EPISODE 36: "Will My Child Be Ruined By This?" - Parenting Through Grief After Loss with Jessica Correnti

EPISODE 36: "Will My Child Be Ruined By This?" - Parenting Through Grief After Loss with Jessica Correnti

One of the biggest fears many widowed parents carry after the death of a spouse is this: "Will my child be ruined by this?" When your child loses a parent, it's natural to worry about what this loss will mean for them long-term. Who will they become because of this experience? What will they carry forward? How do you help them navigate something so enormous while you're grieving too? In this final episode of Season 1, I sit down with grief specialist, Certified Child Life Specialist, author, and bereaved mother Jessica Correnti to have an honest conversation about parenting through grief after the death of a spouse. Together, they explore the fears grieving parents carry, what children actually need after loss, how grief shows up differently in children, and why parents don't need to be perfect to support their child well. In This Episode, We Discuss: * Why so many widowed parents fear their child will be permanently damaged by the loss * The most common worries grieving parents carry after the death of a spouse * Whether it's okay for children to see a parent cry and grieve * The difference between healthy emotional expression and emotional overwhelm * What emotional repair looks like when difficult moments happen * How children regain a sense of safety after loss * What children need most from the surviving parent * How children grieve differently from adults and from one another * Supporting children with different grief styles * Common misconceptions about grief in children * Signs a child may benefit from additional support * Helpful grief resources and therapeutic approaches for children * What every widowed parent deserves to know about navigating grief with their child About Jessica Correnti Jessica Correnti is a Certified Child Life Specialist, grief specialist, author, educator, and bereaved mother with nearly two decades of experience supporting children and families through illness, trauma, and loss. After years working in pediatric hospital settings, Jessica founded Kids Grief Support, where she provides grief education, resources, and support to families around the world. She is the author of several children's grief books, including The ABCs of Grief series and Forever Connected. Her work has been featured in Oprah Daily, People Magazine, CNBC, and other national publications. Connect with Jessica Website: Kidsgriefsupport [https://linktr.ee/kidsgriefsupport?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=701c0c1b-da52-4cd5-8efa-7cfe890ba725] Instagram: @kidsgriefsupport Books: The ABCs of Grief  [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+abcs+of+grief&adgrpid=185691637585&hvadid=792758263568&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9031313&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=8264713785423167747--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8264713785423167747&hvtargid=kwd-786853577702&hydadcr=26833_11893774_2301813&mcid=0d5952234ca737fe930644eb67053360&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_51gjh827ui_e] & Forever Connected [https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Connected-Jessica-Correnti/dp/B0B7Z9WZJ4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AWSTAB0440X3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aL3_iaO03zYFk7wXhzYR3g.H1Hg9CsHH9ag2w7oMzmtVGGQkCPamkaJa1i79xYVwME&dib_tag=se&keywords=forever+connected+jessica+correnti&qid=1780338532&sprefix=forever+connected+jessica+correnti%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1] A Final Reflection If you're a widowed parent carrying the fear that you're somehow "messing this up," this episode is for you. Your child does not need a perfect grieving parent. They need a connected one. Someone who keeps showing up. Someone who repairs when needed. Someone who makes space for feelings. Someone who continues loving them through the hardest season of their lives. And that may be far more powerful than you realize. Thank you for being part of Season 1 of The Widow's Collective. Big hugs and lots of love, Lauren

Episode 35: Learning To Trust Yourself Again After Loss

After the death of a spouse, many widows don’t just lose the person they love — they also lose their sense of safety, predictability, and trust in themselves. In this episode, we explore the invisible ways grief impacts self-trust and why loss can leave widows feeling hypervigilant, emotionally unsteady, fearful of future pain, and disconnected from their own inner voice. We discuss: • Why widowhood disrupts your relationship with safety and certainty • The nervous system’s response to trauma & loss • Hypervigilance, overthinking, and emotional preparedness after grief • Fear of future loss, attachment, and vulnerability • The impact grief can have on parenting fears and emotional safety • Why grief can make it difficult to trust your emotions • The quiet ways self-trust slowly begins rebuilding over time • Learning to stay connected to yourself inside uncertainty This episode is a compassionate conversation for the widow who feels exhausted from carrying fear, second-guessing herself, or wondering why she can no longer trust herself as she did before.  Big hugs, and lots of love. -Lauren To Connect With Me Follow along on Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends For More Information About Support Head over to: LaurenLentz.com [https://www.laurenlentz.com/] Or Book a free Discovery Call by emailing me: lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com

EPISODE 34: “The Pressure To Do Grief ‘Right’"

So many grieving women quietly carry the pressure to do widowhood “correctly.” To cope correctly. To heal correctly. To move forward correctly. To parent correctly. To honor their person correctly. But grief is not a performance. And widowhood is not something you master perfectly. In this episode, we explore the invisible expectations many widows carry after the death of a spouse — the pressure to stay strong, stay productive, appear functional, and somehow navigate profound loss in a way that feels acceptable to both themselves and the outside world. We discuss: • Why so many grieving people monitor and judge themselves after loss • How conditioning around emotions and productivity impacts widowhood • The nervous system’s search for safety after trauma and uncertainty • Why grief feels so contradictory and emotionally unpredictable • The hidden exhaustion behind “high functioning” grief • The quiet ways comparison and self-measurement show up in widowhood • Why functioning does not mean someone is okay • The difference between survival mode and healing • Why grief resurfaces in waves — even years later • Releasing the pressure to carry grief perfectly This episode is a reminder that there is no gold star for grieving “well.” There is no perfect timeline. No perfectly measured way to heal. No flawless way to carry profound loss. There is only your way. And maybe part of healing is learning how to meet yourself with more gentleness while living inside a life that changed everything. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another widow who may need this reminder today. With love, Lauren To Connect With Me Follow along on Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends For More Information About Support Head over to: LaurenLentz.com [https://www.laurenlentz.com/] Or Book a free Discovery Call by emailing me: lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com

EPISODE 33: “The Parts of You That Existed With Him” (Identity Loss After the Death of a Spouse — Part 3)

In this final episode of the identity loss series, we explore one of the most tender and complicated parts of grief after the death of a partner: The experience of feeling like certain parts of you only existed because they did… while also slowly realizing that there are still parts of you that remain. This conversation moves into the layered complexity of relational identity, nervous system connection, emotional safety, and the internal conflict many widows experience when they begin noticing themselves still “here” after profound loss. Together, we unpack: *  Why certain relationships bring specific versions of us forward  *  The grief of losing not only your person, but the version of yourself that existed alongside them  *  Why it can feel confronting when others say “you’re still in there”  *  The difference between the relationally-activated self and the core self  *  Why identity disruption after loss can feel like an identity rupture  *  The emotional tension of holding contradictory truths at the same time  *  What it means to re-encounter yourself over time  *  How identity reorganizes through grief  *  Becoming without erasing the person you were with your partner  This episode is not about “finding yourself again.” It’s about learning how to stay in relationship with yourself through the complexity of grief, change, memory, love, and becoming. If this episode brought something up for you, please know there is nothing you need to resolve quickly. You are allowed to grieve what was shaped in love… while also allowing space for what is still unfolding inside of you. Big Hugs and Lots of Love, Lauren Connect with Me Instagram: @imsorrywerefriends  1:1 Coaching + Programs: laurenlentz.com [https://www.laurenlentz.com/] To schedule a Discovery Call, email me at lauren@imsorrywerefriends.com

BONUS EPISODE: Mother's Day In The After

Mother’s Day after the death of a spouse is not a simple day. It is layered. It is emotional. It is often holding multiple truths at once. In this bonus episode, we talk about what it actually means to move through Mother’s Day as a widow and a mother — where love and grief are not separate experiences, but happening side by side. We explore: *  The emotional complexity of Mother’s Day after loss  *  Why this day can feel both tender and heavy at the same time  *  The missing presence of the person who once witnessed and celebrated your motherhood  *  How grief reshapes identity and capacity in motherhood  *  The lived reality of becoming both mother and father after loss  *  The exhaustion of holding emotional, mental, and logistical responsibility alone  *  The desire to retreat from a day that feels overwhelming  *  What it can feel like to show up for your children while in survival *  The guilt and fear that can surface around “not being enough” as a mother in grief  *  Why attachment, repair, and presence matter more than perfection  *  Permission to let Mother’s Day be what it actually is this year, without forcing it into something it’s not  This episode is not about doing Mother’s Day “right.” It’s about naming what it actually feels like when you are mothering inside profound loss, and offering space for all of it to exist without judgment. If this resonates, you can share it with someone who may need it, or leave a review to help this work reach more grieving widowed mothers who are walking through something similar. Thank you for being here. Love, Lauren