Caleb Young lost his older brother, Ty—whom he idolized—to suicide when he was 11. The loss shaped the way he viewed life and the choices he made as he grew up. In Cuero (Spanish for “raw hide”), a small Texas town where many men drive trucks and wear cowboy boots and hats, the culture is rugged and rooted in hunting, fishing, and ranching. In a place like that, social norms—paired with traditional expectations of masculinity—can create a different kind of grieving, one that is often quiet, internal, and delayed. Caleb shares his story of loss, the long-term effects it had on him, and the healthier ways he eventually learned to live with grief (after trying some unhealthy ones first).

You’ll enjoy Caleb’s wit and way of expressing himself, and through his experience, we’ll explore grief from a male perspective and consider how men may process and express emotion differently than their female counterparts.