One Bright Star - Life After Loss

One Bright Star board of directors members Tracy Davies and Nicole Van Sickle join our podcast to talk about their own grief journey. Both have suffered the death of a child and share their stories about a grief journey that is emotional and ongoing. Part of that journey brought them to a retreat in Wisconsin called Faith's Lodge. It's a safe place where parents and families come to explore their inner-most feelings with ot...

Executive Director, Erica Fischer and board member, Alicia More, take a look back at 2023 and discuss everything One Bright Star was able to accomplish for its grieving families. From setting up grant programs to help parents attend retreats at Faith's Lodge in Danbury, Wisconsin to Mothers of Angels events to connecting with bereaved parents through Comfort Conversations, OBS, with the help of its many financial supporters was...

Dena and Travis Iverson suffered the stillbirth of their daughter, Cassie. They already had a son, Clayton, and they knew they wanted more children but it was a complicated process. Dena joins our podcast to talk about the emotional toll Cassie's loss took on them but they pushed forward, even after having three additional miscarriages. Dena wants her message for others to be that there is no fast-track to healing, it will wait...

Joan Stanford lost her son, Jeremy Reinarts, to veteran suicide in 2019. Jeremy was an Iraq war vet. Upon his return to civilian life, he suffered with mental illness, PTSD, and, like many veterans, had a difficult time with reintegration. Joan talks about her struggle with loneliness and the difficulties in her life with processing her sons death and her continued journey to keep Jeremy's memory alive. Joan says, "there a...

Jonna Hruby is a funeral director with Mankato Mortuary and a board member with One Bright Star. She is often times the first person that people come into contact with after a death. In her role, Jonna shares how important it is to help people begin the grieving process and be supportive and empathetic along the way. She details how difficult it is, not only for families, but also for her personally as a funeral director. Making su...

On this episode of One Bright Star - Life After Loss, we are joined by author Rachael Hanel. She wrote the book, We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger's Daughter. From an early age Rachael spent her time in cemeteries with her dad and mom and had a much different perspective on death. She visited the graves of those unknown to her as she wondered about the lives of those names on the headstones. The realit...