The hours and days after a death can feel unreal: your world is in park, but the outside world keeps moving at full speed. We offer a practical, gentle after-death checklist for parents who are grieving while still trying to steady their children. If you’ve been searching for “what to do when someone dies,” this is the grounded starting point we wish every family had.

We talk through the first steps with care, including how to take your time at the hospital or hospice, how to notify the inner circle without carrying every call yourself, and why the way you deliver the news matters for the person hearing it. We also walk into the tough logistics: working with a funeral home, planning a service when you can barely think, writing an obituary, and the surprisingly important detail of ordering enough death certificates (often 10 to 15) for banks, insurance, and government agencies.

Just as important, we name the grief “fog” and the emotional toll of paperwork, hold times, and businesslike conversations when your heart is shattered. You’ll hear concrete self-care ideas that protect your capacity, plus ways to support kids with sensory safety, comfort objects, familiar routines, and extra eyes on them and on you. We also explore a hopeful reframe: caring for these tasks can become a continuation of love, a way of honoring the life that mattered.

If this helps, subscribe, share it with someone who’s underwater right now, and please leave a rating and review so other grieving parents can find support when they search for grief resources.

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Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

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For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

Grief doesn’t only take a person. It can take your future in a hundred quiet ways, then surprise you with a wave when you thought you were “doing okay.” Today we’re talking about secondary losses, the ripple effects of loss that show up months and even years later, and why a single milestone like an engagement post, a graduation, or a new baby can drop you right back into the rawness.

Brad, Erin, and Colleen unpack what secondary loss really looks like for parents grieving a spouse or parents grieving a child. We explore the ripple metaphor: the death is the stone hitting the water, and the expanding circles are everything else that changes, identity, routines, traditions, roles at home, friendships, and even your sense of safety in the world. Colleen also shares the “glitter parent and glue parent” idea, and why trying to become both after a death can drain you fast.

We also get practical about supporting grieving children. Kids have secondary losses too, including shifts at school, friendship changes, and the pressure to take on adult responsibilities. We talk about naming what’s changing, giving kids permission to still be kids, and offering small, age-appropriate choices to bring back a sense of control. Finally, we address financial stress, big decisions like moving, and why grief can make thinking clearly harder, plus how to expand your circle so you don’t carry it alone.

If this conversation helps you feel less alone, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a rating and review so more grieving families can find grief support when it matters most.

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

Send us Fan Mail

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org

Grief changes a family’s whole weather system, and parenting through it can feel impossible when you’re trying to protect a child while you’re hurting too. We sit down with Dr. Pamela Gabbay, author of Understanding and Supporting Bereaved Children, to get practical, field-tested guidance on what grieving kids and teens actually need and what adults often get wrong when they’re trying to help.

We talk about why listening is a grief skill, and how one small shift in language can open a door. Dr. Gabbay explains why “How are you feeling?” can backfire, and offers gentler prompts like “I’m wondering what you’re wondering” and “What are you stressed about?” We unpack the myth that kids must talk to heal, and why observing peers, play, art, and simple presence can be just as therapeutic in child grief support.

The conversation also explores how children’s grief evolves across developmental stages, why military family bereavement can be uniquely complex due to relocation, wartime death, and PTSD, and how parents can care for themselves without hiding their pain. We share trusted grief resources and communities such as TAPS Care Groups, The Compassionate Friends, and Soaring Spirits, plus what makes grief camps so powerful for connection and belonging. We close with hope, including post-traumatic growth and the ways support programs can plant seeds that show up years later.

If this helped, subscribe, share it with someone who’s carrying loss at home, and leave a rating and review so more grieving parents can find the support they deserve.

TAPS: https://www.taps.org/

The Compassionate Friends: https://www.compassionatefriends.org/

Soaring Spirits: https://soaringspirits.org/

Order the book Understanding and Supporting Bereaved Children: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Supporting-Bereaved-Children-Professionals/dp/0826140483

Order the book When Grief Comes Home: https://a.co/d/ijaiP5L

Jessica's House Resources: https://www.jessicashouse.org/resources

Send us Fan Mail

For more information on Jessica’s House or for additional resources, please go to jessicashouse.org