In this episode of More Than Words: Stories of Grief, I sit down with Melanie Mitchell Shook as she shares the deeply personal story of her father’s battle with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Melanie reflects on the heartbreak of watching a parent change as the disease progresses, the complicated grief that can begin long before a physical loss, and the emotional toll dementia takes on an entire family.

Her story is one of love, loss, resilience, and the painful experience of grieving someone who is still here. Together, we explore what it means to hold on to the person you love while learning to navigate who they are becoming.

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In this powerful and deeply personal episode of More Than Words, Danyon Thomas opens up about a season that changed the course of his life forever. Within just 18 days, Danyon lost both of his parents, David Thomas, Jr. and Jo Alyn Thomas, after their battles with cancer.

The loss forced Danyon to confront grief in ways he never expected—and to take a deeper look at his own life, his relationships, and what truly matters.

’Til Death Do Us Part is a story of devastating loss, enduring love, forgiveness, and the unexpected ways grief can change the trajectory of our lives. Sometimes, losing the people who gave us life makes us look differently at the life—and the love—we still have.

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Episode 1: Unexpected Loss

In the first episode of More Than Words: Stories of Grief, Jennifer Singleton Christensen shares the story of the unexpected loss of her mother, Donna Singleton, in November 2024.

Jennifer reflects on the shock of a loss she never saw coming, the relationship she shared with her mother, and what it has meant to learn how to live in a world where someone so important is suddenly no longer there.

More Than Words didn’t get its name by accident.

In this trailer, I share the story behind the name—and why it felt like the only name this podcast could have.

Grief is more than the words we use to describe it. It lives in memories, relationships, silence, love, loss, and all the things we sometimes don’t know how to say.

More Than Words: Stories of Grief is a space for all of it—the parts of grief that are spoken and the parts that remain unspoken.

🎙️ Welcome to More Than Words.