis, ALWAYS A SIBLING supports mourners through the unique experience of sibling loss.

Key Subjects Covered:

• The historical significance of mourning rituals and how they validated grief in public spaces.
• The "dual loss" of sibling grief, where family dynamics and parental relationships inevitably shift.
• Annie's reflections on the societal minimization of grief and the pressure to move on quickly.
• The psychological weight of generational trauma and anticipatory grief in parenting.
• How Annie’s research and interviews with over 350 individuals informed the creation of her book.
• The Mourners User Manual (M.U.M.) as a tool for navigating grief thoughtfully.

https://www.annieorenstein.com/

Contact Kendra Rinaldi https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Jessica Fein hosts the"I Don't Know How You Do It" podcast, featuring conversations with people whose lives seem unimaginable and who often hearthat very thing. Her writing, which explores grief, resilience, and the unbreakablebonds of family, has appeared in The New York Times, Psychology Today,Newsweek, The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Scary Mommy,and other leading publications. Her work encompasses hope and humor, grit and grace – the tools that make up her personal survival kit. Jessica Fein writes the Grace in Grief column for Psychology Today and is aTEDx Speaker on Grief Literacy. She is the author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and BrokenGenes. InBreath Taking, Jessica Fein takes readers on a powerful journey through the profound joys and heart-wrenching challenges of love and loss. Jessica lost her daughter to rare disease in 2022.

https://www.jessicafeinstories.com

In this heartfelt episode, Kendra interviews Jessica Fein, author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes. Jessica shares her deeply personal journey, touching on themes of loss, resilience, and the powerful lessons she's learned through motherhood and advocacy.

Key themes include:

• Navigating a Rare Diagnosis: Jessica reflects on raising her daughter Dalia, who was diagnosed with MERRF syndrome (Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers), an ultra-rare mitochondrial disorder affecting only two in a million people.
• Ambiguous Grief: The emotional complexity of grieving someone who is still alive and how discovering the term brought healing and clarity.
• Adoption Journey: Jessica’s path to becoming a mother through adopting three children from Guatemala and the challenges and joys that shaped her family.
• Family Dynamics and Advocacy: Insights into caregiving partnerships, societal expectations, and the importance of acknowledging emotions openly within the family.
• Healing Through Connection and Legacy: How meaningful gestures, like planting a Dahlia garden in honor of her daughter, and finding community with others facing profound challenges have provided solace and strength.
• Writing as a Tool for Processing Grief: Jessica shares how writing her memoir and essays has been a therapeutic way to process her experiences and connect with others.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Sarah St. John is a somatic practitioner, grief advocate, and host of the MotherGrief podcast, where she explores the many losses—both tangible and intangible—that exist within matrescence. She bridges nervous system regulation, embodied grief integration, and holistic healing to support those navigating deep loss.

She is the author of 21 Days of Healing, co-author of Resilience Redefined, and the founder of Empath Coach, a 10-in-1 holistic healer certification program. Her mission is deeply personal, rooted in the loss of both her brothers to suicide and addiction, as well as multiple miscarriages. Now a mother to two little girls, she is leading a movement to support mothers in healing their nervous systems.

Her newest venture, Poppy, is a 6-acre therapeutic flower farm in Loveland, Colorado, dedicated to reimagining how we experience loss and healing.

https://poppyflowerfarm.com/

https://theuncensoredempath.com/mama-nervous-system-reset

https://www.instagram.com/sarahsaintjohn/

Show Highlights Summary:

1. Introduction to Sarah St. John: Sarah's work as a somatic practitioner, grief advocate, and host of the MotherGrief podcast.
2. Motherhood and Work Balance: Sarah discusses balancing motherhood and being an online entrepreneur, and the importance of being a visible role model for her children.
3. Creative Power and Motherhood: How motherhood has shaped Sarah's identity and creativity, and her desire to show her daughters a different path.
4. Impact of Motherhood on Personal Identity: The concept of matrescence and its impact on women as Sarah reflects on how each pregnancy and child has transformed her.
5. Cultural Perspectives on Motherhood: Exploring how different cultures honor motherhood and the need for more recognition in Western society.
6. Navigating Societal Expectations: Discussion on the history of women's roles and the evolving expectations of mothers, and the mental load carried by them.
7. Reimagining Gender Roles: Insights from "Fair Play" by Eve Rodski on the mental load carried by women and the need to redistribute household responsibilities.
8. Challenges of Modern Motherhood: The overstimulation and dysregulation faced by modern mothers and the importance of addressing the mental load.
9. Personal Stories of Loss and Healing: Sarah's deeply personal stories, including the grief associated with her brothers' deaths, an unexpected pregnancy, subsequent abortion, and miscarriages.
10. Integrating Grief into Family Life: How Sarah incorporates the memory of her brothers into her daughters' lives and the importance of acknowledging deceased family members.

Contact Kendra Rinaldi  https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/