What started out as an average winter morning ended up being one that would change everything in Melissa Pierce's life. She went to wake up her husband Dave for their son's basketball game and found him unresponsive. Dave had died during the night and the cause of death was never determined. Melissa jumped into figuring out logistics - planning a memorial, getting her sons to school, moving their family, working a full-time job - but eventually she had to figure out herself. It meant focusing on what she was thinking, feeling, and needing in her grief. That shift to prioritizing self-care ended up changing everything, again.

We discuss

• How Melissa and Dave met and fell in love

• The process of adopting their two sons

• How the shock of Dave's sudden death led to what Melissa calls "Zombie mode"

• Being the person who found Dave when he died and how that impacted her grief

• Grieving when the cause of death is undetermined

• The financial, logistical, and emotional reality of being a solo parent

• Having to tell her sons that their dad died

• When Melissa started to feel her feelings in grief

• The physical toll of grief

• Where Melissa turned for support

• How prioritizing self-care changed everything

• The origin story of the Widow Squad community

Melissa is the author of Filled With Gold: A Widow's Story, co-founder of The Widow Squad community, and co-host of The Widow Squad podcast.

Listen to The Widow Squad podcast Episode 41- Holidays and Grief: Strategies to Get Through the Holidays After Your Spouse Dies.