The Currency of Grief

Most people aren’t prepared for how complicated elder care, power of attorney, and inheritance can get until they’re deep in it trying to make the right call with very little guidance.   Justin Weidenfeld talks with financial planner Elliott Appel, who shares what it was really like to care for his father through a long illness and all the decisions that came with it. What do you do when a parent...

Most people plan for retirement… Amy D’Amico had to plan for her husband’s death, her own cancer diagnosis, and what came next.   When Ron was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Amy became a full-time caregiver, a reluctant household CFO, and eventually, a widow. Then came her own breast cancer diagnosis. How do you hold it all together when everything feels like it’s falling apart? And how will yo...

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide and may be difficult for some listeners.   Grief doesn’t follow a schedule, and when it crashes into family dynamics, legal paperwork, and financial loose ends, it can leave you reeling.   Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Mary McDirmid, who shares what it was like to lose her brother to suicide and suddenly become the one in charge of so...

Grief doesn’t require firsthand experience to be met with compassion and clinical care, and Rachel Farrell proves it.   Rachel is a pediatric genetic counselor who works with families facing the sudden death of a child or parent due to inherited cardiovascular diseases. Her role sits at the intersection of healthcare and heartbreak, offering genetic testing that may explain what happened, while pr...

Becoming a widow at 44 forced Michelle Swanson to confront everything she had been avoiding… grief, money, motherhood, and mortality, with no plan and no pause.   Just seven months after marrying her husband Bill, Michelle was faced with the unimaginable: a sudden decline from colon cancer, a life-changing loss, and the emotional and financial chaos that followed. As she joins host Justin Weidenfe...

Grief cracked Ethan Blauner wide open, and instead of running from the pain, he built a life around feeling every part of it.   When his father died just days before they were set to open a gym together, Ethan found himself grieving while launching a business, managing chaos, and facing decades of generational trauma. As he joins Justin Weidenfeld on this episode, Ethan reflects on the intensity o...

Most people have no idea how overwhelming things get after a loved one dies. Bill Solominsky didn’t either until he lost his dad and found himself managing grief, paperwork, and unanswered questions all at once.   When his father was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, Bill flew home with a blank spreadsheet and a gut instinct that he needed to start asking questions. What accounts existed? Whi...

What happens when life doesn’t go according to plan? How do you keep hope alive when faced with unimaginable challenges?   In this episode, Justin Weidenfeld welcomes Kevin and Jeff Romer, a father and son who openly share their family’s journey after receiving Mathew’s devastating Tay-Sachs disease diagnosis. Kevin recalls the overwhelming early days—the emotional and financial pressures, the unc...

Grief and money rarely get talked about in the same breath, but when they do, the conversations are often messy, emotional, and long overdue.   In this first episode of The Currency of Grief, host Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Rob Royall, a clinical researcher and philanthropist who lost both parents to cancer before he turned 30. Rob shares what it was like to navigate the hardest chapter of h...

Losing a loved one is heartbreaking. But how can you cope when you’re also the one left to handle everything they left behind?   At 21, Justin Weidenfeld’s world turned upside down when his father died suddenly from a heart attack. Overnight, he went from college student to personal representative of his father’s estate without a roadmap, without a will, and without time to grieve before stepping...

Grief doesn’t follow a timeline, and when it collides with financial and legal logistics, the weight of it can feel impossible to carry alone.   Justin Weidenfeld sits down with Sarah Grifferty, the founder of LooseEnds and a partner at BUILD Coalition, to talk about the intersection of loss, money, and the unseen burdens that come with both. After losing her father at 19 and her mother at 23, Sar...

Death and money are two of the most taboo topics in our society yet they are inevitable for all of us. So why don’t we talk about death and money more? The fact is, we’re all going to have to face our mortality and the mortality of the people we love. During the toughest times in our life, we will also be faced with an overwhelming amount of financial and logistical decisions. These decisions have...