Susan welcomes Marie Scott to today’s episode. Marie is the Creator and Founder of Happy and Healthy After Widowhood. After losing her beloved Dave of almost 30 years, and her mom the same year, she went back to school to learn more about the link between food and cancer. After becoming a certified health coach, Marie now coaches widows and widowers using her 7 Steps to Healing After Loss, a unique roadmap to finding a new purpose after a devastating loss. After her health transformation and getting off all meds, losing 20 pounds, reversing pre-diabetes, and through her life transformation of becoming an author of three published books, an international speaker, and a wellness coach, she has many testimonials and is now happily married again to the second great love of her life.

Key Takeaways:

• Sugar feeds cancer.
• Marie talks about Dave and their amazing relationship.
• Dave didn’t want chemotherapy, he choose quality of life, not quantity.
• Marie talks about her life after losing Dave. He was concerned about Marie living her life after his death.
• Marie decided to become a life coach and learn more about nutrition.
• There is no guidebook for grief.
• Dating after 50 years old is hard.
• Marie talks about how food can become your medicine.
• Marie speaks of the 7 Steps to Healing After Loss.
• Who dates a widow and a widower needs to hold space for the spouse who passed away.
• Find a sense of community; you will need it to ease the path after loss.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Learn more about Magic Mind at https://www.magicmind.co/grief  and take advantage of the special discount for The Tendrils of Grief’s listeners: GIREF20

.

Meet Marie Scott

Visit Marie’s website

Join Marie’s Facebook community

Connect with Marie on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube

Susan, your host, welcomes Page Park to today’s episode. Page has her own grief story; she helps people navigate grief through yoga, meditation, breath, and connection within themselves. At Tulsi Rose Yoga, she creates a space where clients can get in touch with their inner voice and listen to their bodies to tune in to personal needs, and desires. Teaching for 24 years as a classroom teacher, Page explored ways to reach students and studied yoga completing her registered yoga teacher 500-hour program, 95-hour registered children’s yoga teacher, and 100-hour yin training. In addition to teaching yoga and meditation, Page also writes poetry, about yoga, meditation, and how to connect with people.

Key Takeaways:

• Page shares her grief story.
• Grief also includes a “business part” that can bring anger and sadness and even resentment and frustration for having to deal with so much.
• Practicing meditation is an incredible help, even one minute makes wonders.
• Find grief interrupters.
• Self-care is not being selfish.
• Susan shares her passion for yin yoga.
• Page talks about grief yoga and its special features.
• Yoga and self-care practices are so important when you are grieving because they have the power to take you out of your head and into your body.
• Where do you store your pain in your body?
• When you move your body, you are moving the flow of energy through it.
• Soaking sunshine can be a great help to boost your mood.
• Ask yourself: What is it that I need right now? Learn to listen to your body.
• If you keep searching for answers, they will come to you.
• You are not alone! There are people out there who will understand how you feel.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Check Susan’s blog

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.

Meet Page Park

Tulsi Rose Yoga

Follow Tulsi Rose Yoga on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

Susan, your host, welcomes Geralyn Ritter to today’s episode. Geralyn is a recognized expert in healthcare policy and an executive vice president at Organon & Co., a new Fortune 500 healthcare company dedicated to the health of women. She was formerly senior vice president at Merck & Co., Inc., one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. She has spearheaded global government affairs and policy, led initiatives on corporate governance and corporate responsibility, created and launched a widely acclaimed half-billion-dollar philanthropic initiative to end preventable maternal deaths around the globe, and has served as President of the Merck Foundation. In 2020, on behalf of Merck, Geralyn accepted the Disability Employer of the Year award. She is now the author of a memoir about her recovery from the 2015 Amtrak derailment titled: Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing.

Key Takeaways:

• Geralyn shares her story as a survivor of the 2015 Amtrak derailment.
• Geralyn talks about the confusion that took over her when she woke up after the derailment: “It seemed too unreal to be true.”
• Susan shares her thoughts about the day her life turned upside down; she remembers thinking: “This can’t be happening to me.”
• Geralyn talks about first feeling grateful for being alive and then, realizing how life-changing the derailment was going to be, she really started to crash.
• Geralyn couldn’t accept that somehow she deserved to survive.
• Geralyn came to the realization that she did have the right to grieve even though she had survived.
• Geralyn talks about the difficult task of accepting the lack of control.
• Keep your hope; you can’t control the time frame, remember that grieving has no schedule and that you will get better.
• Life has unlimited opportunities; you will find joy, and grief will be less searing.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Geralyn Ritter

Learn more about Geralyn

Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing.

Susan, your host, welcomes Coleen Ellis to today’s episode. Coleen faced the death of her pet in 1998 and that moment changed her forever. It was the beginning of her vision of how to best meet the needs of pet parents in their desire to mourn, memorialize, and pay tribute to their beloved pets when they die. In 2003, the experience of the death of her dog, Mico, guided her in starting the nation’s first stand-alone pets-only funeral home, Pet Angel Memorial Center. In 2009, Coleen founded Two Hearts Pet Loss Center, to guide people who wish to provide meaningful pet death care services in their communities, as well as to be an educational resource in the pet grief discipline. In 2009, she received the first Death and Grief Studies Certification specializing in Pet Loss Companioning by Dr. Alan Wolfelt as well as releasing her first book, Pet Parents: A Journey Through Unconditional Love and Grief. Her second book co-authored with colleague Dr. Mary Gardner, Forever Friend, released in 2022. She is Certified in Thanatology and is a Certified Pet Loss Professional.

By 2014, Coleen was ready to take her vision to a new level. She was a co-founder of The Pet Loss Center and assisted the company in opening pet loss operations across the United States, with this operation being acquired by a national acquisition company in 2020.

Coleen is an internationally sought-after speaker on the topics of pet loss and grief. Through her delivery style, pet care professionals learn a variety of techniques immediately applicable to implement on how to companion families in their grief journey. Furthermore, her talks to pet parents give them the permission they need to not only grieve but mourn the loss of their beloved pet.

Key Takeaways:

• Coleen talks about how pets are considered family members for most of their owners and as a result, the grieving process is as profound and painful as it is when we lose a relative.
• Coleen advises people to choose wisely who they will be surrounded by when they are grieving, some people just don’t get it.
• Coleen talks about the anticipatory feeling of loss when a pet owner has to take the tough decision of ending their pet’s life.
• Coleen explains how hospice for pets works.
• Please remember to be kind to yourself.
• Wherever you are right now is exactly where you should be.
• Honor the journey you shared with your pet every day.
• Ask your pet for a sign.
• You are not losing your mind, allow yourself to receive the signs as you notice them.
• Every grieving process is different.
• Mourning is the active part of grieving; you have to do something with your grief and honor the time you spent with your pet.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet

Learn more about Coleen Ellis

Two Hearts Pet Loss Center,

Pet Parents: A Journey Through Unconditional Love and Grief, Coleen Ellis

Forever Friend, Coleen Ellis

Foreverfriend.pet

Susan, your host, welcomes Maria Verdeschi to today’s episode. She is an acclaimed Psychic Medium, Speaker, Best-Selling Author, Teacher, and Coach with clients all over the world. Her extraordinary ability to communicate with spirit began at the age of four while living on Long Island. Now with over a decade of experience, Maria is well known for her accuracy and delivery of evidential messages from departed loved ones. Her kindness and compassion are unmatched. She has a genuine interest in each client that provides for a relaxed and down-to-earth reading.

Maria is the host of the spiritual podcast Hello From The Other Side and is a co-host of the Blog Talk Radio show Reading The Signs. Her best-selling book There Is No Death, Only Life, with a foreword written by Celebrity Medium Thomas John, has provided support to readers while healing from grief, and she is a contributing author in the best-selling book The Last Breath.

Her successful coaching and mentorship program features classes on Mediumship, Connecting with Your Loved Ones in Spirit, Meditation, and Manifesting. In addition, she is a Master Reiki Practitioner proficient in Pranic Healing. Her ability to connect with teachers, students, clients, guides, and departed loved ones is nothing short of astonishing. Most important to Maria is that people understand the simple truth that, “there is no death — only life.”

Key Takeaways:

• Maria shares how she discovered she had psychic abilities at the age of four and decided to keep that to herself for a long time.
• Maria believes everyone can have a psychic ability to a certain degree.
• The more that you acknowledge the signs, the more they will come in.
• Our loved ones want us to know that they love us, they want us to save time and money and move forward and be happy.
• Can our deceased loved ones have an influence over our lives? Maria affirms they can.
• Maria explains how to tell the difference between a message from the other side and what we want to hear.
• Maria suggests stopping second-guessing yourself when you think you have received a message from the other side, quieting your logical mind.
• How can you prepare yourself to hear messages?
• Gratitude is a practice that will help you connect with your loved ones from the other side.
• Maria talks about the most common ways people receive messages from the other side.
• Maria gives advice on sharpening your senses to be able to connect with your loved one who passed away.
• If you think it is not happening to you, that you cannot receive any signs, stop and breathe, since your frustration brings your energy down, keep a higher vibration in order to hear the messages from the other side.
• When is the right time to visit a psychic medium and when isn’t?
• Maria talks about what someone can expect from seeing a psychic medium: Closure, comfort, clarity, and peace.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Maria Verdeschi

Visit Maria Verdeschi’s website

Follow Maria on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

Susan, your host, welcomes a lifelong friend to today’s episode, Geri King. They met in high school and married men who were really good friends.

In this show, Geri shares her son’s struggles with depression and alcoholism, the hardships he needed to face, and how these all lead to his death. Geri openly talks about her grief, her pain, and her current work on her mental health.

Key Takeaways:

• Geri shares her journey after the death of her son.
• Geri knew that something was wrong with her son.
• Addiction got a hold of her son, he was in total denial of his problem with alcohol since he was a functional alcoholic.
• Geri’s son confessed to her that he didn’t want to “be here anymore.”
• Geri woke up the day her son died knowing something was terribly wrong.
• Geri shares her pain facing the indescribable feeling of losing a child.
• Geri invests her time in helping people be more aware of the signs of addictive behavior.
• Geri gives advice to people who know someone close to them who is struggling with depression and/or substance abuse: You are not alone; talk to someone you trust.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Susan, your host, welcomes Dean Lambert to today’s episode. Dean has worked with funeral professionals for nearly 30 years to help them connect and serve the families facing one of the most challenging moments of their lives: the loss of a loved one. As a father who has experienced the loss of a child, he knows firsthand the grief that clouds the vision needed to honor a well-lived life. Dean is leading The Love Always Project with a team of experienced subject matter experts and people committed to its purpose: encouraging people to think more positively and proactively about end-of-life issues and funeral prearrangement.

Key Takeaways:

• Dean shares his grief story that started when he lost his son seven years ago.
• Dean talks about funeral planning.
• Dean talks about the epidemic of veteran suicide, he explains how death looks to them as a way out of pain.
• Dean explains what anticipatory grief is about.
• Is anticipatory grief a blessing or a curse?
• PTSD is a common diagnosis among caregivers.
• There are ways to talk about dying without talking about death with someone with a terminal illness.
• While people are living is the time to talk about life and living, not at funerals.
• Dean talks about the Love Always Project and its mission.
• Dean encourages everyone to be consumers of information about something that is hard; death is difficult.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are, by Byron Katie

Meet Dean Lambert

The Love Always Project

Find The Love Always Project on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Susan, your host, welcomes Reid Peterson to today’s episode.

Reid, the founder of Grief Refuge, provides its community of users with a source of solace when they’re in pain and discomfort from grief. The app is a hub that fulfills grievers’ emotional needs. Support for people going through the grief journey is imperative for both the griever and their loved ones. When people are facing grief and go without support it ends up hurting more than it helps.

Grief Refuge content is created by Reid, MA. Reid achieved a Masters's Degree in Transpersonal Psychology (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 2007) and is certified in Death & Grief Studies by the Center for Loss & Life Transition. After losing his biological father to suicide in 2006 and his stepfather to cancer in 2016, Reid felt a calling to help the grieving find peace and purpose after loss.

Key Takeaways:

• Reid shares his own grief experience that started when his biological father committed suicide.
• Susan and Reid talk about the “gut feeling” both have about the death of their loved ones.
• Reid also lost his stepfather and he shares how he processed this loss.
• Reid talks about his sensitivity.
• Reid talks about The Grief Refuge, an app that provides daily grief support for people who have lost a loved one.
• Grief is not a mental health issue.
• No one prepares you for losing a loved one; someone has been taken away from you.
• There is no one way of grieving, everyone uses their own resources to navigate this difficult process.
• There is magic in the connection that grievers can have with each other.
• Suicidal ideation is unfortunately common among grievers.
• When you support someone who is grieving, what you say matters.
• Reid talks about purpose and how it can change in different moments in one person’s life.
• It is hard to keep your faith when grief is consuming your energy.
• Reid suggests grievers keep on looking for more resources to help them in their grieving process; don’t give up!

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Reid Peterson

The Grief Refuge app.

Susan welcomes Rev. Amirah Hall to today’s episode.

Rev. Amirah M.Msc. blends “sacred with spirituality” and has been on a four-decade journey of exploring secrets to manifesting and healing. She is a gifted clairvoyant, spirit medium, channel, and quantum healing pioneer. Amirah’s spiritual awakening was triggered after her father’s divorce, life-threatening autoimmune disease, and death, all within a six-month period. It was further amplified with a near-death experience while traveling in Egypt when her gifts of psychic vision, channeling, and mediumship opened up. Amirah has a reputation for being a world-class psychic, mystic, and mentor with the honor of working with an international client list including Dubai Royals. She’s the author of six books, including Manifesting Miracles 101, LOVE UP Your Life, and The Essential Guide To Spiritual Awakening.

Key Takeaways:

• Rev. Amirah talks about what she calls “living a life of grief.”
• Rev. Amirah received a terrible diagnosis, where no hope was given to her by doctors which forced her into a journey seeking alternative solutions.
• Rev Amirah realized something was missing in her life that triggered the beginning of her spiritual path.
• Rev Amirah wanted to understand grief from an energetic point of view.
• Susan and Rev. Amirah talked about their experiences accompanying loved ones about to pass away.
• Rev. Amirah shares her near-death experience in Egypt.
• Your emotions are the only ones you need to learn how to manage and master. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
• You can get comfortable with your dysfunction; awakening requires connecting with your emotions and learning to release them.
• Rev. Amirah talks about how she found her purpose in helping others but mainly in being in alignment with herself.
• Rev. Amirah provides tools for people to find their answers: First, learn how to ground and let go of what you are holding on to.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]

Meet Rev. Amirah Hall

Visit Amirahhall.com

Follow Amirah on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Susan, your host, is joined by her daughter, Madison, in today’s episode. It has almost been five years since they lost Paul, her dad and Susan’s husband. In the past years, Madison has gone through a lot of changes and she is sharing what it felt like going through this life-altering experience while finishing high school.

She will be attending The New School in New York City to study political science. From there, she plans to go to law school to get a degree in Criminal Justice, and ultimately she intends to run for Congress.

Key Takeaways:

• Madison talks about how her grief feels today.
• Madison explains what it means to her to be in an acceptance stage.
• Madison shares her most significant changes during her high school years.
• Madison speaks about how she felt conquering big milestones without her father.
• The hardest part for Madison has been not having her father by her side to celebrate with him her accomplishments.
• Madison is about to go to college, she shares her excitement and how much she wishes her dad was there to go through this significant stage with her.
• Madison lost some friends since the death of her father, but she is optimistic about the future.
• Humor helps with trauma. Madison found that joking about her grief was helpful.
• Madison shares what excites her the most about this next chapter of her life.
• As a result of Paul dying, Madison’s hometown turned out to be attached to sad moments that remind her of her pain; that is why going to college presents the possibility of beginning from a fresh start, meeting new people, and the opportunity to create memories that won't carry the weight of her grief.
• Madison shares her advice to anyone grieving: It gets worse before it gets better. It does get better and you will reach that point at some time.

Resources

Tendrilsofgrief.com

Email Susan: [email protected]