One Bright Star - Life After Loss

Tyler Kotewa was a driven young man. In his short life he wrote a book, earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree, had many friends, loved music and started a band, had a love of math, was a student teacher and had a love of the outdoors. In 2016, Tyler was diagnosed with oral cancer and nine months later, at age 25, his physical journey ended. Tyler always felt his life would be short and said he w...

One Bright Star board member, Julie Gruber, joins us to talk about the recent Mexican cultural event held at Old Town in Mankato, Minnesota called, "Dia de los Muertos - or Day of the Dead festival. It's a celebration to honor deceased loved ones and is an annual event in Hispanic culture. Gruber explains how One Bright Star got involved with the event, to learn about the tradition and offer outre...

On this episode of One Bright Star - Life After Loss, we are joined by author Rachael Hanel. She wrote the book, We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger's Daughter . From an early age Rachael spent her time in cemeteries with her dad and mom and had a much different perspective on death. She visited the graves of those unknown to her as she wondered about the lives of those...

Death educator, Lynn Waterbury joins us for part II of our conversation about death, hope and loss. Experiencing feelings of grief and loss don't always have to be associated with death. Waterbury talks about trying to find peace and normalizing conversations with people when discussing death and loss. Her message is also about hope and realizing that there is more beyond death in a spiritual way...

Lynn Waterbury is a death educator. Having had a strict religious upbringing, she has developed, over time, a much different view of spirituality which lands more in a psychic medium type realm. She believes that she picked her parents. She also believes that before we are born, our soul chooses the lessons we are going to learn in life. She talks about how life and death is not a, 'right to left,...

Brought together through adoption, Alayna and her brother Nolan were close. They shared what any brother and sister would share: family time, inside jokes, horseplay and watching each other grow. In this podcast, Alayna shares the life of her, "not so little brother," who tragically died in a motorcycle accident on August 9, 2020. She discusses Nolan's achievements and dreams, the challenges of pl...

Executive Director of One Bright Star, Erica Fisher and President, Alicia More, fly solo for this podcast episode to talk more about the One Bright Star organization based in Mankato, Minnesota. They discuss the importance of all the resources that OBS offers to parents and families and talk about the upcoming Fall Memorial Service to honor and remember all those who are gone too soon. Please join...

In 2014, Patti and Barry Ahl lost their son, Alex, to an accidental fentanyl drug overdose at the age of 21. Patti pays tribute to Alex by taking her story and reaching out to teens and parents about Alex's life. She wants to take away the stigma of how we talk about addiction and emphasize that there are consequences to the choices we make. Patti also talks about coping with guilt and the strains...

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) claims approximately 400 lives per year in children ages 1-18. In 2016, Danielle and her husband lost their 17 month-old son in the blink of the eye due to this tragic and devastating medical mystery. Danielle talks about how she was, "paralyzed by grief" and how she carries Blake's memory forward and how the experience has made her a better parent. Thr...

Paige and her husband were preparing for twins when they learned seven weeks into the pregnancy that one of the babies suffered vanishing twin syndrome. The pregnancy continued and they were excited to find out that the other twin was a baby boy. They learned of medical complications at 24 weeks which eventually led to a stillbirth of baby Wyatt. Paige talks of her, "wave of grief" and the emotion...

Deb is the Vice President of One Bright Star and lost her 23 year old daughter, Crystal, in 2005. Deb leads an outreach program for OBS called, "Comfort Coffee" which is held at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Mankato, Minnesota on the fourth Tuesday morning of each month. On this episode of One Bright Star - Life After Loss, she talks about the importance of this non-judgemental group that gat...

Dena and her husband's grief journey began on April 19, 2019 with the stillbirth of their daughter, Cassie. Dena talks about the importance of remembering and honoring her baby and her mission to help other mom's cope with their loss and raise money for causes important to her. She believes that talking about grief is healthy and doesn't want her daughter's memory to be a sad one for her or her fa...

Tracy, a One Bright Star board member, lost her beloved son Nick in 2017. She talks about how life stopped for her on that day and the painstaking journey to move forward that followed. She shares her story of faith, friends, hope, traditions, courage, gratitude, remembrance, inner-strength and navigating life through uncharted waters.

On this episode, One Bright Star's Executive Director, Erica Fischer and President, Alicia More, discuss who One Bright Star is here to serve and the mission of this Minnesota nonprofit. They talk about the importance of remembering and honoring a lost loved one, how they've been personally touched by the stories that families sharel and how important it is for all of us to sho...

One Bright Star board member, Becca Roberson, shares the story of her dad, Andy. After his diagnosis of Corticobasal degeneration, Becca talks about the life and loss her family faced and shares the memories of a man she held so dear.

On our inaugural episode, we talk with one of the founding mothers of One Bright Star, Linda Janavaras, who, in 1995, lost her fifteen year old son John to a meningitis outbreak in Mankato, Minnesota. Linda discusses John's life and her family's ongoing journey to remember, celebrate and pay tribute to her son's memory and to help others cope with the death of a child.