The Grief Between Us

As Season One of The Grief Between Us comes to a close, Patti reflects on the stories, lessons, and moments that shaped this first season of conversations.

Throughout the season, guests shared experiences of death, divorce, chronic illness, infertility, mental health struggles, faith transitions, loneliness, family rupture, and profound life change. Together, these stories revealed a deeper truth: grief is far more varied, universal, and human than we often realize.

In this season finale, Patti reflects on what she learned about accompaniment, courage, truth-telling, faith, healing, and the invisible grief that so many people carry alone. She explores how suffering changes us, why presence matters more than fixing, and what becomes possible when grief is witnessed instead of hidden.

This episode is both a reflection and an invitation. It is a reminder that healing does not mean becoming untouched by grief, but learning to carry it with greater tenderness, honesty, and support.

Whether you've listened to every episode or are joining for the first time, this conversation offers a thoughtful closing to Season One and a hopeful look toward what comes next.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What happens when survival has been your normal for so long that joy begins to feel unfamiliar?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits down with Mariah Pagliasotti, Executive Producer of The Grief Between Us and Executive Assistant to The Waiting Place Foundation, for a deeply personal conversation about trauma, chronic illness, grief, emotional safety, and learning how to build a life beyond simply making it through the day.

Mariah reflects on growing up around instability, navigating lupus and cancer diagnoses at a young age, and living for years believing she would never make it to thirty. Together, Patti and Mariah explore survival mode, self-worth, chosen family, emotional healing, and the fear that can come with allowing yourself to dream about a future you never expected to have.

This episode also touches on grief, mental health, trauma responses, empathy, forgiveness, chronic illness, and the complicated process of learning to care for yourself after spending years only trying to survive.

At its heart, this conversation is about what becomes possible when safety, compassion, and connection begin to replace fear.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What does healing actually look like after deep loss?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with Angela to explore widowhood, long-term grief, faith, and the complicated journey of learning how to move forward without feeling like you’re leaving someone behind.

Angela shares the experience of losing her husband nearly eleven years ago and reflects on the ways grief has changed over time. Together, they talk about the difference between “moving on” and “moving forward,” the pressure society places on grieving people, and the guilt that can come when joy begins to return.

This conversation also explores motherhood, memory-making, faith, community support, and the importance of giving ourselves permission to keep living. Angela speaks openly about how grief softens over time without ever fully disappearing, and how healing doesn’t erase the scars left behind.

If you’ve ever struggled with the fear of becoming joyful again, or wondered whether healing means forgetting, this episode offers a compassionate and hopeful perspective.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What happens when grief doesn’t come just once, but in layers?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with Darlyn to explore the experience of carrying multiple forms of grief at the same time. Together, they talk about losing loved ones, navigating mental illness within a family, unresolved family ruptures, and the complicated reality of continuing forward while still holding pain.

Darlyn shares the story of losing her grandson Theo shortly after his birth, the heartbreak of watching her daughter walk through unimaginable loss, and the way grief can affect generations all at once. She also speaks openly about parenting children with bipolar disorder and anxiety, and the grief that can come with unmet expectations, fear, and watching someone you love struggle.

This conversation explores layered grief, self-compassion, therapy, faith, and the importance of allowing joy and sorrow to coexist. Together, Patti and Darlyn reflect on the ways grief impacts both the body and the spirit, and how healing often begins by simply allowing ourselves to feel what is true.

If you’ve ever felt buried beneath multiple losses, or struggled to believe the light would return, this episode offers a gentle reminder: the eclipse won’t last forever.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What happens when the life you’re born into isn’t the life you choose to live?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with Jullian to explore what it means to grow up in instability, experience loss, and still choose a different path forward.

Jullian shares her story of being removed from her parents’ home as a child, navigating the transition to living with her grandparents, and the complexity of growing up in a family shaped by addiction, separation, and change. She reflects on the grief of what wasn’t given, alongside the deep love and connection that became her foundation. 

This conversation also explores the loss of her father later in life, the process of forgiveness, and how grief can resurface in different seasons. Through it all, Jullian speaks to the power of choosing who you become, finding strength in your roots, and recognizing that even after life’s hardest fires, something within you can survive and grow.

If you’ve ever felt defined by where you came from, or wondered if a different life is possible, this episode offers a grounded and hopeful perspective.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What does it mean to grieve not only what was lost, but what was never allowed to fully begin?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with Sundy, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to explore the layered grief of pregnancy loss and the experience of becoming a mother through both loss and love.

Sundy shares her story of losing two babies during pregnancy, the trauma of those moments, and the uncertainty that followed. She speaks to the ambiguity of that kind of loss, where there are no clear markers, no shared language, and often no recognition of the depth of what was lost.

This conversation also explores how grief and joy can coexist, the impact of unmet expectations, and what it means to surrender control in the face of uncertainty. Through her personal and professional lens, Sundy offers insight into how we carry grief over time and how it shapes who we become.

If you’ve experienced loss, ambiguity, or the quiet grief of what never came to be, this episode offers a space to feel seen in that.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What does it mean to grieve not just who someone was, but everything that never got to be?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with Arianne to explore the lifelong experience of sibling grief after the suicide of her sister, Megan. Nearly twenty years later, Arianne reflects on what it means to carry both love and loss over time, and how grief continues to evolve rather than disappear.

She shares the complexity of their relationship, the memories that still feel close, and the moments where her sister’s absence feels just as real as it did in the beginning. From anger and confusion to acceptance and peace, this conversation holds the full range of what it means to grieve someone deeply.

This episode also explores the tension between wanting answers and learning to live in the unknown, the impact of suicide loss on families, and the quiet ways we continue relationships with those who are no longer here.

If you’ve ever grieved a sibling, or felt the weight of the life you didn’t get to share with someone, this conversation offers a place to feel understood.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

What happens when the life you built is no longer something you can choose to keep?

In this episode of The Grief Between Us, Patti sits with John, a divorced father, to explore the kind of grief that doesn’t come from death, but from the loss of a family as it once was, and the future that was imagined.

John speaks honestly about what it means to live with limited agency, to miss your children while still showing up for them, and to carry grief quietly while continuing to function. He shares the reality of coming home to an empty space, the emotional weight of separation, and the responsibility of staying strong for his children even when it’s hard. T

his conversation also explores mental health, identity, and what it looks like to rebuild a life from the inside out. Through his story, John offers language for a kind of grief that is often unseen, especially for fathers, and a reminder that even in the midst of loss, there is still purpose in showing up.

If you’ve ever felt alone in your grief, or like your loss doesn’t quite fit into the way people talk about it, this episode offers a place to feel understood.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

Sometimes what we need most in grief is not answers, but to be seen.

In this episode, Patti sits with Rob, a chaplain, to explore what it means to truly accompany someone in pain. Through personal experiences and reflections from his work, Rob shares how healing can begin when someone is willing to sit with us, without trying to fix, solve, or take the pain away.

Together, they talk about the quiet, sacred moments where people allow themselves to be seen in their grief, the tension between wanting to fix suffering and learning to simply be present, and the impact of listening with curiosity instead of assumption. This conversation also explores faith, uncertainty, and the emotional complexity that can come when grief and belief intersect. Rather than offering answers, it invites a different way of showing up for ourselves and for others.

If you’ve ever wondered how to support someone in grief, or how to navigate your own, this episode offers a gentle and meaningful place to begin.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation

Some parts of grief don’t live in words. They live in the body.

In this conversation, Patti sits with therapist Jessica Westover to explore the connection between emotional pain and physical experience. Together, they talk about how grief and trauma can show up in ways we don’t always recognize, including tension in the body, disrupted sleep, and a sense of feeling stuck even when we can explain what we’ve been through.

Jessica shares insights from both her professional work and her own lived experience, offering a deeper understanding of why talking about grief is not always enough. They explore the role of movement, mindfulness, and alternative therapeutic approaches in helping process emotions that feel difficult to access.

This episode offers a different way of understanding grief, not just as something we think about, but as something we carry physically, and something that may need to be felt, moved, and gently worked through over time.

The Grief Between Us is part of The Waiting Place, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those navigating grief and loss.

Learn more about us and upcoming events below!
The Waiting Place Foundation