I Don’t Know How to Mourn Someone 5,000 Miles Away (ft. Omaina Ozako)

What happens when someone you love dies—but you're 5,000 miles away? In this vulnerable episode of Wannabe Americana, Biani sits down with her family friend, Omaina, to talk about the gut-wrenching experience of grieving from abroad.

Together, they unpack the emotional complexity of losing Omaina’s father just before moving to Canada, and her grandmother while already living overseas. From missing funerals to feeling detached from family milestones, they reflect on what it means to mourn without proximity, without cultural rituals, and without the physical presence of loved ones.

This episode is for the immigrants, the third-culture kids, the international students, the outsiders—anyone who has felt the pain of not being able to be there when it mattered most. It's for those who have grown up oceans away from the people they love, and those who are learning to carry grief across borders and time zones.

If you've ever felt guilty for not crying hard enough, or for carrying on while the world back home stands still, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Tune in for a raw, deeply human conversation about distance, grief, memory, and healing when home is not just far—it's unreachable.