Bereaved But Still Me

Send us Fan Mail A child can change a room with a smile, and Kelly Corbly did that everywhere she went. She was five years old, curly-haired, dog-obsessed, and fearless about loving people others avoided. Then one night, what looked like a bad dream became a medical emergency, and her parents, David and Ann, found themselves racing toward a children’s hospital with no clear answers, making choices...

Send us Fan Mail A telegram at the door can split your life into “before” and “after.” Ellen M. Laura knows that moment intimately. At 19, she’s newly married, writing letters to her husband Brian in Vietnam, dreaming about California and a future that finally feels like it’s starting. Then Marine officers arrive with a priest, and she becomes a widow after only six weeks of marriage. The shock is...

Send us Fan Mail The weirdest part of grief is how quickly we start judging it. Too much crying means you’re “not coping.” Not enough crying means you “didn’t love them enough.” And if you laugh for a moment, it can feel like betrayal. We sit with all of that honestly and gently, and we name what so many people are afraid to say out loud: grief doesn’t follow a script, and trying to force it into...

Send us Fan Mail A studio can be more than a business. It can be your calendar, your friendships, your creative outlet, your sense of worth, and the place where you watch other people become themselves. When that disappears overnight, the grief is real, even if no one brings flowers or holds a service. We sit down with Christina Vitovich, international speaker, producer, and founder of Women Getti...

Send us Fan Mail Grief isn’t an ending; it’s a relationship that changes. Judy Tashbook Safern joins us with a story that stops the clock: cascading surgeries, pneumonia, and a coma that opens into an enveloping light and a felt encounter with God. She returns with a message—“you are necessary”—only to learn that her father, a larger-than-life psychoanalyst and professor who built Jewish community...

Send us Fan Mail A heartbeat in your ear changes how you see a person. That’s where we begin—with the intimacy of listening and the quiet vigilance of an anesthetist whose job is to guide people to the brink and bring them safely home. Frank Jaworski has lived at that edge for decades, and he joins us to share what most of us never witness: how dignity is protected in the operating room, what fami...

Send us Fan Mail Grief doesn’t run on a schedule, and kids feel that truth in their bones. We sit down with author and grief group facilitator Ta'Shay Mason to unpack how children experience loss, why feelings often arrive in waves, and what adults can do to create safety without forcing conversation. From a mother’s steady persistence to the surprising comfort of equine-assisted activities,...

Send us Fan Mail A life can fall apart and still grow deeper roots. That’s the energy of our conversation with award-winning author and podcaster Theo Boyd, whose first memoir sparked national attention and whose next book, Hope All the Way, turns tender signs and hard data into a roadmap for living with loss. We begin with the question so many grievers whisper: am I doing this right? Theo shares...

Send us Fan Mail We explore how perspective turns pain into purpose, from hospitalization and stigma to practical tools that make tough days workable. Stephen shares the Acceptance Ladder, reframing self-talk, and small habits that change how we move through depression and bipolar. • two lies of depression and how to challenge them • medication as intensity-softener, not magic cure • negative self...

Send us Fan Mail What if the story of adoption held both rescue and rupture at the very same time? We sit down with Ayrton Beatty, who was placed for adoption after three months in foster care, to talk candidly about identity, attachment, and why language like “placed” instead of “given up” can change how a life is understood. Ayrton walks us through learning the painful truth of their origins, na...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when we strip away the fear and misconceptions surrounding hospice care? In this illuminating conversation with Rosa Hernandez, a pre-planning specialist with over four decades of healthcare experience, we discover that hospice represents not an ending, but a different way of continuing life's journey with dignity, comfort and personalized support. "The limi...

Send us Fan Mail How do you keep going when everything has been taken from you? Andy Campbell's story will stop you in your tracks. After surviving childhood sexual abuse, losing his mother to cancer, battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer (which he has now survived for nearly seven years against all odds), and enduring the devastating loss of his son to suicide, Andy has earned the right to spea...

Send us Fan Mail When faced with the devastating news of his wife's cancer diagnosis, Tony Stewart's world imploded. "It was just sort of mind-blowing, earth-shaking, the end of life as we had known it together," he shares with raw honesty. That fateful phone call launched Tony and his wife Lynn into a five-year journey that would transform their understanding of love, fear, an...

Send us Fan Mail Watching someone you love transform before your eyes while they're still breathing creates a unique form of grief that few discuss openly. In this deeply moving conversation, Ronda Adamo shares her family's journey through her mother's battle with Pick's disease, a rare form of frontal temporal dementia that claimed her just ten months after diagnosis. Before r...

Send us Fan Mail Grief is not simply the absence of someone we love—it can also be the absence of what we deserved but never received. In this profound conversation with counselor and trauma specialist Fonda Miller, we explore the often-overlooked dimensions of loss and healing that shape our emotional lives. Fonda shares a perspective on grief that transforms how we understand our deepest sorrows...

Send us Fan Mail Award-winning journalist Dina Gachman takes us on a profound journey through the landscape of loss, sharing how the deaths of her mother from cancer and sister from alcoholism transformed her understanding of grief. With remarkable candor, Dina reveals the unexpected realities of home hospice care—administering morphine every few hours with minimal professional support, experienci...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine living in a war zone, where the constant threat of rocket attacks shapes daily life. This is the reality for Hanny Sidis, an occupational dance and mind-body therapist from Israel. In our conversation, she shares her unique therapeutic approach to processing emotions through movement, even amidst air raids. Alongside her, Toni Alexander, an American author and inspirationa...

Send us Fan Mail Fiona Kanter's journey from heart-wrenching grief to a source of hope and support for others is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. She joins us to share the painful loss of her daughter, Lee Gabriella, and how this tragedy has become a catalyst for her advocacy work in trauma and bereavement. Our conversation oscillates between poignant memories of our daughte...

Send us Fan Mail After the heart-wrenching loss of her young daughter Alyce to a rare cancer, Izumi Favia decided to turn her grief into a guiding light for others. In this poignant episode, we invite you to listen to Izumi's heartfelt story of love, loss, and the profound journey she undertook to rebuild her life. From the unexpected joy of a natural pregnancy to the blissful memories of Aly...

Send us Fan Mail What if the most devastating experiences of your life could become a beacon of hope for others? Autumn and Brandon Cohen join us to share their profound journey through loss and resilience, starting with the stillbirth of their son, Bastion, in March 2020, and extending to the loss of Brandon's brother in December 2022. They open up about the heart-wrenching task of helping t...

Send us Fan Mail What if a shared journey through loss could spark an inspiring platform that brings healing to countless others? Welcome to the eighth season of "Bereaved But Still Me," where our personal stories intertwine with hope and resilience. Join me, Michael LIben, alongside my dear friends and colleagues, executive producer Anna Jaworski and producer Nancy Jensen, as we explore...

Send us Fan Mail Can a story of loss become a beacon of hope for others navigating the difficult journey of bereavement? Join us as Sheri Turner and Desiree Vaught share their poignant personal experiences with congenital heart defects and the profound impact on their lives. Sheri opens up about the loss of her firstborn, Thomas, and the challenges of raising her surviving children amid grief, inc...

Send us Fan Mail How do you measure the impact of a life well-lived, especially when that life is cut short by illness? Join us as we uncover the incredible journey of Uri Lahav through the heartfelt stories of his parents, Elisheva and Michael. From their daring move from the United States to Israel to raising a family in a foreign land amid the backdrop of war, this episode paints a vivid pictur...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered how to navigate the emotional maze of caring for a parent with dementia? Join us as Karmon Hill opens her heart and shares her poignant journey of moving her mother across states and ultimately finding her a memory care facility. We discuss the delicate balance of respecting her mother’s past as an esteemed educator while confronting the painful realities of...

Send us Fan Mail Guests:  Dr. Ken Doka, Senior Vice President of Grief Programs at the Hospice Foundation of America Amy Tucci, President and CEO of the Hospice Foundation of America  Alex LaMorie Advisory Board Member of the Autism and Grief Project Overview of the Autism and Grief Project: Website launched in September 2022 to provide grief resources for autistic adults, their families, and prof...