Getting Back Up Podcast: Finding Life After Death

42: I’m Tired of Being Strong (Holding it together after loss)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2507093/fan_mail/new] Episode 42: I’m Tired of Being Strong (What everyone sees after loss) For many widowers, strength becomes a role they never asked to play. You keep showing up. You take care of the kids. You pay the bills. You go to work. You handle the responsibilities. And somewhere along the way, people start telling you how strong you are.  But what happens when you're exhausted? In this episode, Jamal and David talk openly about strength fatigue—the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that can come from carrying grief, responsibility, and expectations for far too long. They share personal experiences of functioning while depleted, feeling pressure to hold everything together, and struggling to ask for help even when they desperately needed it. Together, they explore the difference between resilience and suppression, why burnout can quietly disguise itself as strength, and how rest, vulnerability, therapy, and trusted relationships can become part of the healing process. Because sometimes the strongest thing a man can do isn't carry more—it's finally putting some of the weight down. Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward.  The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.  Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.  Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones Executive Director: Marlon Jackson  Editing: Marlon Jackson Music:  Grenada, "Treasure"  McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

41 - I Don't Feel Like Myself Anymore | Identity After Loss

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2507093/fan_mail/new] Episode 41: When you don't feel like yourself  After loss, there comes a moment many widowers quietly experience: you look in the mirror, go to work, attend a family event, or scroll through old photos and think... I don’t even recognize myself anymore. In this episode, Jamal and David explore the identity disruption that often follows the death of a spouse. They discuss how grief changes more than your emotions—it changes your routines, your priorities, your relationships, your confidence, and sometimes even your personality. From feeling disconnected in social situations to realizing that the version of yourself before loss lived in a completely different reality, they share personal stories about navigating the uncomfortable space between who they were and who they are becoming. Together, they examine why trying to "get back to normal" can keep us stuck, what makes identity loss so difficult to recognize, and how growth often begins before we're even aware it's happening. This conversation is a reminder that you are not broken, lost, or failing. You are adapting to a life you never asked for—and rebuilding an identity that can honor the past while embracing the future. Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward.  The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.  Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.  Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions) Editing: Marlon Jackson Music:  Grenada, "Treasure"  McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

40: Why Am I Still Angry?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2507093/fan_mail/new] Episode 40: Why Am I Still Angry? For many widowers and grieving spouses, anger doesn’t always show up in the beginning. Sometimes it arrives later—after the funeral, after the shock, after life gets quiet again. And when it does, it can feel confusing, constant, and directionless. In this episode, Jamal and David have an honest conversation about the anger that lingers after loss. The short patience. The irritability. The frustration that shows up in parenting, work, relationships, and everyday life. They talk about survivor’s remorse, emotional exhaustion, and what happens when unprocessed grief quietly leaks into everything around you. More importantly, they explore how to recognize anger before it takes over, why suppressing it makes things worse, and how movement, conversation, self-awareness, and grace can help you process it in healthier ways. Because anger after loss doesn’t mean you’re broken—it may simply mean there’s still pain trying to find somewhere to go. Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward.  The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.  Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.  Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions) Editing: Marlon Jackson Music:  Grenada, "Treasure"  McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

39: I Felt Guilty for Laughing Again, After Loss

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2507093/fan_mail/new] Episode 39: I Felt Guilty for Laughing Again After Loss There’s a moment many widowers and grieving spouses experience—but rarely say out loud: the first time you genuinely laugh again… and immediately feel guilty afterward.  In this episode, Jamal and David unpack the emotional confusion that comes when life starts feeling okay again. The normal moments. The unexpected joy. The dinners, trips, conversations, and laughter that briefly make you forget what you’ve lost—until guilt rushes in to remind you. They reflect on the emotional whiplash of healing, the fear that happiness somehow dishonors the person you loved, and why so many grieving people struggle to trust moments of peace. From awkward public moments while dating again, to holding someone’s hand for the first time after loss, to realizing your children are laughing and growing again—this conversation explores the tension between remembrance and forward movement. Because healing doesn’t always feel good at first. Sometimes it feels unfamiliar. Sometimes it even feels wrong. But as Jamal and David discuss, joy is not betrayal. Laughing again doesn’t mean you loved them less. It may simply mean you’re learning how to carry them forward differently. Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward.  The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.  Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.  Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions) Editing: Marlon Jackson Music:  Grenada, "Treasure"  McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast

38: When Your Child Has an Emergency — Why It Hits Different After Loss

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2507093/fan_mail/new] Episode 38: When Your Child Has an Emergency — Why It Hits Different After Loss There’s a moment every parent dreads—the call you weren’t expecting… the one that makes your heart drop before you even have the full story.  In this episode, Jamal and David open up about their first real “emergency” moments with their daughters—times when they weren’t there, couldn’t get there fast enough, and had to sit in the space between fear and truth. From a kitchen fire scare to a child passing out in public, they unpack what it feels like to face that helplessness—and how quickly your mind jumps to the worst-case scenario. But for widowed parents, those moments hit differently. An emergency doesn’t just bring fear—it can reopen the emotional memory of the moment you first lost your spouse. The same helplessness. The same urgency. The same need to get there now. Jamal and David reflect on how these experiences resurface old trauma, the weight of being the only parent in the moment, and the quiet pressure of knowing everything now falls on you. This conversation also moves into preparation—how to teach kids awareness without fear, how to navigate public safety, and how to handle those moments when you simply can’t get to them right away. Because sometimes the lesson isn’t just in what happened… it’s in what it made you feel again—and how you respond moving forward. Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward.  The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.  Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.  Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winners (Like A Gazelle Productions) Editing: Marlon Jackson Music:  Grenada, "Treasure"  McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com Thank you for listening! Follow us on Instagram/TikTok @getbackuppodcast and on X @GBUpodcast