Daughters Without Moms

With Valentine’s Day this week, I wanted to talk about love. How do you love after loss? How do you learn to live with your grief? Can you have a "happily ever after" once you’ve experienced a significant loss? Or are you destined for "happily NEVER after?" All of our stories are important! If you have a story to share, please send an email to daughterswithoutmoms@gmail.com. You don't have to be a...

Becca shared for the first time in Episode 7 of Season 1. At that time, she shared about the journey with her mom following a diagnosis with dementia, and that even though her mom was still present physically, she already felt like a daughter without a mom. Becca's mom, Marilyn, passed away in December of 2021. In this follow-up episode, Becca shares about the end of her mom's journey, and how the...

In this episode Cathy shares the story of losing her friend and business partner, Heidi. She shares about how it affected her own identity in ways she wasn't expecting. Cathy says that it was the beginning of an undoing in her life. If you'd like to read Cathy's writings, you can find her at www.roomforgrace.com Cathy's Take-Away: Curiosity engages a part of us that can help us get through ou...

Janica started grieving the mom that she knew when complications from surgery damaged her mom’s spine and she became a paraplegic. Her mom lived in a wheelchair for 10 years, until another complication made her extremely ill. Unfortunately, this happened during the pandemic, and Janica and her family had to deal with not being with her mom while she was in the hospital. Janica mentions her mom’s s...

Shana and Leah's worlds were completely upended in 2020 when their beloved Mom suffered from the excruciating and fatal effects of metastatic breast cancer. Sadly, due to the pandemic, neither were able to be with her physically while she lay in hospital.  Now, nearly a year and a half later, their small, close-knit family continues to navigate the terrain of their loss along with the challen...

In this episode, I'll be sharing my thoughts about letting go and holding on. We need to hold on to our grief stories; they are a part of who we are. We also need to learn how to carry our grief, instead of letting it carry us. What do you need permission to let go of in 2022?  All of our stories are important! If you have a story to share, please send an email to daughterswithoutmoms@gmail.c...

To kick off 2022, I wanted to follow up with Yvonne. She was my first interview when the podcast began in 2021, and her episode has the most listens. If you haven't listened to her original episode, I suggest you hit pause and go and listen to her story in Episode 2 of Season 1.  In this interview, Yvonne talks about what she has learned in the past year. Her word for 2021 was "surrender". Sh...

Karuna's twin sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, and at the end of the same year, her mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Her mom died less than 2 years later. Karuna says her mom was simply the best mother - the constant in her life and her anchor. Karuna turned to writing to help with her grief. She started a blog called The Thing About Grief . When she ran out of words, s...

Natasha's mom died when she was 14 years old, and she spent the next 15 years using unhealthy coping mechanisms to bury her pain. Since then, Natasha has learned how to use holistic healing to deal with her trauma and to rewrite the narrative she had with her mother wound. Natasha is an Empowered Healing Coach. She is on Instagram at www.instagram.com/natasha__mcdowell and has a Facebook Group cal...

In this episode, Miranda shares about the difficulty she experienced with becoming a mom while at the same time losing her own mom. Her mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2011. Her mom died in 2019, shortly after MIranda gave birth to her first child. Miranda really struggled with anger, and found that grief therapy helped her realize that her mom is still a part of her life. You can find...

In this episode, Randi Pearlman Wolfson shares about the death of her father when she was only 10 years old. He was 41 years old, and had been diagnosed with leukemia more than 3 years earlier. But Randi and her brother never really knew that their dad was sick, and then he was gone. As an adult, Randi spent nearly 20 years educating others in the topic of grief. She has published a book, " Eddie'...

Today you'll meet Brigette. Brigette is a sister without a sister. Her sister, Aubrey, was born deaf and with Cerebral Palsy. They were only 18 months apart in age, and were extremely close.  At the end of her life, Aubrey was fearful of leaving Brigette, and Brigette assured her that she was strong and capable. After Aubrey was gone, Brigette had a hard time with her grief and was in a reall...

Today you'll meet Quinn and Maddie. They were high school friends, who connected again in their mid-20's when they lost their moms within 2 months of each other. They realized that their conversations were the kind of real talk that people need when experiencing loss. And thus, the Young & Bereaved podcast was born! You can find the podcast here https://bereavedpodcast.podbean.com/ , or on any...

Today I'm sharing a topic I recently learned about: High-Functioning Codependency If you're anything like me, you don't even like the word codependent, because you are independent! This term was coined by psychotherapist and author, Terri Cole. You can find more information about her work at www.terricole.com All of our stories are important! If you have a story to share, please send an email to d...

In this episode, you'll meet my husband Brian. Today we are celebrating 25 years of marriage, and I asked him to share his perspective on what it is like to support someone on their grief journey. Where I have lost all of the people in my family of origin, both of his parents and both of his brothers are living. We have both learned things about each other over the past 25 years.  Brian's Tak...

This episode is the story of Southofthe49th's journey with his wife after her diagnosis of a brain tumor. He does not share his identity, due to the privacy of his kids, but has learned how to use TikTok as a way to share his story and document memories for his children. You can find him on TikTok as @southofthe49th .  He also recommends finding a Grief Share group for support on the grief jo...

In this episode, you'll meet Emily. She is a 24-year-old adult orphan. She lost her dad in 2018, and her mom, just one year ago, in October, 2020. Emily shares how she never had a close relationship with her mom, who was disabled and suffered from addiction and mental health issues. On top of the grief of the physical loss of her parents, she has complicated grief around the lack of validation fro...

Laura May shares her story about growing up with a mom who suffered from mental illness and addiction. Laura May was never really parented in a healthy way and grew up feeling insignificant, as though she was always in a shadow. Laura May has worked hard to learn from her experience and to do more than just survive - she wants to thrive! Laura May shares about the journal she's written: Power of t...

Andrea shares the story of what she describes as a "domino death". One event led to another in a tragic series that ended in her mom's passing. Andrea was intentional about allowing herself to grieve and joined a Motherless Daughters group. Andrea has provided the following information for the items she shares: NYC listeners can request to join NYC Motherless Daughters on Facebook: https://www.fac...

In 2018, Jana's mom died from blunt force injury after being hit by a foul ball at a LA Dodgers baseball game at Dodger Stadium. Yes, you read that right. It is quite a story! Jana talks about sharing her story originally with William Weinbaum from ESPN. You can read that article here .  She also shares about finding her voice, and how she and others influenced the MLB requiring all teams to...

This episode is an interview with Laura. She lost her mom just 2 years ago, after her mom suffered several brain aneurisms and aspiration. They spent 8 weeks in more than 5 hospitals, and Laura is now learning how to live without her mom and best friend. Laura shares how she ran 1000 miles for Mama, and her fundraising campaign is still open! Here is the link if you would like to donate to the Bra...

Today I share my thoughts about worthiness, and some of the things I've done personally to strengthen my foundation of self-worth. In the podcast, I also share the names of a few of my favorite authors and podcasters: Brené Brown , Susan David , Jim Kwik and Dr. Daniel Amen . I'll be sharing details about an upcoming Book Club and the launch of my Permission to be YOU program in September. Stay tu...

Penni's mom died of ovarian cancer when Penni was 25 years old. Penni told her mom it was ok, that she could go, but really, Penni wasn't ready. Although a heartache, the loss of their mom has strengthened the bond between Penni and her sister. Penni's Take-aways:  1. You're not alone. Take comfort in the people around you. 2. Work can wait! When caring for family, take the time to stay...

This episode is an interview with my niece, Jenna. She became a DWOM in January, 2020 when her mom, my sister Amy, passed away after a long battle with cancer. We've talked a lot about how Amy always made decisions for her. It felt like a topic that others may have experienced as well. Her advice for making decisions without mom: Write out the question at hand. Make a list of pros and cons, and th...

Tami lost her mom to cancer when Tami was 27 years old. 5 years later, she experienced another devastating loss, that caused her to go back and consider the way she grieved her mom.  Tami learned that, as a society, we do not handle grief well, and became a Restoration and Confidence Coach using her background in marriage and family therapist to support others in their journey.  Tami's t...