How do you keep your heart open to love after it's been broken apart by grief? Danielle LaRock was just 19 when her father died of a heart attack. In 2022, her partner Ian died suddenly. Then, in 2024, her beloved dog Blue died, and with Blue went many shared memories of time spent with Ian. The experience of loving and being loved by Ian opened up places in Danielle's heart that had closed down after her father's death. That openness has stayed with her, even as she grieves for both Ian and Blue. That ongoing love and connection have shaped Danielle's grief and the ways she tries to support others who are also grieving. 

We discuss:

• How Danielle coped - and didn't - as a college student after her dad's death
• The isolation of being surrounded by peers who hadn't experienced the death of a parent
• Meeting Ian as children and reconnecting as adults
• How Ian's own experience with the death of his dad helped him understand and support her grief
• Being present for Ian's medical crisis and emergency brain surgery 
• The trauma of witnessing his death and being the person who had to tell his friends and family
• How experiencing deep love with Ian changed her approach to all relationships 
• Learning to celebrate the milestones of others while grieving the loss of the ones she would have shared with Ian
• The spiritual awakening Danielle experienced after Ian's death
• Discovering traditional therapy didn't work for her
• The value of online support groups, specifically for young widows & widowers
• Exploring ways to support others in their grief

Guest Bio 

Danielle LaRock is the co-host of the popular podcast National Park After Dark, which explores dark history and tragedy in outdoor spaces. A former veterinary technician from New England, Danielle has become a compassionate voice in the grief community, using her own experiences with loss to help others navigate their journeys.  Connect with Danielle on IG. 

Sometimes we can't really begin to understand grief - ours or anyone else's - if we don't have space to talk about the death. The context surrounding how someone died matters and can shape our grief in meaningful ways. This was true for Kari Lyons-Price, MSW, who was a caregiver for her parents, Hal and Sylvia, for many years. They died three years apart, her dad in 2019 and her mom in 2022, and the circumstances of their deaths greatly impacted Kari and her grief. 

We discuss:

• How her parents lived - and how they each died
• Why their death stories matter when it comes to grief
• The anger and resentment in the immediate aftermath of her father's death
• What she's done to come to terms with the circumstances of each of their deaths
• The role advocacy and education in the realm of care facilities played in that process
• Making decisions about her mother's care in light of how her father died and the pandemic
• The ongoing, slow nature of grief when someone has a long-term degenerative illness
• What it's meant to no longer be a caregiver for her parents
• Overcoming her family's narrative of autonomy and learning to accept support in grief
• Where Kari finds her foundation now

Want to hear more from Kari? Check out her podcast, Live Well. Be Wise. 

In this episode, Camila returns to Grief Out Loud six years after her first appearance to share how grief continues to evolve. What began with the sudden loss of her mother at age 21 has now expanded to include the ongoing grief of caregiving for her father, who is living with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. 

Camila discusses the unique challenges of long-distance caregiving, the differences between sudden loss and gradual decline, and how these two types of grief intersect in her life. She also discusses navigating major life milestones—including getting married during the pandemic—without her mother's presence. 

We Discuss:

• The difference between sudden loss and the "slow grief" of watching a parent decline 
• How grief has shifted in the 15+ years since her mother's unexpected death
• Losing her father as the co-archivist of her mother's life and their family history
• Managing long-distance caregiving
• The failures of the elder care system in the U.S.
• The role of chosen family and support
• Wedding planning and the question of how to honor her mother's memory 
• The complexity of being a queer person in traditionally heteronormative grief support spaces 
• Feeling like she no longer has parents, even though her father is still alive 
• The therapeutic value of pets 
• Finding moments of connection and joy with her father despite his condition 
• Using poetry as a processing tool for grief 

About the Guest: 

Camila is a poet who has published three books of poetry: 

• The Progression of Grief (about losing her mother) 

• New Waters (about falling in love and healthy relationships) 

• The Longevity of Grief (about caring for her father and how different types of grief intersect)

This episode is the third in our 2025 three-part series highlighting the voices of communities who have historically been underrepresented in the grief world. The series is part of an ongoing collaboration between Dougy Center and The New York Life Foundation. We are deeply grateful for New York Life Foundation's tireless support and advocacy for children and teens who are grieving.

Grief Out Loud is a production of Dougy Center, the National Grief Center for Children and Families in Portland, Oregon.

In this deeply personal episode, Mark Chesnut returns to Grief Out Loud to share his experience of losing his sister Glynn to ovarian cancer. Glynn chose medical aid in dying after nearly four years of treatment, giving Mark and his family the unusual experience of knowing when death would occur. This conversation explores the complexity of "scheduled death," the challenges of finding appropriate language to discuss medical aid in dying, and how knowing the date changed their family's grieving process.

Mark Chesnut is a journalist, editor, public speaker, and the author of: Prepare for Departure.  Mark previously appeared on Grief Out Loud in October 2022, discussing caring for his mother at the end of her life. Mark lives in New York City with his husband Angel and recently wrote an article about his sister's experience with medical aid in dying. 

This episode is the second in our 2025 three-part series highlighting the voices of communities who have historically been underrepresented in the grief world. The series is part of an ongoing collaboration between Dougy Center and The New York Life Foundation. We are deeply grateful for New York Life Foundation's tireless support and advocacy for children and teens who are grieving.

Grief Out Loud is a production of Dougy Center, the National Grief Center for Children and Families in Portland, Oregon.

When someone dies, our relationship with them doesn't just disappear. Sometimes the relationship changes in ways we never expected, allowing us to feel closer to them than we did when they were alive. This can leave us learning to grieve not just for what we had, but for what never got the chance to have with them. In this episode we talk with Never Faull about grieving for their father, who died in 2018 from cirrhosis of the liver. Nev shares how their relationship with their father was distant during his life and how they've found ways to create a deeper connection with him after his death. We also discuss what it was like for Nev, who came out as trans six months after their dad dies, to navigate grieving while also celebrating a new unfolding in their identity. 

Topics we discuss:

• Navigating grief in complex parent-child relationships
• The impact of undiagnosed autism on family connections
• Creating meaning and relationship after death
• The symbols and rituals that help Nev feel a connection with their dad's presence
• Queer and trans grief resources

Never Faull is a queer and trans, disabled, autistic BIPOC writer, photographer, facilitator, and grief tender based in Portland. they explore the intersections of memory, identity, and mourning in their creative work. their current project, The Dead Dad Camera Club, started with the camera their dad left behind, and has become a way to navigate grief through photos and storytelling. 

Resources Mentioned

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
• Queer Grief Club run by Jamie Thrower 
• Dead Dad Camera Club newsletter 
• Grief Out Loud contact: [email protected]
• The Dougy Center website: dougy.org

This episode is the first in our 2025 three-part series highlighting the voices of communities who have historically been underrepresented in the grief world. The series is part of an ongoing collaboration between Dougy Center and The New York Life Foundation. We are deeply grateful for New York Life Foundation's tireless support and advocacy for children and teens who are grieving.

Daria Burke is an author, executive, and healer-at-heart. She's also a grandchild grieving for her grandmother and a daughter estranged from her parents. In this episode, Daria shares the profound impact of losing her maternal grandmother at age seven and how that early loss reverberated through her life. This loss and grief exist alongside the immense healing she's done around growing up in poverty, childhood trauma, and her parents' absences, addictions, and the eventual estrangement from them.

With the recent release of her memoir, Of My Own Making, Daria opens up about the moment, decades later, that reawakened the grief for her grandmother - finding a newspaper article about her fatal car accident. That discovery, and ensuing grief, started a new chapter in Daria's healing process. In our conversation, we talk about inherited trauma, the emotional weight of estrangement, the invisible grief of childhood neglect, Daria's healing practices, and how she  stays connected to her grandmother through what she calls “love taps.”

Key Topics:

• What role Daria's grandmother played in her early childhood

• The ongoing impacts of childhood grief and unprocessed trauma

• How truth-telling is part of healing

• The collective grief she grew up around in Detroit of the 1980's

• Uncovering the grief she buried after her grandmother died

• Grieving for family members who are still alive

Grief Practices Daria Shares:

• Giving herself permission to cry freely

• Meditative practices to connect with her grandmother

• Volunteering on holidays and creating new rituals

• Finding signs from her grandmother in the world around her

Daria Burke is an American writer, speaker and award-winning business leader. A marketer by trade and a seeker at heart, Daria is a storyteller and sense-maker, weaving together personal experience and the science of healing and transformation to explore new ways of understanding how we choose who we become. This passion led her to complete Dr. Tara Swart’s Neuroscience for Business course at MIT and Positive Psychology and Well-Being at Stanford, taught by Dr. Daryn Reicherter, an international expert in trauma psychiatry. 

Her debut memoir, OF MY OWN MAKING (April 2025) explores trauma, neuroplasticity, and Post-Traumatic Growth through the lens of her own healing journey. Kiese Laymon called it “as profound a book about the treacherous experience of befriending ourselves as I’ve read this decade.” Part memoir, part methodology, OF MY OWN MAKING blends personal narrative with scientific insight, Daria inspires readers to reimagine the narratives that define their lives.

Connect with Daria:

• Website: www.dariaburke.com

• Instagram: @dariaburke

Resources & Links:

• Dougy Center: www.dougy.org

• Email the show: [email protected]

Production Note: Grief Out Loud is produced by Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children & Families, and is supported in part by The Chester Stephan Endowment Fund.

In this episode, we delve into the grief experiences of children and teens with autism. Our guest, Jennifer Wiles, M.A., LMHC, BC-DMT, FT - Director of the HEARTplay Program and a dance movement therapist with decades of experience - joins us to discuss how children with autism process grief and how parents and others in their lives can support them. Drawing on her background in both nonverbal forms of expression and grief support, Jennifer shares compassionate, practical insights rooted in her work with families. This conversation is both timely and essential, especially during Autism Acceptance Month, as it highlights the importance of expanding how we understand and support grief beyond more traditional approaches rooted in words. 

We discuss:  

• The importance of using direct, concrete language when talking about death 

• Common misconceptions about how kids with autism express grief 

• Why behaviors often interpreted as indifference may be expressions of deep emotion 

• How sensory overload and disrupted routines can intensify grief reactions 

• The powerful role of nonverbal communication—movement, gesture, rhythm, and ritual—in grief expression 

• How social stories and structured activities can prepare kids for events like funerals 

• Grief rituals for significant days like anniversaries and birthdays 

• The impact of other losses, including changes in routine, missed milestones, and the death of service animals 

Resources mentioned: 

• Toolkit from the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG): A resource for supporting children of all abilities who are grieving

• Books: 

• • I Have a Question About... series by Meredith Polsky & Arlen Gaines 

• • Understanding Death and Illness and What They Teach About Life by Catherine Faherty 

• • A Kids Book About Grief by Brennan Wood 

• HEARTplay Program: Free downloadable social stories and grief support 

Have feedback or a story to share? Email us at [email protected]  Visit dougy.org for grief support resources, activity sheets, and past episodes. 

Grief often arrives without warning and changes everything we thought we knew about ourselves, our families, and the world around us. In this episode, we talk with Erin Nelson and Colleen Montague about their new book, When Grief Comes Home, a resource created from years of both personal loss and professional experience supporting families who are grieving. Erin, founding Executive Director of Jessica’s House in Central California, and Colleen, Program Director, discuss how they came to write this book that blends memoir, practical tools, and reflective questions. 

We discuss:

• Erin's personal experience with grief including the death of her husband when their children were just 3 and 5 years old, her mother from suicide, and her son Carter, who died in an accident
• The unique impact of sudden loss 
• The power of rituals and expressive activities 
• What teens really need when they are grieving
• Strategies for returning to school and work
• Activites and discussion starters parents and caregivers can use to connect with their kids
• Learning to trust yourself in grief
• Making space for the dark parts of grief while also staying open to moments of light and joy

Resources & Mentions: 

• When Grief Comes Home: A Guide For Living Through Loss While Supporting Your Child, by Erin and Colleen – [available wherever you get your books] 

• Jessica’s House: https://jessicashouse.org/ 

• Dougy Center: https://www.dougy.org/ 

💬 Connect with us: [email protected]  🎧 If you find this episode meaningful, consider leaving us a rating or review to help more people find Grief Out Loud. 

Grief Out Loud is produced by Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children & Families. 

What does it mean to lose your anchor people? In a short period of time, Renée Watson experienced the death of her mother, her mentor Nikki Giovanni, and her childhood friend, Charnetta. Renée shares how these experiences influenced her latest novel for young readers, All the Blues in the Sky, which follows 13-year-old Sage as she navigates grief after the death of her best friend.

Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose recent book All the Blues in the Sky explores grief through the eyes of a young person. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her children's picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. Many of her books are inspired by her experiences growing up as a Black girl in the Pacific Northwest.

We Discuss

• Experiencing multiple significant losses in a short period of time 

• The impact of losing "anchor people" in one's life 

• How Renée's mentor and friend, Nikki Giovanni, supported her as she grieved for her mother 

• The spectrum of emotions that come with grief 

• Why it’s important to acknowledge grief rather than avoid it 

• What Renée learned about grief from writing her main character, Sage.  

• The comparison of sudden loss versus anticipated loss 

• Finding tangible reminders of love after someone dies 

Connect with Renée Watson 

Website: RenéeWatson.net 

About Dougy Center 

Grief Out Loud is a production of Dougy Center, the National Grief Center for Children and Families in Portland, Oregon. For more resources, visit dougy.org or email [email protected]. 

In this deeply moving episode we talked with Myra Sack about the love, loss, and legacy of her daughter, Havi. Diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease at just 15 months old, Havi's life was brief but profoundly impactful. Myra shares how she and her family navigated the unbearable reality of their daughter's illness and death, including transforming their Shabbat ritual into "Shabbirthdays" held every Friday to celebrate Havi's life.  

Myra reflects on the arduous medical rollercoaster that led to Havi's Tay-Sachs diagnosis, the challenges of navigating a world that struggles to support the bereaved, and how she and her family find solace in sharing Havi's legacy with others. She also discusses her memoir, Fifty-Seven Fridays, and how she started E-Motion, Inc. an organization that harnesses movement, community, and ritual to support those who are grieving.  

We discuss: 

• The ongoing presence of grief, particularly during milestone moments and everyday life. 

• How Myra and her husband Matt created the Shabbirthday ritual to honor Havi each week.  

• How Havi continues to teach others even after her death. 

• The impact of isolation for grieving families and the struggle of navigating social norms post-diagnosis. 

• Finding ways to stay connected to Havi through rituals, storytelling, and shared memories. 

• Myra's journey into grief education and the founding of E-Motion, which supports people who are grieving through movement and community.  

• The need for more grief-informed communities. 

Resources & Links: 

• Fifty-Seven Fridays by Myra Sack 

• E-Motion

• What Happened to You? By Bruce D. Perry & Oprah Winfrey

Connect With Us: Have thoughts on this episode? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or visit our website for more resources and past episodes.