Getting Back Up Podcast: Finding Life After Death
Two fathers. Two stories of loss. One mission to get back up. Real conversations with two men learning to navigate life, raise children, and find love again…after loss. Hosted by Jamal Jones and David McClain, Getting Back Up: Life after Death is a real, raw, and often humorous podcast about what comes after the unthinkable—losing a partner, facing grief, and finding your way through it. As two widowers, now devoted girl dads (and one remarried man), Jamal and David create space for honest conversations around healing, identity, and starting over. Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.
Episodes
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 24: A New Year. A New You.
It’s 2026—and for those of us navigating life after loss, the new year can feel less like a reset and more like a reckoning. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on entering a fresh calendar year while still carrying the weight of grief, change, and growth. Together, they talk about what it really means to mo...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 23: When the Job Is Gone, Who Are You? with Degion Craddock
In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with marketing pro and former Dell colleague Degion Craddock—a talented, driven brother who found himself suddenly laid off and in unfamiliar territory. Degion opens up about what it’s been like to face rejection after rejection, redefine ...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 22: For the People - A Conversation with our Community
In this episode, Jamal and Dave step back from the mic to reflect on the journey so far—and to respond to you, the Getting Back Up community. Since launching, we’ve received love, critique, DMs, and real talk from people across the country. And today, we’re talking about it all.
What’s landed. Wh...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 21: A Son’s Reflection on Love, Loss, & Legacy with Russell Hornsby (Part 1)
In this deeply personal conversation, Jamal and David sit down with acclaimed actor Russell Hornsby to talk about the kind of loss that doesn’t always make headlines—but leaves a lifelong imprint. Known for his roles in Fences, Grimm, The Hate U Give, BMF, and many mor...
Going into Thanksgiving and somewhat taking a break.
We are thankful to our fans and listeners and grateful for this community.
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly ...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 20: Children and Grief with Kelly Medvin (LPC)
In this episode, Jamal and Dave sit down with Kelly Medvin, a licensed professional counselor from New Jersey whose work with grieving families began with her own story—losing her sister suddenly and stepping in to support her young nieces and nephews through unimaginable pain. That personal loss became...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 19: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 2)
In Part 2 of thier powerful conversation, Melody opens up about the final chapter of her husband’s life—the caregiving, the chaos, the clarity, and the quiet moments in between.
This episode goes deeper into how they managed their marriage, family, and friendships while facing the unimaginable. Da...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 18: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 1)
In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with Melody Rollins Downes, a close friend, mother, and widow, to explore the full story—not just the moment of loss, but the life that came before it. Melody opens up about her childhood, her marriage, and what it meant to love deeply—and then lose sudde...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 17: The Holidays After Loss
For anyone grieving, the holiday season doesn’t just bring lights and cheer—it brings shadows, silence, and reminders of what (and who) is missing. In this episode, Jamal and Dave get real about what it’s like to face your first holiday after losing someone you love—and every holiday after that.
Through personal stories of...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 16.5: Time Out - Still Getting Back Up
Ten episodes later, we’ve gone from the first morning alone to parenting through pain, rediscovering purpose, and opening our hearts to what comes next.
In this reflection episode, Jamal and Dave look back at where they’ve been—from telling the kids, facing funerals, and handling solo parenting, to navigating ne...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 16: New Love On the Horizon
Falling in love again after loss is layered. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on what it means to move forward while still honoring the past. Jamal shares how his connection with Jordan grew organically—through friendship, life experiences, and timing—and how stepping into a new relationship challenged him to lead ...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 15: The DadMom - Taking Over the Solos
Being a solo parent after loss isn’t just about logistics—it’s about stepping into the spotlight when the lead singer of the band is gone. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on what it means to go from backup to front man when raising kids in the aftermath of losing their mothers.
Then, in classi...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 14: Dating again: What we learned. What you should know.
Dating after loss is a different kind of game—and the playbook isn’t exactly handed to you. You’ve changed. The world has changed. And when it comes to love after grief… nobody teaches you how to try again.
In this episode, Jamal and David lay out the dating truths they learned the ha...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 13: We were ready to date...Or were we?
In this episode, Jamal and Dave talk about what it was like to start dating after months of loneliness. After all, they were single fathers trying to focus on their kids, also realizing that there was something missing. Besides the pressure to meet everyone else’s expectations, they had their own.
Episode 13 covers s...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 12: The Tough First Solo Decisions
From what to make for dinner… to how to fill out “Mother” on a school form—those first solo decisions hit harder than expected.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave talk through the early choices that reminded them they were doing life without their partners. The fear, the guilt, the random breakdowns in grocery store aisles—it’s ...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 11: The Pressure to Move On...or Just Move
Everyone’s got opinions when you’re grieving—especially the folks who’ve never done it.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave get real about the pressure to “move on” after losing a spouse. From advice that stings to silence that screams, they unpack what happens when society wants you to heal faster than you’re ready or s...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 10: When the Calls Stop Coming...It's just me.
The food stops showing up. The texts stop buzzing. The people who promised to be there… vanish.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave open up about the moment the crowd fades and the real loneliness begins. They share their own stories, call out the awkwardness, and break down what happens when grief and parenting...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 9: Honoring A Life & Your Rite of Passage
The church was full. Or maybe it was nearly empty. Either way, you stood there—grieving, performing, surviving.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on the surreal experience of the services held for their late wives. From family pressure to what they wish they’d done differently, they unpack one of the hardest...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 8: How Do You Tell the Kids?
There’s no blueprint for this. No playbook. Just a heart that’s breaking—and a child looking to you for answers.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave revisit the most painful part of early grief: telling their kids (and family) that their wives were gone. They share the words they used, the ones they couldn’t say, and the moments that ...
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 7: The First Moments Alone
What happens when the chaos quiets down and you’re left alone? Just…you. And the silence. The first moments that you actually begin to process losing your spouse and flood of emotions, thoughts, and actions that follow.
In this episode, Jamal and Dave talk through the most emotionally raw day of all—the first morning and moments ...
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