Grief changes a family’s whole weather system, and parenting through it can feel impossible when you’re trying to protect a child while you’re hurting too. We sit down with Dr. Pamela Gabbay, author of Understanding and Supporting Bereaved Children, to get practical, field-tested guidance on what grieving kids and teens actually need and what adults often get wrong when they’re trying to help.

We talk about why listening is a grief skill, and how one small shift in language can open a door. Dr. Gabbay explains why “How are you feeling?” can backfire, and offers gentler prompts like “I’m wondering what you’re wondering” and “What are you stressed about?” We unpack the myth that kids must talk to heal, and why observing peers, play, art, and simple presence can be just as therapeutic in child grief support.

The conversation also explores how children’s grief evolves across developmental stages, why military family bereavement can be uniquely complex due to relocation, wartime death, and PTSD, and how parents can care for themselves without hiding their pain. We share trusted grief resources and communities such as TAPS Care Groups, The Compassionate Friends, and Soaring Spirits, plus what makes grief camps so powerful for connection and belonging. We close with hope, including post-traumatic growth and the ways support programs can plant seeds that show up years later.

If this helped, subscribe, share it with someone who’s carrying loss at home, and leave a rating and review so more grieving parents can find the support they deserve.

TAPS: https://www.taps.org/

The Compassionate Friends: https://www.compassionatefriends.org/

Soaring Spirits: https://soaringspirits.org/

Order the book Understanding and Supporting Bereaved Children: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Supporting-Bereaved-Children-Professionals/dp/0826140483

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

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For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

The hardest losses do not stay neatly private, and when grief becomes public it can feel like you are bleeding in front of a crowd. We sit down again with Davey Blackburn to talk about what happens when a homicide shatters your family and the world has opinions, theories, and headlines. This conversation includes a content warning, because parts of Davey’s story involve the murder of his wife Amanda and their unborn child, yet it also holds real hope for parents who feel like they will never breathe normally again.

We dig into the complexity of grieving under scrutiny, including the unexpected “advantages” of people rallying around you and the crushing disadvantages of being on display in the worst moment of your life. Davey shares what it was like to live through a legal process that dragged on for years, how delays and mistrials can keep trauma reopened, and why someone told him to settle things in his heart before they were ever settled in a courtroom.

We also get practical about the lifelong nature of grief: you do not get over it, you learn to carry it. We talk triggers, anniversaries, the random moments that knock the wind out of you, and why “I shouldn’t feel this” adds unnecessary suffering. Then we move into a tender topic many parents wrestle with quietly: remarriage, blended family life, and learning to embrace joy while still honoring the person who died.

Davey also explains the mission behind Nothing Is Wasted, including coaching, online community, and the Pain to Purpose course designed to help people heal in supportive groups. If you’re looking for grief support resources, we point you toward options through Jessica’s House and the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. Subscribe, share this with a parent who needs it, and leave a review so more grieving families can find this podcast.

Nothing is Wasted: https://www.nothingiswasted.com/

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

Send us Fan Mail

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

A random, shuffled worship song becomes a turning point in a story no family ever wants to live. We sit down with pastor and author Davey Blackburn to talk about the murder of his wife Amanda and their unborn child during a home invasion, and the complicated road that followed. This conversation includes details that may be hard to hear, but it also holds steady focus on grief, faith, and the long work of healing.

Davey opens up about the kind of shock that scrambles your senses, your expectations, and even your beliefs about how the world works. We talk about the questions that show up after traumatic loss, especially the ones that don’t resolve with a neat answer: Why didn’t God protect her? Can I still trust God’s goodness? Instead of pushing those questions down, we explore lament and what Davey calls “wrestling with God,” a practice that makes room for honesty without walking away.

We also get deeply practical about parenting through loss. How do you keep a parent’s memory alive for a child without forcing your grief onto them? What do you do when questions come out of nowhere in the car ride to school? Davey shares tools shaped by lived experience and widower support work, including a simple “yellow card” idea that gives kids a concrete way to ask for time and attention when words feel too big.

If you’re looking for grief support, child bereavement resources, and trauma-informed guidance that respects both pain and hope, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and please rate and review so more grieving families can find the show.

Nothing is Wasted: https://www.nothingiswasted.com/

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

Send us Fan Mail

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org