After a short break, Well Rounded is back—but this isn't the episode Al and Vincent expected they'd be making.
Four weeks after losing his wife, Rebecca, following an incredibly fast and aggressive cancer diagnosis, Al sits down with Vincent to talk about what the last several weeks have actually been like: the ICU, the shock, the grief, and the strange reality of trying to figure out how life continues when the person around whom so much of your life was built is suddenly gone.
But this isn't simply a conversation about loss.
It's a conversation about Rebecca.
Al shares stories from their life together—from their first kiss more than 40 years ago, to the blunt honesty that made Rebecca Rebecca, to the dog she informed him they were getting whether he was ready or not. He talks about their routines, their humor, their 30-second hugs, and what it means to have spent 24 years knowing that you had something extraordinary while you were actually living it.
Vincent also talks about realizing that while Al had lost his wife, he had lost his friend, too—and the complicated feeling of allowing yourself to grieve when someone you love has suffered an immeasurably greater loss.
Together, they talk about the things people say when they don't know what to say, why sometimes a hug is enough, the arbitrary timelines people put on grief, and the strange balancing act between allowing yourself to hurt and eventually beginning to move forward.
Al also opens up about one of the hardest decisions of his life: honoring Rebecca's wishes and moving to comfort care. A story about a lighthouse keeper helps him put words around an impossible truth—sometimes life doesn't give you a right choice and a wrong choice. Sometimes you're given two terrible choices and have to make the most loving one you can.
There are tears in this one.
There are also laughs.
There is George Carlin, a very perceptive dog named Charlie, questionable clean-underwear standards, Kathy apparently being Rebecca's spiritual successor in bluntness, and the revelation that Rebecca had very strong opinions about Vincent's dating life—and knew almost immediately that Kathy was the one.
Most of all, this is a conversation about love with nowhere to go, gratitude for where it's already been, and learning how to carry someone with you when life forces you to continue without them.
We're glad to be back.
And Rebecca, we're glad we got to know you.
Where to find us:
Al's Instagram: instagram.com/nywoodworx
Vincent's Instagram: instagram.com/vincentmferrari
Well-Rounded Discord: https://discord.gg/nnnxRJ4kew
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033UaxCM6f9qbKAvfngY25?si=3e7729a61b65433c
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/well-rounded/id6794152738
Subscribe via RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/115381934/podcast/rss
