Send a text The lights go up, the invites roll in, and suddenly the quiet aches feel louder. We sit down for an honest, compassionate look at grief during the holidays—how it shows up after death, through estrangement, in separations that split Christmas morning, and in the futures we planned but never lived. No scripts, no tidy stages, just two humans telling the truth about love, loss, and the courage it takes to set boundaries when the world says “be merry.” We share fresh, raw experiences from the past year: saying goodbye to a 16 year companion, the slow goodbye of a beloved grandparent, and navigating an ectopic pregnancy discovered in crisis. We also talk about a different kind of loss, missing someone who is alive but not safe to welcome back and the guilt that follows hard choices made to protect your family’s mental health. Along the way we explore second‑hand grief, like watching a parent lose a parent or standing beside a partner who honours a child who died, and how to hold empathy without making it yours for them to manage. If December stirs up what ifs, you’re not alone. We unpack the grief of expectations - fertility hurdles, partners who are done having kids, money pressures that don’t match Instagram and the identity shifts of motherhood, step parenting, and careers that no longer fit. You’ll hear practical ways to make the season gentler: understand your bandwidth, skip triggers, create new rituals, mute comparison, and use language that protects your energy. Most of all, you’ll get permission to feel what you feel, for as long as you need, without explaining yourself. If this conversation helps, share it with someone who could use a softer Christmas. And if you want more real talk about shadow work, grief, and the messy middle of being human, hit subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what landed, your story might be the one that helps someone breathe again. Reach out to us on Instagram! Steph is here and Lurinda is here.
