Dearest you. 

The first time I sat down with doctor, rocket scientist, author and zero waste life advocate, Dr. Anita Vandyke, she was looking ahead to a bright and exciting future with her husband James and daughter Vivian. She was close to graduating from medical school and had just written her second book, The Zero Waste Family. 

But just two years on, things look quite different. Today, Anita’s list of titles includes widow. Devastatingly, she lost her husband James to cancer in late 2022. He was just 40 years old. 

If you’re a regular listener of this sweet and stable podcast, you’ll know that some of my most connected episodes are the ones birthed during or after a significant life experience. At the time of recording and releasing this episode, that life experience is the passing of my beautiful mum and the grief that has followed. 

This honest conversation is dedicated to James and to my mum. It’s also dedicated to every person who can no longer smell, touch and hear someone they love. It’s for anyone who wants to learn how to be someone to the person left behind. What to say. What to do. How to be there and catch them in the oceanic swell that is loss.

Thank you Anita for allowing the deep well of grief you hold for James to spill over so we can hear it and feel it and hopefully, help you carry it. 

P.S. I am sorry about the interference… we recorded in person at Anita’s home and I think our pesky mobile phones tried to get involved.

Thank you for being here.

Alison xo

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