When Grief Comes Home

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 a...

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 op...

Some of the hardest grief days aren’t circled on anyone’s holiday planner. We’ve learned from parents that the calendar can ambush you with emotion on days you never expected: the first New Year’s Day without them, a Super Bowl Sunday that used to be full of laughter, an April Fools moment that makes you wish it were all a prank, or even Tax Day when paperwork forces you to face a new identity.

We walk through the Griever’s Calendar...

Grief often steals our words, but the body keeps speaking. We open up about how loss rewires the nervous system, why kids struggle to “talk it out,” and what actually helps: safety you can feel, choices that restore control, and creative expression that carries what language can’t. With Erin Nelson and Colleen Montague from Jessica’s House, we break down the brain science in plain terms and show how warm light, soft seating, and ev...

The ground can drop out in a single phone call—or grind away over months of scans and unanswered pain. We sit down with pastors and co-authors Rolf Jacobson and Michael Pancost to talk about cancer, grief, and the fierce honesty that keeps families tethered when life breaks open. Their friend and co-author Carl died before the manuscript was finished, and that loss threads through every story with clarity and care: no platitudes, n...

What if you never got to say goodbye? We dig into that question with honesty and care, unpacking how sudden loss and anticipated loss shape grief in different, but equally real, ways. From the shock that hits your nervous system to the looping what if thoughts, we name what so many parents feel but struggle to put into words—and we offer simple, practical ways to say what was left unsaid.

Together, we explore the five phra...

The diagnosis redraws the map of a family’s life, and suddenly everyone is living in two worlds: the one they knew and the one they never asked for. We dive into anticipatory grief—the real grief that begins long before a death—unpacking how it changes routines, identities, and relationships. From the “before and after” moment to the long grind of treatments, we name the hidden costs of caregiving, the overwhelm of new medical lang...

Some grief gets welcomed with casseroles and open arms. Other grief is met with silence, side‑eye, or the sense that you don’t have the right to mourn. We go straight at disenfranchised grief—losses like suicide, overdose, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, or the death of an ex‑partner—naming how stigma shrinks support and deepens isolation, and how to reclaim the validation every mourner deserves.

We share Erin’s story of two ...

When a child returns to school after a death, routine and heartbreak collide. We open this conversation with Erin’s story of walking her daughter into kindergarten weeks after losing her dad and the quiet power of structure—the same faces at the door, a predictable pickup time, and a teacher who became a steady anchor. From there, we build a practical roadmap parents and educators can use right away: how to set up half-days, flexib...

The hardest calendar invite is the one that pulls you back to work after a death. Your world has changed, yet the inbox still fills, the meetings still stack, and people don’t know whether to talk about it—or avoid it. In this conversation with Erin Nelson and Colleen Montague from Jessica’s House, we sit with the truth that you’re not the same person, and work needs to meet you where you are.

Erin shares her story of stepping away ...

Joyful traditions can feel unbearably loud when grief settles in a home. We sat down to map out a kinder way to show up for grieving parents during the holidays—one rooted in companioning, where presence matters more than pep talks and fixing gives way to listening. The goal isn’t to lift someone out of grief; it’s to walk alongside them with steadiness, humility, and care.

We unpack how the season’s bright energy often clashes with...

The lights are bright, the music is loud, and everywhere you look someone is telling you to be merry—while your home carries an empty seat. We open the door to a different way of doing the holidays after a death, one that honors grief, protects your energy, and still makes space for your kids’ sparkle when they have it.

Together, Erin and Colleen name the reality many parents feel but rarely say out loud: traditions can hu...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

A four-year-old finds her dad g...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

What if the only way out of the...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

Hope doesn’t erase grief—it giv...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

The room gets quieter when preg...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

When grieving, we desperately n...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

In this episode, Erin and Colle...

Welcome to the When Grief Comes Home podcast. We're glad you're here. This podcast supports parents who are grieving a spouse, partner, or child while helping their children who are living through the loss of a parent or sibling. With personal grief stories and professional guidance, we offer parents practical tips for supporting their child who is grieving while caring for their own grief. 

In this episode, Erin reflects ...