Widowhood Real Talk with Dr. Tina

Reclaiming your life after losing a loved one is indeed a hard time to get through. What more if you lose someone dear to you in the most sudden way? Speaker and author Michelle Collins shares how mindfulness played a huge role in overcoming the suicide of her husband. She explains the right level of support and witnessing needed by grieving individuals to get around not only their grief but shame...

Guilt can sometimes show up in grief. For Jeanette Koncikowski , being a widow brought up many realizations about the challenges that are often overlooked as we grieve our partners. We tend to look back and feel guilty and ashamed, thinking we aren’t good enough. In this conversation, Jeanette joins Tina Fornwald to lay bare her experiences and realizations when she lost her husband. When did she...

The shadows of a tragic event shall cast the beauty of love that radiates between you and your late husband. You will only feel the rhythm of life’s music until you learn to overcome the loss. In this episode, Tawana Proctor-Robinson recounts her life with her husband, Victor, and how he struggled with fentanyl, which led to an accidental overdose. As a drug dealer turned into a drug addict, Victo...

Oftentimes, people are stuck in grief and don't know how to get out of it. And that sucks because most of the time, the other parts of our lives are perfectly fine but we aren’t present enough to enjoy them. Healing from unresolved grief is an active process, not a passive one, as today’s guest explains. Ghulam Fernandes is a grief transformation coach who specializes in unresolved grief. Ghulam h...

This is the podcast’s first episode of the year, and I am here to share my plans for 2024. Join me as I look back on the amazing things that happened in 2023 and talk about the deeper support I want to provide to everyone. I also celebrate the memory of my husband who continues to serve as my inspiration in producing this podcast and guiding other people on dealing with their grief. Thank you for...

For this year’s final episode, let’s hear from a son’s perspective of his father’s life and death. Alexander Fornwald recounts his memory with his father, Mark Fornwald, and his experience after he passed. Tina explains how helpful it is to have trusting relatives and friends to help you through the grief process, and Alexander shares his perspective about asking friends to be at the funeral. He d...

Life’s precious moments emerge from the dance between joy and grief, proving that even two floors above, we’re never alone. Join us on a heartfelt journey through the pages of life, grief, and the enduring bonds that shape us. Our special guest, Kevin O’Connor , former educator and author of the book “ Two Floors Above the Grief ,” shares the tales of growing up above a funeral home, offering a un...

Being a widow coach isn’t just a career for Maya Tyler . It’s deeply rooted in her own painful experience – an experience that she weaponized to help other widows navigate this tumultuous transition. Widowed at 27, Maya had her own share of what young widows typically experience, with all the judgment and prejudice attached to it. The fact that she is a woman of color only served to intensify it a...

What does a death doula do? Today’s guest will enlighten us on the path she walks. Stephanie Dawson is a retired nurse turned death doula turned grief coach. Stephanie takes us into her journey from a career-ending injury death of a loved one to becoming a death doula. The tragic events may have been painful, but they did not close her doors and, instead, opened her mind to believe that death beco...

In our grief journey, we need someone to meet us where we are and to love us unconditionally. But as a person transitioning into the spirit realm, we also need that spiritual and emotional support throughout the end-of-life journey. In this episode, as a Chaplain, Shenaz Halverson brings light into what a Hospice Chaplain does and how her grief helped her serve people with unconditional love. She...

When life gets tough, it’s easy to fall back into the dark areas of the room. But how can we be a positive light when life happens? The driving force behind Unicorn Universe , Daniel Knight , narrates how his father impacted his life, and when he heard his father transition to the other side, it took him long to experience grief. He also shares the birth of the Unicorn Universe and what it does in...

One of the hardest things to deal with after the passing of a loved one is handling money matters that come with such a loss. Those who are left behind must know the right financial management approaches to avoid putting themselves in even bigger hardships. Exploring everything you need to know about this matter with Tina Fornwald is Financial Coach Jesus Gonzales of PFS Investments. He discusses...

Most of the time, people could not find the connection between beauty and death. The pain we feel tends to blind us from that connection. But in this episode, Sarah Hines , the Founder of Grief Advocacy , transforms the narrative of grief because it will never go away, but we can learn to live and move with it. She also shares her experience in deathcare and grief care, discovering the humbling ex...

The grief journey is full of streaks of dark and bright colors blended with the wonders of pain, love, and hope. The journey of loss doesn’t have to be dark; it can be a colorful spectrum when we are managing grief through art. In this conversation, Noemi Beres , the co-founder of Podcast Connections , paints us the picture of how her painful journey of loss changed through art. When grief drowns...

Love transcends the boundaries of time and death, reminding us that our pets' spirits continue to shine brightly, guiding us with unwavering devotion. In this episode, Maribeth Decker, MS, MGA , the author of Peace in Passing: Comfort for Loving Humans During Animal Transitions , discusses the profound subject of pet loss and its impact on our lives. Discover the myths surrounding animal transitio...

Through grief’s darkest night, faith becomes the dawn that guides us to a new day. In this deeply moving episode, we sit down with James Price , a remarkable widower who opens his heart to share the profound story of his loss, healing, and newfound purpose. Life can be heartbreakingly unpredictable, and James knows this all too well. As he candidly recounts the devastating blow of losing his belov...

Losing a life partner can be a very difficult and lonely experience. You lose every bit of hope because a future without them is unimaginable. But life moves forward, and with it, we learn how to cope. More than that, this episode’s guest is letting others in on her own experience so they can find inspiration to start living life again, healthy and happy. Sammie Hawkins joins Tina Fornwald to take...

Losing the love of your life is indeed a heartbreaking experience, but what if you have to get through it all over again? Tina Fornwald sits down with Theresa McFadden who talks about the death of her two husbands. She looks back on how she married her first husband right out of high school, and how she openly married her second husband despite his illness. Theresa opens up about her bad experienc...

A cancer diagnosis is probably one of the most debilitating events that can happen in a person’s life. How do you pick yourself up after? Where do you find strength when it seems like the world is falling down on you? Sharing a story of hope, Sarah E. McDonald is an inspiration who not only kicked one but two cancer diagnoses in the teeth. In this episode, she joins Tina Fornwald to talk about her...

It’s easier for us to wrap our brains around anything if it’s put within the context of the mainstream. As far a widowhood goes, we almost by default put it in the context of conventional monogamous relationships. We don’t hear a lot about how the experience of loss works for someone who is in a polyamorous relationship. That is the perspective we’re going to hear from Elizzabeth Cannon, a polyamo...

Losing your spouse can be devastating, but is it okay to date again? When is dating too soon? Is there a timeline we should follow? Join us in this episode as Abel Keogh , the author of Dating a Widower , shares his personal journey as a remarried widower, shedding light on the motivations and emotions behind widowers' decisions to date again after losing their partners. Gain a deeper understandin...

Leave a well in the valley.  Pastor James Ford Jr.  believes it is his mission to help others who have lost someone they love through his own experience of losing his wife to suicide. In this final episode of a three-part conversation, he talks to Tina Fornwald about the importance of talking about the pink elephant in the room: mental illness. Through his story, he has helped lighten th...

Losing a loved one from suicide is a profoundly painful and complex experience that leaves those who are left behind grappling for answers.  Pastor James Ford Jr.  lost his wife to suicide after a long battle with bipolar. In this second part of a three-part conversation, he talks to Tina Fornwald about the experience of loving someone who is fighting unknown battles within themselves. T...

Psalm 86 says, “When walking through the Valley of Baca, leave a well in the valley.” We have all gone through those tough, dark moments in our lives. In finding a way to make it through, we have the power to share our stories to help others do the same.  Pastor James Ford Jr.  from Christ Bible Church has gone through the unimaginable loss of a loved one from suicide. In this first epis...

From grief to growth, widowhood taught our guest that even in the darkest moments, love's light finds its way. In this powerful episode, Brandy Bell-Trapp  opens up about the unexpected loss of her beloved husband during the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound grief transformation it had on her life. She shares how she found solace through social media, particularly TikTok, and the unexpected...