What started out as an average winter morning ended up being one that would change everything in Melissa Pierce's life. She went to wake up her husband Dave for their son's basketball game and found him unresponsive. Dave had died during the night and the cause of death was never determined. Melissa jumped into figuring out logistics - planning a memorial, getting her sons to school, moving their family, working a full-time job - but eventually she had to figure out herself. It meant focusing on what she was thinking, feeling, and needing in her grief. That shift to prioritizing self-care ended up changing everything, again.
We discuss
How Melissa and Dave met and fell in love
The process of adopting their two sons
How the shock of Dave’s sudden death led to what Melissa calls “Zombie mode”
Being the person who found Dave when he died and how that impacted her grief
Grieving when the cause of death is undetermined
The financial, logistical, and emotional reality of being a solo parent
Having to tell her sons that their dad died
When Melissa started to feel her feelings in grief
The physical toll of grief
Where Melissa turned for support
How prioritizing self-care changed everything
The origin story of the Widow Squad community
Melissa is the author of Filled With Gold: A Widow’s Story, co-founder of The Widow Squad community, and co-host of The Widow Squad podcast.
Listen to The Widow Squad podcast Episode 41- Holidays and Grief: Strategies to Get Through the Holidays After Your Spouse Dies.
Ep. 147: Grief & Mother's Day - A Teen's Take
Ep. 146: Reflection - A Mini-Episode
Ep. 145: Speaking Grief - Lindsey Whissel Fenton
Ep. 144: A Grieving Father Turned To Words - Jayson Greene
Ep. 143: A Full-Time Other Mother - Step-Parenting Grieving Children
Ep. 142: Suffocated Grief & Supporting Black Youth - Dr. Tashel Bordere
Ep. 141: You Can't Give From Empty - Grief Professionals & COVID-19 With Megan Devine
Ep. 140: Supporting Widowed Dads - Dr. Justin Yopp
Ep. 139: Grief & Coronavirus/COVID-19 - Leslie Barber
Encore Ep. 106: Grief & Anxiety - Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC
Ep. 138: Running Home - Katie Arnold
Ep. 137: Grief & The Foster Care System - A Personal Story
Ep. 136: L.Y.G.H.T. - Supporting Grieving Youth In The Foster Care System
Ep. 135: The Worst News - An Update
Ep. 134: Breath, Movement, Sound - Grief Yoga With Paul Denniston
Ep. 133: Widowed Parenting - Jenny Lisk
Ep. 132: Finding Meaning - David Kessler
Ep. 131: Permission To Grieve - Shelby Forsythia
Encore Ep. 11: Who Am I Now?
Ep. 130: Grief & PTSD - Megan Hillukka
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