Old Ranger New Dad — Episode: Robert Wall on Lizzie, Loss, and Learning to Breathe Again

In this deeply personal episode of Old Ranger New Dad, Seth Ryan sits down with fellow veteran and entrepreneur Robert Wall for a conversation that isn’t “content”—it’s real life.

Robert shares the story of his daughter Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wall, who lived 2 1/2 years with a rare genetic disorder (rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata) and how that journey reshaped everything: his faith, his marriage, his identity as a father, and his understanding of what grief really is. 

This episode also opens in a raw place—Seth records shortly after losing his son and walking through a medical emergency that nearly took his wife. Together, Seth and Robert talk about the kind of grief that doesn’t fit neatly into “stages,” the pressure men feel to stay tough, and why silence can sometimes speak louder than the right words. 

You’ll hear hard-earned truths about:

• Why grief has no timeline (and why that’s not failure) 
  
  
• The weight of losing a child—and the purpose that can grow from the pain 
  
  
• Faith in the storm: surrender, resilience, and staying anchored as a couple 
  
  
• PTSD beyond the battlefield—and how trauma can show up years later 
  
  
• Hope without clichés: what it looks like to keep moving forward with a broken heart 
  
  

If you’ve experienced miscarriage, child loss, infertility, the loss of a loved one—or you’re the friend who wants to help but doesn’t know what to say—this episode will meet you where you are.

Listen now, and share this with someone who needs permission to grieve—and the courage to keep going. 

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