Grief Witnessed

Live Like Kyle with Laura Young, Widow to Kidney Cancer

In this episode of Grief Witnessed, I sit down with Laura to share the story of her love with her husband, Kyle. The two met on Bumble and knew almost immediately that they had found their soulmate. They got married and soon welcomed their baby girl into the world. Like so many new parents, they found themselves deep in the newborn trenches when Kyle began experiencing severe fatigue. They assumed it was exhaustion from life with a newborn, but after months of searching for answers and countless tests, they learned it was kidney cancer. Laura shares what it was like to become both a new mom to a baby and a caregiver to her husband, holding onto hope and truly believing that Kyle would get better. She also reflects on how this loss echoed another heartbreak in her life, having lost her mother to breast cancer in 2013. We talk about how cancer asks everything of both the patient and the people who love them. The way it stretches your capacity to hope, endure, and keep showing up even when you're terrified of what comes next. This episode is about soulmates, caregiving, and the heartbreak of loving someone enough to believe they'll make it, even when they don't. It's about carrying love forward after loss and finding the courage to keep going. 🤍

Love Greater Than The Diagnosis with Sophie Richards

Don't forget to watch on Youtube! [https://youtu.be/pRurmpSpkdI] In this episode of Grief Witnessed, I sit down with my widow friend Sophie to talk about young love, loss, and choosing love even in the middle of heartbreaking uncertainty. Sophie met Hyrum when they were just 15 years old. As teenagers, they built a friendship and love story that would continue through some of life’s most unexpected turns. While serving a mission for the LDS church, Hyrum received the sudden news that he had stage 4 cancer. Most people would have let fear take over. But Sophie and Hyrum chose love anyway. They got married at 21, just six months after his diagnosis, and spent the next two years building a beautiful life together. Sophie shares about Hyrum’s light, his incredible talent for being positive, and the way he continued choosing joy and connection even while fighting for his life. In December of 2024, Hyrum’s health began to decline. Then in January 2025, they received the devastating news that he likely had only three weeks left to live. On February 22, 2025, Sophie said goodbye to her husband. In this conversation, Sophie shares what it looked like to love someone through terminal illness, to marry someone knowing time might be short, and how love became bigger than the diagnosis they were given. This episode is about courage, young love, grief, and the kind of love that is eternal, even after goodbye. 🤍

Continuing Hailey's Mission with Matt, Widower To AFE

Don't forget to watch on Youtube! [https://youtu.be/VokT_6Kba0s] In this episode of Grief Witnessed, I sit down with Matt Okula to talk about the kind of loss that changes your life in a single moment. Matt and his wife Hailey were together for 13 years. They built a beautiful life filled with love, travel, and years of dreaming about becoming parents together. After walking through infertility, they were overjoyed to finally prepare to welcome their son into the world. Hailey was healthy, happy, and full of excitement going into her C-section. But just moments after Crew was born, everything changed. Hailey tragically passed away from an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare and devastating childbirth complication. In this conversation, Matt shares what it was like to experience both the happiest and worst moment of his life at the exact same time. We talk about sudden loss versus long-term loss, and how different kinds of grief can both be deeply painful in their own ways. Together, we explore the shock of waking up in a completely different life overnight, becoming a parent while grieving your spouse, and learning how to carry love forward after unimaginable heartbreak. If you’ve ever experienced sudden loss, medical trauma, or grief that changed everything in an instant, this conversation will stay with you.

Choosing Love with Collin Farias

Don't forget to watch on YouTube! [https://youtu.be/4ssJ6xTF-Y8] In this episode of Grief Witnessed, I sit down with Collin to talk about love, loss, faith, and how quickly life can change. Before meeting Camry, Collin thought he would become a pastor. After moving to Australia and pursuing ministry, an unexpected shift sent him on a deep faith journey. Through his journey he then met Camry. What started as a stage 1 colon cancer diagnosis while they were dating quickly became stage 4. In the middle of it all, they chose love anyway. They got engaged in February 2025, found out they were expecting a baby later that month, got married in March, and just a few months later, Camry passed away. Collin and Camry's preemie son lived nine days, and taught him more about love that he ever thought possible. Collin and I lost our spouses only about a month apart, so this conversation felt deeply personal. We talk about caregiving, anticipatory grief, becoming a parent while losing your person, and the questions grief can bring to faith and identity. This episode is about loving deeply in the face of uncertainty, and learning how to carry both grief and gratitude at the same time. 🤍 Follow Collin here [https://www.instagram.com/collinfarias?igsh=MXZhNjIwand4eGtpMg%3D%3D] <3

"You're So Strong" with Leslie Harter-Berg

Don't forget to watch on YouTube! In this episode of Grief Witnessed, I sit down with Leslie Harter-Berg to talk about grief, motherhood, and the complicated feeling of being told “you’re so strong.” After the sudden loss of her husband, Leslie found herself raising two young boys while trying to navigate a life she never imagined. She shares what that really looked like behind the scenes. Not just strength, but exhaustion, loneliness, and the quiet, everyday moments of figuring out how to keep going. We talk about the pressure people feel to be “strong” in grief, and how that word can sometimes miss what’s really going on underneath. Leslie opens up about learning to carry both love and loss at the same time, and what it’s looked like to slowly rebuild her life. Leslie is the author of You’re So Strong, a beautiful and honest reflection on grief, widowhood, and letting go of the expectations we place on ourselves. Get the book here! [https://www.amazon.com/Youre-So-Strong-Favorite-Compliment/dp/0310369347/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=190349235030&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.z6KIUojD-ahGb8JMCS0iLUjzyDtzzq1M5yjLY8gLXE1e7rMhzZc9oS9Cfr3r4gZE0zfFmWW4e6S8XBZyTjNXMXdT7Bifs0JdZ_aPM2lucF5cmjtq1palUi06oiXqaK3MU2AwNXy7aNMeaoWAQgZ0ziiyQFwb9TMSV96h5c1kx1a91GfK8vGPizM8WKDgtGgyShaYqCKr7GEs5TiY0YgiYG_RSgSSYdHyC9S7DMTwJGs.G_dTuY3g3-7DJGGHM7efQKrs4am_W6HuVkBzEsaxJoQ&dib_tag=se&hvadid=779583688777&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9029707&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=12089551971350278866--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=12089551971350278866&hvtargid=kwd-1257481813586&hydadcr=22538_13821230_8220&keywords=your+so+strong+book&mcid=ccc660f6ce0338838bd2653ddc84a36b&qid=1778640084&sr=8-1] This episode is about being human in grief, and giving yourself permission to not have it all held together. 🤍