The Solo Dad Podcast

Solo Dads
  • 5.0 (29)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Your Wife is Gone. You’re Still Dad. Now What? SoloDad is a podcast created for widowed fathers navigating the unthinkable—raising children while grieving the loss of a partner. Each episode dives into the raw, unfiltered reality of solo fatherhood, offering honest conversations, practical advice, and stories from dads who’ve been there. Whether you're searching for guidance, connection, or simply reassurance that you're not alone, SoloDad is here to help you rebuild your life, one day at a time. Together, we find strength, purpose, and hope in fatherhood.

  1. 3d ago

    When the Firehouse Becomes Family: Firefighter and Solo Dad’s Journey Through Loss

    What happens when the person who helped you carry everything is suddenly gone? In this episode of the Solo Dad Podcast, Matt sits down with Zach, a firefighter, widower, and solo father raising his nine-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter after the death of his wife, Megan. Zach and Megan had been together since high school. What began with him borrowing her answers in an ACT prep class grew into a 17-year relationship, a marriage, two children, and a life built around family, food, sports, and adventure. Their lives changed when a wasp sting led doctors to discover a rare, unclassified grade-four sarcoma. What initially sounded treatable became a 30-month cancer journey filled with hope, complications, caregiving, and uncertainty. Zach shares what it was like to care for Megan while working as a first responder, how her death came more suddenly than expected, and why his first instinct afterward was to drive to the firehouse—the place where he felt safe. The men at the firehouse did more than offer condolences. They covered Zach’s shifts, mowed his lawn, delivered food, helped with the kids, and showed him what meaningful support after loss can look like. They did not simply say, “Call me if you need anything.” They showed up. Zach also discusses returning to work only weeks after Megan died, the complicated relief he found in focusing on emergency calls, and how cycling, mountain biking, camping, snowboarding, and time outside allowed him to quiet his mind and release emotions his body could no longer hold. Through the CLIMB framework, Zach’s story reflects: Courage: Asking for help and returning to therapy when grief reopened earlier trauma. Learning: Accepting that grief is not linear and that going backward does not mean failure. Integration: Creating space for grief while continuing to work, parent, coach hockey, and live. Movement: Using cycling, hiking, snowboarding, and the outdoors to help his mind and body process loss. Building and Belonging: Leaning into his firehouse, family, friends, therapy, and grief-support community. Zach also shares why therapy became essential after losing the person who had helped him organize the trauma he carried from his career. He talks about journaling, writing daily letters to Megan, supporting his children, maintaining connections with Megan’s friends and family, and navigating social situations where he now feels like the odd man out. His central message is simple, honest, and deeply needed: It is okay not to be okay. It is okay to go backward. And no one else gets to judge the way you carry your grief. This episode is for widowed parents, first responders, caregivers, friends who want to offer meaningful support, and anyone learning how to keep living while continuing to love someone who died. Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  2. May 11

    S5E5 When Mental Illness Changes the Grief Story: Alicia's Journey, from loss to finding helpers

    This episode of the Solo Dad Podcast is a deeply honest Solo Mom conversation with Alicia, whose story moves through love, marriage, parenting, mental illness, separation, suicide loss, and the reality of raising grieving children after trauma. Alicia shares what it was like to love a man whose laugh filled the room, while also slowly watching mental illness change the life they were building. She talks about the impossible choices that came with trying to protect her children, the guilt of needing boundaries, the fear of not knowing what would happen next, and the grief that followed after Daniel died by suicide. This conversation does not offer easy answers because this kind of grief does not come with easy answers. Instead, it offers something more honest: the reality of surviving the unthinkable one decision at a time. Matt and Alicia also talk about how children grieve differently than adults, why clear language matters when talking to kids about death, the importance of therapy and support, and why “finding the helpers” can become a lifeline when solo parenting feels impossible. Content note: This episode includes discussion of mental illness, suicidal ideation, firearms, police response, divorce, child grief, and death by suicide. For more resources, community, and support, visit solodad.life. Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  3. May 11

    S5E6 I Was Built for This Moment: Suzie’s Journey Through Loss and Solo Parenting

    In this episode of the Solo Dad Podcast, Matt sits down with Suzie Schumaker for a deeply honest Solo Mom conversation about love, loss, faith, caregiving, and raising kids after the death of a spouse. Suzie shares the story of meeting her husband Eric as kids in their Orthodox church community, building a life together, grieving the loss of their first daughter, and later facing Eric’s cancer diagnosis during the isolation and restrictions of COVID. Their story is filled with devotion, humor, faith, hard decisions, and the kind of grit widowed parents often discover only after life gives them no other choice. This conversation touches on what it means to move forward with grief, not move on from love. Suzie talks about “living in the encore,” helping her daughters process loss through therapy and community, making a major move after Eric’s death, and learning to believe: “I was built for this moment.” Through the CLIMB lens, this episode lives in Courage, Integration, Movement, and Building—finding the strength to keep going, carrying love forward, making the next right decision, and creating a life where grief and living can both exist. For widowed parents, solo moms, solo dads, and anyone navigating life after loss, this episode is a reminder: survival counts, your kids need your example, and you are enough. Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  4. Apr 24

    S5E4 Participate With Grief: Thank You, Cancer?

    In this deeply moving conversation, Danny Leslie joins Matt to talk about love, loss, solo parenting, and the ways grief changes shape over time. Danny reflects on the long road of Raf’s cancer, the heartbreak of becoming the one who had to carry impossible news, and what it has looked like to raise their daughters while keeping her presence alive in everyday family rhythm. He shares how writing, walking with a weighted vest, and choosing to “participate with grief” helped him move from hiding in pain to carrying it in a more honest way. This episode also explores Danny’s book, Thank You, Cancer, a project that brings Raf’s own words into the story so her voice still speaks. Along the way, Matt and Danny talk about anticipatory grief, movement as healing, parenting kids through loss without pretending, and the strange but real shift when grief’s color begins to change. Danny's Book Is Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/thank-you-cancer-a-story-of-love-loss-hope-danny-lesslie/5c56725a213acdc6?ean=9798895140369&next=t&aid=120456&listref=guests-of-the-podcast-solo-dad-life This is a conversation about brutal loss, fierce love, and the quiet ways healing begins — not by getting over someone, but by learning how to carry them with you. Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  5. Apr 17

    S5E3 You Need the Rain to Grow: Love, Cancer, Faith and Grieving as a Solo Parent

    In this episode of the Solo Dad Podcast, Dustin Morrow shares the story of how he and Mallie met, built a life together fast, welcomed their son Tristan, and then had everything change when back pain turned into a devastating cancer diagnosis. What followed was a two-year caregiving journey filled with hospital visits, hard conversations, hospice, and the helpless reality of loving someone through something you cannot fix.  Dustin talks openly about being both caregiver and dad, what it was like watching Tristan grieve at such a young age, and how faith, support from other solo dads, and unexpected kindness from neighbors helped carry him through the darkest days. He also shares one of the most powerful lessons Mallie taught him: intimacy is not just physical — it is presence, mind, and soul.  This conversation is raw, loving, heartbreaking, and deeply human. It is for widowers, solo parents, caregivers, and anyone trying to understand what grief looks like when love is still very much alive.  Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  6. Apr 10

    S5E2 Grief, Guilt, and Finding Love Again

    Jason opens up about losing his wife Heather unexpectedly, raising a daughter through grief, and the heavy guilt he carried in the years that followed. He shares what helped him heal, including therapy, hard-earned honesty, and learning to put down the things that were numbing the pain instead of helping him face it. The conversation also moves into something many widowed parents wrestle with but don’t always talk about openly: dating again, loving again, and blending a family while still honoring the spouse who died. This is a raw, grounded episode about healing, health, parenting, and what it means to keep living when life did not go the way you planned. Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  7. Feb 21

    S5E1.2 Twice Widowed, Still Standing (Pt. 2): “It’s Happening Again”—and You Still Have to Parent

    What happens when grief doesn’t just visit once—when it repeats? In this conversation, Michael Chapman and Matt talk through the kind of loss that changes your nervous system: sitting in a hospital room watching “a repeat of history,” the exhaustion that makes reality blur, and the moment a nurse gives permission to step away—because sometimes that’s when it happens.  They get into the parts people rarely say out loud: the numbness that shows up as a survival skill, the impossible job of telling your kids their mom is gone, and the ongoing tug-of-war between holding it together and actually feeling it. Michael shares how writing became a way to carry the story—how a Facebook “vent” turned into a book, and why finishing it felt like setting down a heavy weight. Book available here: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Days-Calendar-Life-Lessons/dp/B0DK6DFT5D Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

  8. Feb 13

    S5E1 Twice Widowed, Still Standing (Pt. 1): The Quiet After Cancer & the Permission to Move Forward

    In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Michael Chapman—an author and twice-widowed dad—shares what it’s like to love, lose, and keep showing up. From walking through terminal cancer to the shock of the silence after, Michael opens up about grief waves, “two dates on the calendar,” and the moment he realized moving forward isn’t forgetting—it’s surviving. Book Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Days-Calendar-Life-Lessons/dp/B0DK6DFT5D Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

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About

Your Wife is Gone. You’re Still Dad. Now What? SoloDad is a podcast created for widowed fathers navigating the unthinkable—raising children while grieving the loss of a partner. Each episode dives into the raw, unfiltered reality of solo fatherhood, offering honest conversations, practical advice, and stories from dads who’ve been there. Whether you're searching for guidance, connection, or simply reassurance that you're not alone, SoloDad is here to help you rebuild your life, one day at a time. Together, we find strength, purpose, and hope in fatherhood.

Information

  • Creator
    Solo Dads
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Solo Dad Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Solo Dad Podcast