One Bright Star - Life After Loss

Aunt Jude and niece Molly join our podcast to talk about their two sons and their two losses. Molly's son, Beau, was stillborn at almost 35 weeks. Beau was their third child and the family was so excited for his arrival. Molly felt something different was happening at work one day and after phone calls to the nurse line and ultimately an ultrasound, it was determined that Beau had passed. Jude los...

Erin Joice lost her son Eric on December 21, 2012. He was a Staff Sergeant in the United State Air Force. He had been in the USAF for four years having passed away unexpectedly while deployed in South Korea. Erin joins our podcast thirteen years after Eric's passing to talk about her incredible son. His kindness toward others and a man who gave freely of himself will be his lasting legacy. Eri...

Amelia Williams is an amazing woman. She's a nurse, wife, friend, mother, and sadly, she is no stranger to grief and loss. She joins our podcast to talk about her incredible journey of losing a son, Gavin, during pregnancy, losing a step-son, Marcus, at age 24, and losing her special-needs son, Joshua, twice, first to SIDS at age four months and after he was revived, losing him again at age 28. Jo...

Lexi Hagen died suddenly as the result of an automobile accident in 2010. Her sister, Lacey, who was 16 at the time, joins our podcast to talk about her grief journey and how the loss of her sister has affected her life and how she goes on to remember and honor Lexi's life and legacy. She talks about the, "waves of grief" she experiences and how she continues to try and stay connected with her old...

Lexi Hagen was involved in a tragic automobile accident in 2010. She was only 18 years old and months away from her high school graduation. Lexi's obituary describes her as being "kind, caring, spirited, vibrant, and fun loving. She had big, beautiful brown eyes and a beautiful smile that was warm and contagious." Her mom, Karla, joins our podcast to talk about her daughter's life and legacy. Karl...

One Bright Star was founded in 1998 by four mothers who, in their grief, came together to embark on a mission to be a resource to families who have suffered the death of a child. The organization has a physical memorial site at Ray Erlandson Park in Mankato, Minnesota. On this Life After Loss podcast, Executive Director, Erica Fisher and board member, Alicia More, discuss the many ways the nonprof...

March is Trisomy awareness month. Trisomy is a genetic condition where a person has an extra chromosome and it comes in different forms including: Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and Trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome). Each journey is unique and on this edition of our Life After Loss podcast, we are joined by Paige Hawkins who educates us on Trisomy 18. Paige and her husband, Gr...

Being a teenager is hard enough as it is. Losing a friend and classmate is even harder. Add in Covid 19 during these years and it became overwhelming. Our podcast guest had to deal with all of these and she joins us to talk about her journey. During the onset of Covid, our local community was shaken by the deaths of two popular and well-known students. As a teen at the time, our guest talks about...

One Bright Star held its annual fall children's memorial service on Sunday, September 29, 2024 at Erlandson Park in Mankato, Minnesota. The program featured a welcome message from Erica Fischer, executive director and Becca Roberson, president of One Bright Star; music by In A Bind piano and vocals; an invocation prayer read by Matt Sipe; guest speaker, Danielle Duffey; a poem: As We Remember Them...

Mankato, Minnesota nonprofit, One Bright Star, offers grants to families and individuals to attend a grief retreat in Danbury, Wisconsin called Faith's Lodge. It's a safe place for families to gather who have suffered child loss. On this Life After Loss podcast, we are joined by Joan Stanford. Her son, Jeremy, died in 2019 to veterans suicide. Joan was the first recipient of a One Bright S...

Danielle Duffey returns to our podcast three years after her first appearance to talk about her ongoing grief journey. In 2016, she and her husband lost their 17-month old son, Blake, to a medical mystery called: Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). Danielle felt very much alone, suffering in silence and feeling like she was drowning in her grief. She didn't know how to express her so...

The mission of One Bright Star is to be a resource to families who have lost a child to death. As part of that mission, OBS also tries to align with and support other local nonprofits that have a similar mission. We are joined on this Life After Loss podcast by Mankato, Minnesota nonprofit, Wings of Hope. Chris Oldenburg and DeeAnn Wacker lead this organization with its mission of serving families...

Tiffany Ward joins our podcast to talk about the extraordinary life of her mother, Cheryl. Although her mom's passing was just a short time ago, Tiffany beams as she talks about their relationship and how Cheryl touched so many lives. Because Cheryl had so many life experiences, she connected very easily with others and helped them navigate through their own trials and tribulations. At one poi...

One Bright Star board of directors members Tracy Davies and Nicole Van Sickle join our podcast to talk about their own grief journey. Both have suffered the death of a child and share their stories about a grief journey that is emotional and ongoing. Part of that journey brought them to a retreat in Wisconsin called Faith's Lodge. It's a safe place where parents and families come to explor...

Executive Director, Erica Fischer and board member, Alicia More, take a look back at 2023 and discuss everything One Bright Star was able to accomplish for its grieving families. From setting up grant programs to help parents attend retreats at Faith's Lodge in Danbury, Wisconsin to Mothers of Angels events to connecting with bereaved parents through Comfort Conversations, OBS, with the help o...

Join us for part two of our conversation with Jillene Gallatin, Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Waseca, Minnesota. Jillene talks about the, "seasons of grief" rather than the stages of grief. People's misconception is that one moves through the stages rather than, often times, returning to a previous iteration of the process. At the age of 14, Jillene lost her mother, Mina Jean, to suici...

Jillene Gallatin is the Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Waseca, Minnesota. She joins our podcast to talk about grief and how important it is for people to share their story. Jillene shares her personal story of facing grief and loss when she was fourteen years old and the tragedy of losing her mother to suicide. She talks about questions that don't have answers, feeling isolated and "hol...

Becca and Dan Sharpsteen were excited to welcome their first child into the world. A full-term pregnancy and the eager anticipation of a newborn, soon turned to tragedy when they learned their son, Cal, would be stillborn. That twisted turn of events started a grief journey that has been an emotional roller coaster for the young couple. Becca joins our Life After Loss podcast to share their story...

Dena and Travis Iverson suffered the stillbirth of their daughter, Cassie. They already had a son, Clayton, and they knew they wanted more children but it was a complicated process. Dena joins our podcast to talk about the emotional toll Cassie's loss took on them but they pushed forward, even after having three additional miscarriages. Dena wants her message for others to be that there is no...

Joan Stanford lost her son, Jeremy Reinarts, to veteran suicide in 2019. Jeremy was an Iraq war vet. Upon his return to civilian life, he suffered with mental illness, PTSD, and, like many veterans, had a difficult time with reintegration. Joan talks about her struggle with loneliness and the difficulties in her life with processing her sons death and her continued journey to keep Jeremy's mem...

Our local community has suffered several losses in the past few months and it has taken a toll on many people. Death educator, Lynn Waterbury, joins us to talk about teen grief, the importance of expressing our emotions and coming together and addressing people's mental health needs in times of profound loss. Waterbury discusses the need for people to not just offer words of comfort or a praying h...

Jonna Hruby is a funeral director with Mankato Mortuary and a board member with One Bright Star. She is often times the first person that people come into contact with after a death. In her role, Jonna shares how important it is to help people begin the grieving process and be supportive and empathetic along the way. She details how difficult it is, not only for families, but also for her personal...

Angel mom, Patti Ahl, returns to our podcast and continues to share her grief journey after the death of her son, Alex. Patti's ongoing mission is to take this tragedy and turn it into a positive teachable moment to help others. Her love for her son will always outweigh the grief she endures, and, even in death, Alex will always be her son. Patti's story talks about how this could happen to anyone...

Death educator, Lynn Waterbury joins us to discuss how we can help teenagers through the grief process after losing a parent. Her three daughters lost their dad at ages 19, 17 and 15. She discusses the limited resources available to help teens navigate the grief process, especially during the pandemic. Their blended family helped her children cope with grief and Waterbury talks about, "putting it...

Andrea Nolan lost her sister Alicia in 2011 to suicide. Alicia left behind a two year old daughter, Azalea. Andrea describes an emotional time having lost her only sibling and seeing her parents having to cope with the loss of their first-born child. Andrea talks about the challenges of raising Azalea without her mom and being able to share Alicia's life with her.  Andrea's grief journey was compo...