Episodi

  • We Throw Baby Showers. So Why Aren't We Celebrating the People We're About to Lose? This Death Doula Has the Answer.

    We Throw Baby Showers. So Why Aren't We Celebrating the People We're About to Lose? This Death Doula Has the Answer.
    May 5 2026
    If you've ever avoided thinking about death — your own or someone else's — episode 426 of Grief and Happiness is exactly what you need to hear. Death doula and soul coach Julie Wright Halbert joins Emily to challenge everything we've been taught about the end of life, and why dying people deserve the same celebration as newborns. Raw, surprising, and deeply comforting, this conversation will change the way you think about living.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:57) From national education attorney to death doula and soul coach (01:52) How death doulas are transforming end-of-life care (04:16) The hidden toll caregiving takes — and why supporters need support too (06:17) Why walking toward death is a gift, not a burden (07:19) How dying people can reclaim their agency (14:16) Why we celebrate births but not the people we're about to lose (18:23) How grief and happiness mirror each other through presence (22:27) Why there is no timeline for grief (23:08) The signs, numbers, and moments that prove love doesn't die (31:46) Why people go silent after a death — and what makes all the difference (35:35) The death doula movement is growing — how you can be part of itJulie Wright Halbert, Esq. is a death doula, transformational soul coach, and national advocate for grief literacy whose work bridges nearly three decades of legal rigor with soul-centered presence. A former Legislative Counsel for the Council of the Great City Schools, she shaped national education policy up to the U.S. Supreme Court level before the sudden loss of her husband to cancer in just three weeks transformed her path entirely. Today she is the founder of Rising Phoenix Life, guiding individuals and families through grief and life transitions, and volunteers as a certified death doula with Tidewell Empath Hospice in Florida. She is also the author of the forthcoming book Divine Ashes Ascending.In this episode, Julie brings lived loss and professional wisdom to a conversation about dying with agency, presence, and love. She and Emily explore the importance of patients using their voice — choosing their environment, their people, and the terms of their final days — and the often-overlooked toll caregiving takes on loved ones. Julie introduces her philosophy of "living and dying awake": being so fully present in life that death can ultimately be met with legacy and celebration rather than fear. She also speaks openly about her continuing spiritual connection to her late husband Jim, and encourages listeners to explore the growing death doula movement as an accessible, compassionate source of support.Connect with Julie Wright Halbert:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramBook: Julie Wright Halbert - Divine Ashes AscendingFree guided meditation by Julie Let's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    39 min
  • Playing

    Playing
    May 1 2026

    You are as young and you act and feel.


    Let's Connect:

    • You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking here
    • You can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.
    • You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:
    • You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking here
    • Request your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide here


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    4 min
  • How Two Cancer Diagnoses Made This Late-in-Life Couple Closer Than Ever

    How Two Cancer Diagnoses Made This Late-in-Life Couple Closer Than Ever
    Apr 28 2026
    If you've ever wondered how love could deepen in the face of the unthinkable, episode 424 of Grief and Happiness is for you. David Marsden shares the remarkable story of his late-in-life relationship with journalist Alicia Shepard — a partnership that survived two stage 4 cancer diagnoses and a role reversal between patient and caregiver that brought them closer than ever. Through loss, David reveals how asking for help and finding gratitude in the smallest moments can transform even the hardest chapters into something profoundly beautiful.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(01:00) David's stage 4 melanoma survival and late-in-life love story(02:25) A first date on April Fool's Day that began and ended eleven years later(03:49) Why the publisher dropped the book the day Lisa died — and David's refusal to let it go(08:53) Why Lisa packed up and followed David to war-torn Afghanistan(10:11) Cycling Iowa, visiting Alaska, and hiking the Grand Canyon with stage 4 lung cancer(11:35) Back-to-back diagnoses and swapping roles between patient and caregiver(13:30) In Lisa's own words: when a cancer diagnosis turns your world upside down(15:35) Why asking for help changes everything during serious illness(17:16) Finding gratitude in shrinking walks as the end drew near(19:31) How the book carries Lisa's voice forward for cancer patients and familiesDavid Marsden is a stage 4 melanoma survivor and the widower of award-winning journalist Alicia C. Shepard, former NPR ombudsman and contributor to the New York Times and Washington Post. The two met on Match.com in 2012, embarking on a late-in-life love story that took them from cycling across Iowa to working side by side in Afghanistan and hiking the Grand Canyon — all while navigating back-to-back stage 4 cancer diagnoses. After Alicia passed away on April 1, 2023 — eleven years to the day of their first date — David honored her dying wish by shepherding her memoir to publication with Bloomsbury. He contributed the epilogue, with a foreword by Alicia's son, filmmaker Cutter Hodierne. The Luckiest Unlucky Couple: A Medical Love Story is available now, with proceeds supporting cancer research and a foundation funding fellowships for women in journalism.In this episode, David opens up about the emotional terrain of loving someone through illness — and being loved through it yourself. He reflects on the shock of their sequential diagnoses, the profound role reversal of moving between patient and caregiver, and the unexpected gifts that came with both: learning to ask for help, leaning into community, and finding deep gratitude in the smallest moments. He also shares the story of getting Alicia's book across the finish line after her passing — a labor of love that became, as he describes it, a way to continue the relationship and honor everything she wanted to say.Connect with David Marsden:Book: Alicia C. Shepard - The Luckiest Unlucky Couple: A Medical Love StoryLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    24 min
  • Signs

    Signs
    Apr 24 2026

    What signs that you experience remind you of your loved ones.


    Let's Connect:

    • You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking here
    • You can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.
    • You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:
    • You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking here
    • Request your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide here


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    5 min
  • Walk It, Talk It, Write It: Author Laing F. Rikkers' Three-Step Formula for Getting Through Loss

    Walk It, Talk It, Write It: Author Laing F. Rikkers' Three-Step Formula for Getting Through Loss
    Apr 21 2026
    If you've ever turned to creativity to make sense of loss, episode 422 of the Grief and Happiness podcast is for you. Author and grief specialist Laing F. Rikkers shares how losing her sister during the pandemic led her to a simple but powerful healing framework: walk it, talk it, write it. Through morning pages and botanical poetry, she transformed her grief into an award-winning book — and shows how even the most personal pain can carry something universal.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:53) Introducing Laing Rikkers and her book Morning Leaves(03:17) How losing her sister and the pandemic sparked a creative awakening(06:08) Poem reading: "Cactus" — on loneliness and self-protection(07:16) Why loneliness is the grief emotion nobody warns you about(07:58) Poem reading: "Lemon Tree" — on generosity and resilience(09:00) How nature became the language of her healing(13:42) Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and the power of morning pages(16:27) Walk it, talk it, write it: a three-step framework for healing(17:41) How creativity switches off the inner critic and restores rest(25:19) Why natural sunlight is the most powerful antidepressant(26:17) How stargazing can restore your sense of meaning and purposeLaing F. Rikkers is a business advisor, executive coach, award-winning author, and certified Grief Support Specialist based in Southern California. After 30 years in corporate leadership — spanning human resources at Hess and Walt Disney, and two decades in private equity at HealthpointCapital — she channeled personal loss into a profound creative journey. Her book Morning Leaves: Cultivating a Life of Beauty, Meaning, and Joy, a collection of botanical poetry and original paintings born from grief, won multiple awards in its first edition and is now out in an expanded second edition featuring nearly 100 original paintings.In this episode, Laing shares how the sudden loss of her younger sister in 2019, compounded by pandemic isolation, became the catalyst for that awakening. Drawing on Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, she began practicing morning pages, allowing grief, loneliness, and reflection to surface through writing — eventually shaping into botanical poems that use nature as metaphor for loss. She reads two of those poems and offers a simple framework for navigating grief: walk it, talk it, write it. She and Emily also explore how deeply personal writing can carry unexpected universality, with readers often finding their own stories reflected in Laing's words.Connect with Laing F. Rikkers:WebsiteInstagramSubstackLinkedInGet Laing F. Rikkers books!Let's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    32 min
  • Plans

    Plans
    Apr 17 2026

    What do you have planned for the rest of your life?


    Let's Connect:

    • You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking here
    • You can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.
    • You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:
    • You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking here
    • Request your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide here


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    5 min
  • "Sorrow Is Not a Waste": Why This Author Believes Grief and Happiness Can Coexist

    "Sorrow Is Not a Waste": Why This Author Believes Grief and Happiness Can Coexist
    Apr 14 2026
    If you've ever felt torn between honoring your grief and allowing yourself to be happy, Episode 420 of the Grief and Happiness podcast is for you. Author Steve Beal Sr. shares how years of visiting aging family members and simply showing up became the foundation of his book Generation Jumping. Through storytelling and faith, Steve makes a compelling case that sorrow and happiness are not opposites — and that the stories we carry from those we've lost are a legacy worth telling before time runs out.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:57) Steve Beal Sr.'s journey from family storyteller to published author(04:06) The race against time: why Steve urgently wrote down his family's stories(07:43) How asking the right questions can bring a loved one's memories back to life(09:21) The origin of "Generation Jumping" and what it means to cross generational lines(12:32) The four pillars of the book and why urgency is the most important one(16:49) Why different memories of the same moment are something to celebrate, not correct(19:22) The unexpected reward of simply showing up for the people you love(22:02) Steve's first encounter with grief — and why a funeral felt more like a family reunion(25:10) "Sorrow is not a waste": how hope transforms grief without erasing itSteve Beal Sr. is an author, speaker, and storyteller whose debut book, Generation Jumping: Losing Those Who Are Not Lost, grew organically from decades of notes and conversations with aging family members in New Brunswick, Canada. Shaped by a deeply rooted Christian faith and a lifetime of witnessing loss — from his grandmother's joyful 1985 funeral to walking alongside his father in his final years — Steve writes with a humble, pastoral voice about legacy, redemption, and hope. A self-described storyteller at heart, he spent 25 years writing sports articles to lift up young athletes before channeling that same spirit into honoring the ordinary people who lived through extraordinary moments.In this episode, Steve shares how those years of intentional presence with his elders — asking questions, recording memories, and making trips his mother couldn't make alone — naturally became the book he never set out to write. He reflects on coining the term "generation jumping" at a family member's deathbed, when he found himself the only younger person in a room full of elders who had warmly welcomed him into their circle. He speaks candidly about the urgency of capturing family stories before they disappear, and about the unexpected difficulty of writing about his late father nearly a decade after losing him. Throughout, Steve articulates a faith-rooted perspective that mirrors the spirit of this podcast: that grief and happiness are not opposites, but coexist authentically — and that hope, not the absence of sorrow, is what ultimately redeems loss.Connect with Steve Beal Sr. :WebsiteFacebookLinkedInBook: Steve Beal Sr. - Generation Jumping: Losing Those Who Are Not LostLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    30 min
  • The Magic of Kindness

    The Magic of Kindness
    Apr 10 2026

    I’m sure we have all had times when we don’t feel our best for one reason or another. When that happens, we have a choice. We can remain sad, or grumpy, or just feeling bad, or we can figure out how to do something about it.


    Let's Connect:

    • You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking here
    • You can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.
    • You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:
    • You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking here
    • Request your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide here


    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    4 min