From Loss to Light

This story shows how death and widowhood can turn into an amazing beautiful family. Rod & Jolene each share with us how they navigated the widowed life with children. They go into how each navigated the losses of their spouses only to find each other on an online dating site. They didn't know their paths had crossed many years prior growing up in the same town. They have since found love toget...

In this episode we listen to Claire Richmond share her journey with a chronic illness that is very rare metabolic condition. She shares how she has found her light with the suffering and pain that she endures.  It took Claire 19 years to search for the answers and was diagnosed and knowingly living with it for 7 years. It is estimated that 1500 people in the US have this disease which is called "A...

Our guest on episode 25 is our "grief" friend Kera Sanchez.  She shares with us the loss of her mother and when she died and how it pushed her into a role of a grief journey she didn't understand.  Kera shares her creation of her journal called "Legacy Letters Journal" and how you can turn lemons into legacies.  She has since created a second journal "No Legacy Lost" that reflects what we all want...

Our guest Christina shares the very deepest part of the illness that claimed the life of her child.  Her son Nate died at 18 years of age from a lifelong journey of seizures.  Christina has always been in the nursing field, so she understands the depth of what death can look like, but when it happened to her, she spiraled.  She had to learn to say "It's ok to not be ok" and also she really learned...

Our guest this week is Sandy Thomas; Sandy shares her families tragedy that happened in 1962 when her families vehicle was hit by a train.  Her sister Diane died on the scene and her sister Linda died on the way to the hospital.  She shares how her family navigated this devastating time and how Sandy learned about who her sisters were years after their deaths as their accident happened prior to he...

Episode 22 is with our special guest Liz Quinn who shares her story of loss from her baby girl to both her parents and how this has formed her understanding of grief and how the power of sharing your story is SO powerful.  Liz herself has started an amazing wellness journey of self care and recently launched her own podcast called "Healing Hearts".  She gives so many tips and advice that we can al...

Episode 20 is full of color and our vibrant guest Victoria Wolf shares her story of losing her business with her husband and how they picked up the pieces for them to travel in their RV and finding their path along the journey of life.   She shares her artwork and dreams with all of us!  Victoria is an artist, an author, a designer, and a cook!  This conversation was a beautiful testament of how w...

In this episode we listen to Tom & Melanie share the story of the loss of their beloved son Max.  Max died in December 2012 due to complications from the flu.  They share wonderful and beautiful stories of their son Max and how he continues to make impacts on so many lives.  Tom & Melanie started a foundation called "Love to the Max foundation" that supports others through scholarships.  ...

***ANGIE'S AUDIO WAS A LITTLE DISTORTED DURING THIS EPISODE, PLEASE JUST IGNORE THE HIGH TONE, BECAUSE OUR GUESTS TONE'S ARE PERFECT AND THEY SHARE A BEAUTIFUL STORY THAT SHOULD BE HEARD*** Meet our two amazing guests Dave and Cassy Lawrence as they share the story of their son Sailor and the amazing non profit they created in his memory called Sail on and Fly High. We shared laughters of tears an...

On this episode you will listen to Shannon share her story of her loss to light, in particular her daughter Sara that had died in a car accident.  Shannon connects with the other side as she is an intuitive and was able to see and hear from her daughter Sara the night she died.  Shannon also found her light after she almost lost her own life and was on a ventilator for eight days and made a remark...

Our guest for episode 17 shares with us how he has found his light after the loss of his identity after the sell of his families 93 year business.  Doug shares amazing insight and advice for all of us to lean into for ANY life lessons.  Give this episode a listen through as we talk about so many aspects of loss and how light is found and perspectives we all take.  LinkedIn profile: Douglas Burns i...

In Episode 16 we chat with Stacey Powells on her breakdown to eventual author and how she has managed her struggles with great drive and empathy and humor towards others.  She is funny and shares so many "AHA" moments that many of us journey through. Her journey through life is interesting from the beginning as she shares her dad's career as "THE" Beverly Hills Pharmacist to her job at Paramount p...

On this episode we sit down and chat with author Kelly Cervantes.  Kelly and her husband Miguel lost their little girl Adelaide to epilepsy.  The road from the beginning of her life to her young death has been nothing short of hard for this family.  They navigated the loss of their daughter the the crazy epidemic of covid that hit the world, to an unbelievable move to NYC for Miguels performance a...

We were honored to have a special guest, Beth M. Howard on our podcast sharing her story of loss to light through the making of pie.  Yes, making pie has transformed into something I'm sure Beth never saw coming, but is running with it and thriving.  Beth M. Howard is an author, blogger, pie baker, TEDx speaker, world traveler, peace advocate, and an Iowa farm dweller.   Beth has been featured on...

Episode 13 is here and we are chatting with a special Loss Mom, Sarah Speichert.  Sarah and her family's young son Jack died from a brain tumor.  She tells us the story of how they found out he had a brain tumor, what the initial process and testing all entailed, their journey to St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis and their brave journey to bring Jack home for his final days.    Sarah shares what they...

In episode 12 we welcome our special guest Cathy Fox, Field Education Director for the Social Work Program at Creighton University. Cathy has a stealth knowledge of grief and loss.  Cathy has been a pillar within the Omaha, NE community with grief work and working in many areas building the guidance and knowledge of how to cope with loss in a persons life.   In this episode Cathy shares so many ti...

Episode 11 is a beautiful story of recovery with our guest Betts Blum Jones.  Betts shares a traumatic story of an injury she endured when a headstone fell on her legs.  She tells the scary details of the most freak accident that happened.  She goes into her recovery journey and then when the unthinkable happens within the year of her recovery.  Betts became a widow after her husband Rick was kill...

Episode 10 is showcasing our guest Sue Roberts.  Sue shares the beautiful and loving story of her daughter Heather.  Heather died November 8, 2016 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor; Heather lived and fought with such dignity.  Jon & Sue Roberts have created a lasting legacy in Heather's honor by creating an organization called "Leap for a Cure".  Leap for a Cure is a grassroots organiza...

***TRIGGER WARNING - THE TALK OF SEXUAL ASSAULT & SUICIDE ARE DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE*** Welcome to our 9th episode with the Wenday Cooper from Iowa!  In this episode Wenday dives into her spiritual journey, her drive to receive a couple very important degrees in life, a relapse, and her eventual sobriety and where she is at today.  Wenday is truly an inspiration to all she meets and shares...

***TRIGGER WARNING - THE TALK OF SEXUAL ASSAULT & SUICIDE ARE DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE*** Welcome to our 8th episode with the amazing Wenday Cooper from Iowa!  She is going to share her loss to light from sexual assault as a young child to journey through a suicide of her abuser and finding her light after years and years of addiction and relapses.  Wenday is truly an inspiration to all she m...

***WARNING - THE TOPIC OF SUICIDE IS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE IN DEPTH*** As a reminder Angie & Michelle are not therapists, but simply are having the discussions of loss in many forms.  If anything is triggered by listening to an episode, please reach out to the appropriate channels regarding the specific discussion.  Our main goal is to have an open discussion regarding loss to light howeve...

In this Episode, we chat with Samantha Cooper as she dives in and tells us about the 3 awakenings in her life.  She starts her story by telling us the story of her family life growing up, but realizing what she was experiencing at age 40 surrounding her parents. She speaks eloquently about her realizations and will shed light into so many emotions many of us have had and helps guide us through emo...

***TRIGGER WARNING*** On this episode we dive into PTSD and self care, what that all means.  We do talk about suicide in this episode.  Michelle talks about her eye issues and what that means and some other recent losses that she has experienced and how it has triggered her.   Angie chats about how we are all "better together" and how we can move through our journeys together.  We talk about the t...

In this episode, we are introducing our beautiful friend Becky Nicks.  Becky and Angie were introduced back in 2009 when their worlds collided through widowhood.  Michelle also came into the widowhood world with us as we all met on a widow/widowhood online group.  Becky's story is full of love, sadness, and loneliness, but most of all a young widowed mom finding her light through a devastating los...

In this episode, Todd Studer shares his story of childhood abandonment, learning to grow as a child feeling alone.  Todd, talks us through the therapy and the hard work he has had to do to find his light through his traumatic losses.  Todd shares how his divorce has left him not involved with his own children's life, but the love and hope he shares that one day things will be different for his fam...