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Episode 21 ~ Anticipatory Grief, Hospice Care, and Losing Your Mother What happens when you've had years to prepare for goodbye, but losing your mother still leaves you completely undone? When Peggy Ottman's 89-year-old mother entered hospice, Peggy believed her experience as a hospice volunteer had prepared her for what was coming. But after spending 41 days at her mother's bedside alongside her two sisters, she discovered that understanding death and living through the loss of someone you love are two very different things. In this heartfelt conversation, host Teresa Reiniger and Peggy explore the grief we experience before a loved one dies, the quiet heartbreak of becoming a caregiver to the parent who once cared for us, and why losing an aging parent can feel so overwhelming. Peggy opens up about the unexpected heaviness of her grief, the different ways she mourned her mother and father, and how writing became a way to revisit memories and begin making sense of her loss. Together, they also challenge the idea that an expected death should somehow hurt less and explore how hospice support, family relationships, and storytelling shape our experience of goodbye. If you've lost a parent, are caring for someone you love, or have ever wondered why your grief feels different from everyone else's, this conversation offers understanding, reassurance, and permission to grieve in your own way. Meet Our Guest: Peggy Ottman is a former hospice volunteer, former EMT, and author of Losing Mom: A Memoir of Life, Loss, and Letting Go and the award-winning children's book The Lonely Loon. Through her personal experience of losing her mother, Peggy shares a compassionate perspective on caregiving, hospice, and finding a voice for grief. In This Episode ● Why losing an elderly parent can bring unexpected, overwhelming grief. ● What Peggy experienced during 41 days at her mother's hospice bedside. ● The emotional transition from daughter to caregiver. ● How three sisters navigated caregiving responsibilities and different experiences of grief. ● Why hospice support matters for both patients and families. ● How writing helped Peggy process her mother's death. What You'll Take Away ● An expected goodbye doesn't mean an easier loss. ● Grief looks different with every relationship. ● Caregiving can bring love, exhaustion, and guilt together. ● Your grief doesn't need to be compared or justified. ● Sharing memories can help you feel connected to your loved one's story. Memorable Quotes "It's not long enough. I wanted her longer." — Peggy"I felt untethered." — Peggy"Every grief has to come out the way it's gonna come out." — Peggy"The love is different, and the experiences you've had." — Peggy"Love does not measure loss by someone's age." — Teresa"Your love was personal. Your grief will be personal too."— Teresa💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss 📸Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/peggy_ottman/ 💼 Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/peggy-ottman-286b173/📩 Email: [email protected] 🌐 Website: peggyottman.com 📖 Get the Book: books2read.com/LosingMom

Episode 20 ~ You Say You're Fine… So Why Does Something Still Feel Missing? What if the habits that once helped you survive are now keeping you from the connection, peace, and happiness you deserve? Maybe you've become the strong one who never asks for help. Maybe you've learned to keep people at a distance after heartbreak. Or perhaps you've spent so long caring for everyone else that you've forgotten to ask yourself what you need. In this deeply personal solo episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, host Teresa Reiniger explores how grief, childhood experiences, betrayal, and difficult relationships can shape the ways we protect ourselves—sometimes long after our circumstances have changed. Drawing on heartfelt conversations with previous guests Robyn, Victoria, and Shequilla, Teresa connects three different journeys through loss, love, and survival. Together, their stories reveal how independence can become isolation, why trusting again can feel frightening, and how being strong doesn't always mean being okay. You'll be invited to recognize the protective patterns you may be carrying, understand why they developed, and consider whether they're still serving you today. This isn't about tearing down your boundaries or forcing yourself to move on. It's about learning to trust yourself, welcome support, and make room for life beyond survival. You don't have to stop honoring what you've been through to begin living differently. About Your Host Teresa Reiniger is a grief specialist, women's coach, Master Practitioner of NLP, and founder of Living After Grief. She helps women navigate grief, life transitions, and the emotional patterns that can keep them feeling stuck. In This Episode -How childhood experiences and loss create lasting protective patterns. -Why independence can make receiving help feel unsafe. -How fear of loss affects trust, love, and relationships. -When being everyone's protector disconnects you from your own needs. -Why tears aren't proof that you're stuck in grief. -How small choices can rebuild self-trust and connection. What You'll Take Away -Being strong doesn't mean needing nothing. -Your past can shape you without defining your future. -You can honor grief and still welcome joy. -Healthy boundaries and meaningful connection can coexist. -Healing can begin with one small, compassionate choice. Memorable Quotes Teresa: "Tears aren't proof that we haven't healed." Teresa: "You can be independent and still receive support." Teresa: "We know how to survive." Teresa: "You can miss someone and still experience joy." Teresa: "We can begin rebuilding trust in ourselves one decision at a time." Teresa: "You don't have to criticize the person you used to be in order to become someone different." Continue the Conversation Three powerful stories that inspired this episode: Victoria — What Happens When Grief Becomes a Song? Watch her episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mVZAm4wug1kE4lGGR0j8G?si=Zuxyld7sTHWcPZAjhSnNzQ Robyn — You Learned to Protect Your Heart. What Happens When You’re Ready to Open It Again? Watch her episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0j1IIm6ycAlaBdWPJFORsa?si=gUt3w5nFTzWO2qKkXsIyaQ Shequilla — She Was Successful on Paper. So Why Was She Still Living in Survival Mode? Watch her episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2u592njBSF5mtdPjXExdYA?si=KUXBOU7AR8qKqPKq8ynbQQ If this conversation resonated with you, share it with a woman who has spent so much of her life being strong for everyone else.Be gentle with yourself. Healing happens one breath, one choice, one day at a time.💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Episode 19 ~ What happens when the people who were supposed to protect you become part of the pain you spend your adulthood trying to understand? And how do you create a loving, safe home when you never experienced one yourself? In this deeply personal episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger welcomes Peyton Liam, a writer, poet, wife, mother, and woman of faith who is determined to build a different legacy for her children. Peyton opens up about growing up with abuse, abandonment, family silence, and the devastating loss of her father to violence. She shares how those experiences shaped her sense of worth, her relationships, and her fears of being abandoned again. But this conversation is also about what happens when someone decides the patterns they grew up with don't have to continue. Together, Teresa and Peyton explore the grief of not receiving the childhood you deserved, the courage it takes to establish boundaries with family, and the intentional work of creating a healthier marriage and home. Peyton also reflects on pregnancy loss, infertility, discovering she is on the autism spectrum, and finding her voice through poetry and faith. Her story reminds us that acknowledging the past doesn't mean allowing it to determine everything that comes next. Meet the Guest: Peyton Liam is the author of Blossoming with Resilience, a poetry collection inspired by her personal experiences and healing journey. Through her writing and willingness to speak openly, she hopes others will find the courage to share their stories and make meaningful changes in their own lives. In This Episode -Breaking generational trauma: Recognizing harmful family patterns and choosing different approaches to parenting. -Grieving an unsafe childhood: The lasting impact of abandonment, abuse, and feeling unprotected. -Marriage and boundaries: How Peyton and her husband are learning to protect their relationship and support each other's healing. -Motherhood and loss: Navigating miscarriage, secondary infertility, and the desire to give children a different upbringing. -Understanding autism: How Peyton's diagnosis helped her better understand herself and support her children. -Finding a voice through writing: Turning painful experiences into poetry through Blossoming with Resilience. What You'll Take Away -You can grieve the childhood you deserved. -Family boundaries can protect the life you're building. -Your past can influence you without defining your future. -Understanding yourself can change how you parent. -Breaking harmful patterns begins with intentional choices. Memorable Quotes -Peyton: "I feel like no child is bad. A child is just going through something." -Peyton: "I just forgive them because I can't hold all of that on me anymore." -Peyton: "The book is about my story. Just read it." -Peyton: "I finally got like the last piece of the puzzle to my life and my story." -Teresa: "Breaking those generational trauma is not about pretending the past never happened." -Teresa: "You do not have to do it perfectly for it to matter." 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📸 Instagram:www.instagram.com/peytonliampoet/ 🌐 Link Tree: linktr.ee/PeytonLiam?utm_source=linktree_profile_sharesid=b19a9c23-7b3f-4177-af35-a1dd78d312cf&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAcGRvZgJzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAadguNAskGcQIkxASFuHOLB6bnWZRFU3cFpTf12WJRRBntrMteRqjQl8B4_I6A_aem_3oBcDi7xh2cA0CR24ioQKA

Episode 18 ~ She Was Successful on Paper. So Why Was She Still Living in Survival Mode? What happens when you've spent your entire life protecting everyone else, only to realize you've forgotten how to care for yourself? For Shequilla Sterling, being the strong one wasn't a choice. It was something she learned as a child, when keeping herself and her siblings safe became her responsibility. That survival mindset followed her into adulthood, shaping her motherhood, marriage, career, and relationships. On the outside, she was accomplishing things. On the inside, she was still living as though something terrible could happen at any moment.In this deeply personal conversation, Teresa Reiniger sits down with Shequilla to explore the emotional cost of always being responsible, the grief of losing an identity built around caring for others, and what it means to finally discover who you are beyond the roles you've carried. Shequilla also shares how the traumatic loss of her young nephew, an unexpected back injury, and rediscovering her childhood journals led her to confront painful patterns she had spent years trying to outrun. Together, they discuss breaking generational cycles, learning to rest, reconnecting with your emotions, and giving yourself permission to live rather than simply survive.If you've ever been everyone's safe place while quietly wondering who would show up for you, this conversation may feel especially familiar. Meet Our Guest Shequilla Sterling is a registered nurse, author of From the Ashes, and founder of Finally Free, a platform dedicated to helping people move beyond survival. Drawing from her lived experiences and personal healing journey, she encourages others to reclaim their voices, recognize unhealthy patterns, and rediscover themselves. In This Episode -How childhood abuse, neglect, and responsibility shaped Shequilla's identity as the family protector. -Why professional success doesn't necessarily mean emotional peace. -The devastating loss of her 13-year-old nephew and the grief she couldn't fully process. -How survival patterns affected her marriage, children, and ability to be emotionally present. -Rediscovering childhood journals, reclaiming her voice, and breaking generational silence. -The meaning behind Finally Free and learning to step outside what's familiar. What You'll Take Away -Being needed isn't the same as being emotionally supported. -Survival skills can become patterns that no longer serve you. -You can acknowledge parenting mistakes and still work toward repair. -Rest and self-discovery are not selfish. -You deserve more than simply getting through another day. Memorable Quotes Shequilla: “For so long I guess I knew how to take care of everybody else. I just didn't really know how to take care of myself.” Shequilla: “They got survival mom. They didn't get the mom that lives and knows how to enjoy life.” Shequilla: “I was there, I mattered, this happened.” Shequilla: “For me, the cage door was always open. I kept myself captive.” Shequilla: “I think the first step is like realizing that you deserve more than just getting by.” Teresa: “The patterns that help us survive really deserve compassion.” Mentioned in This Episode -The Body Keeps the Score: Book by Bessel van der Kolk. -I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Book by Maya Angelou. 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/finallyfree 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/hello.finallyfree/ 🎵 Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@hello.finallyfree 🌐 Website: www.hellofinallyfree.com/

Episode 17 ~ You Learned to Protect Your Heart. What Happens When You’re Ready to Open It Again? What if some of the qualities you are praised for, being independent, strong, self-sufficient, are also ways you learned to protect yourself? In this episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa sits down with psychotherapist, coach, author, radio host, and Come Back to Love founder Robyn Vogel for a deeply personal conversation about childhood grief, trust, relationships, and what happens when the heart learns that protecting itself feels safer than opening up. Robyn’s mother became ill when she was six and died when she was ten. For years, much of what was happening was kept from her. Looking back, Robyn began to understand that she had learned to hide her feelings, silence her needs, and question her own sense of safety and trust. She and Teresa explore how those early experiences can follow us into adulthood, sometimes appearing as emotional distance, extreme independence, difficulty receiving support, or repeated relationship patterns. Robyn also shares how later losses shaped her healing, why protective parts deserve compassion rather than judgment, and how practices like journaling and Internal Family Systems can help us begin listening to what is happening within us. About Robyn Vogel: Robyn is a psychotherapist, coach, author, radio host, and founder of Come Back to Love. Her book, Come Back to Love: A Path to Healing, combines personal story with practical tools and exercises for healing. In This Episode -How losing her mother at ten, after years of secrecy surrounding her illness, affected Robyn’s sense of trust and safety. -Why children can sense when something is wrong, even when adults try to protect them from the truth. -How grief and old wounds can appear later as independence, emotional distance, difficulty receiving care, or unhealthy relationship patterns. -Why the parts of ourselves that once protected us can eventually become barriers to intimacy and connection. -How Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps us recognize that conflicting emotions can exist at the same time. -Why journaling can be a gentle first step when someone is ready to explore old grief or emotional wounds. What You’ll Take Away -Self-protection is not something to shame. It may have once helped you survive. -Independence and receiving support can exist together. -You can feel grief and joy at the same time.-Healing does not require rushing yourself into vulnerability. -Sometimes the first step is simply noticing what you have been carrying. MEMORABLE QUOTES Robyn: “I learned to lie. I learned to hide. I learned to keep my feelings to myself.” Robyn: “Thank God we had that protection.” Robyn: “It’s okay to be held by somebody else.” Robyn: “We’re relational. We need to rely on each other.” Teresa: “Absolutely you can experience both of those at the same time.” Robyn: “We can hold more than just one thing about ourselves.” MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Robyn’s Website: comebacktolove.com Robyn says listeners can download the first chapter of her book for free and request a free consultation through her website. Book availability: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and other online booksellers are mentioned. The audiobook was not yet available on Audible at the time of recording. 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone.💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/RobynVogel 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/comebacktolove_robynvogel/ 💼 Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-vogel/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 🌐 Website: www.comebacktolove.com/

Episode 16 ~ What happens when someone you love dies and, somewhere inside the heartbreak, you also feel relief? It is one of those grief experiences people rarely say out loud. Relief that someone is no longer suffering. Relief that years of caregiving have ended. Relief that the hospital visits, uncertainty, fear, impossible decisions, or painful relationship dynamics are finally over. And then, almost immediately, guilt may follow. In this solo episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger opens a compassionate conversation about why grief does not always arrive as one “acceptable” emotion. She explores caregiving exhaustion, anticipatory grief, complicated relationships, and the hundreds of smaller losses that can happen before a death ever occurs. Teresa also challenges the belief that the amount of pain we experience proves how deeply we loved someone. Relief does not automatically mean you wanted someone to die. Sometimes, it may simply reveal how much you had been carrying.If you have ever thought, “Why do I feel this way?” or felt ashamed because sadness was not the only emotion that showed up after a loss, this conversation is for you. About Teresa: Teresa Reiniger is the host of Female Voices: Life & Loss, a certified grief specialist, women’s coach, life transition guide, and founder of Living After Grief. In This Episode -Why relief can appear alongside sadness after someone dies -How caregiving and anticipatory grief can begin long before death -Why exhaustion does not mean you loved someone less -Grieving someone when the relationship was painful or complicated -The guilt that comes from believing grief should look a certain way -How self-compassion can replace judging or “putting emotions on trial” What You’ll Take Away -Two emotions can be true at the same time. -Relief is not a measurement of love. -Caregivers may grieve many losses before the death. -You do not have to punish yourself for an emotion. -Ask, “What have I been carrying?” instead of “What is wrong with me?” Memorable Quotes -Teresa: “You can love someone so deeply and be exhausted by what love is asking of you.” -Teresa: “Emotions aren’t moral report cards.” -Teresa: “What if sometimes relief is evidence of how much you were carrying? -Teresa: “Your pain is not the measurement of your love, and neither is your relief.” -Teresa: “Not every emotion needs to be fixed. Sometimes it needs to be understood.” -Teresa: “You don’t have to drop one to prove the other is real.” 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Episode 15 ~What Happens When Grief Becomes a Song? What happens when someone who has spent years supporting grieving people suddenly finds herself living the loss she understands professionally? In November 2024, Victoria’s longtime partner died suddenly. As a music therapist and grief counselor working in hospice care, she knew the language and theories of grief. But experiencing it personally brought an entirely different understanding. During a four-month leave, a lyric came to her during an intense grief burst: “Why does everything have to make sense when you’re gone?” One song grew into The Blue Album, a deeply personal musical project shaped around William Worden’s Tasks of Mourning. Victoria and Teresa talk about grieving a partner, why tears do not mean someone is “stuck,” and how music can give emotions somewhere to go when words are difficult to find. Victoria also shares simple ways people can engage with music, even without musical experience, and why continuing a bond with someone who died can be part of moving forward rather than leaving them behind. About Victoria: Victoria is a music therapist and grief counselor working in hospice/palliative care. She is also conducting doctoral research exploring music, grief, songwriting, and heartbeat song recordings. As the artist SH3, she created The Blue Album from her own experience of partner loss. In This Episode ● How losing her longtime partner changed Victoria’s understanding of grief as a professional ● How one lyric during a grief burst became The Blue Album ● William Worden’s Tasks of Mourning and why grief is not a linear process ● How intentional listening, improvisation, and songwriting can support emotional expression ● What continuing bonds can look like after someone dies ● How Victoria’s grief influenced her hospice work and doctoral research What You’ll Take Away ● Tears are not proof that you are moving backward. ● Grief does not follow a neat sequence or timeline. ● Music can help express feelings that are difficult to name. ● You do not need musical training to use music meaningfully. ● Healing does not require ending your connection with someone you love. Memorable Quotes ● Victoria: “You lose your best friend.” ● Victoria: “These emotions are just a human representation of the connection that we had.” ● Victoria: “Why does everything have to make sense when you’re gone?” ● Victoria: “You don’t need any music experience at all. The desire to engage in music is the only prerequisite.” ● Victoria: “This isn’t goodbye. It’s until we meet again.” ● Victoria: “Your tears are not a reflection of regression.” Mentioned in This Episode ● The Blue Album — Victoria’s grief-centered music project / available on music streaming platforms ( https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/99wcci0tvnojcqoki3hi2/6.-Until-We-Meet-Again.mp3rlkey=f62euqytqruiwe4xkwjgfzkmt&st=11o88tbn&e=2&dl=0 ) ● William Worden’s Tasks of Mourning ● Palliative and Hospice Care ● Romina Di Gasparo — Juno-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifelossYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sh3official 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sh3official/ 📩 Email: [email protected] 🌐 Website:https://www.sh3official.com/

Episode 14 ~ What Happens After: Grief, Memory, and Empathy Grief does not need to be ranked, rushed, or explained away. Sometimes what a grieving person needs most is permission to feel what they feel, and someone willing to stay and listen. In this episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger speaks with author and storyteller Diane Namm about grief, empathy, children, memory, and the story behind Diane’sillustrated book, What Happens After? After her family experienced several significant losses within a few years, Diane saw how difficult it could be to find language that validated grief, especially for children. Their conversation explores why adults can underestimate what children notice and carry, why guilt may show up after a death, and why remembering someone can become part of moving forward rather than “getting over” them. Diane and Teresa also talk about listening without fixing, creating space for emotion, journaling as a way to process what is hard to say aloud, and simple rituals that help maintain a meaningful connection with someone who has died. Diane Namm is an award-winning author and storyteller and the author of What Happens After?, a book created to open conversations about loss and validate grief across generations. In This Episode● Why “loss is loss” and grief cannot be measured by outsiders● What children may absorb, question, and blame themselves for after a death● Why listening without judgment can be more helpful than trying to fix grief● How traditions, signs, letters, and memories can carry a relationship forward● Why grief has no deadline, and moving forward is different from getting over it● How journaling can create space to process feelings that are difficult to sayWhat You’ll Take Away● Your grief does not need to match anyone else’s timeline.● Children often understand and absorb more than adults realize.● Presence and listening can be meaningful forms of support.● Remembering someone can remain part of healing.● Writing can offer another way to express unfinished feelings.MEMORABLE QUOTES● Diane: “Loss is universal. Grief is personal.”● Diane: “You don’t always have to have a solution, but it is important to listen.”● Diane: “It takes as long as it takes.”● Diane: “There’s a move forward, but you bring them with you.”● Diane: “Loss is loss, and there is no timeline.”● Teresa: “Permission to feel, permission to remember, permission to grieve without a deadline.”EPISODE CHAPTERS01:05 — Why Talking About Loss Matters03:31 — The Story Behind What Happens After?07:09 — Why We Need to Stop Ranking Grief10:56 — What Genuine Empathy Looks Like14:41 — What Adults Can Miss About Children’s Grief18:32 — Grief Has No Deadline22:35 — Vulnerability, Emotion, and Feeling Safe24:43 — Writing and Journaling Through Grief28:12 — Letters, Goodbyes, and Continuing Bonds31:41 — The Audiobook as a “Verbal Hug”33:22 — The Message Diane Hopes Readers Remember34:03 — Where to Find What Happens After?Want to read What Happens After? 🤍Diane shared that listeners can visit: whathappensafter.store for a special Friends of the Author discount. The book is also available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION📩 Email: [email protected]📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss\🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone.💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianenamm/📩 Email: [email protected]💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianenamm/🌐 Website: https://www.dianenamm.com/

What happens when you’ve carried loss for so long that you stop realizing just how much you’ve survived? Lauren Johnston experienced the death of her mother at 10, lost her father in her 20s, and lived through the deaths of several friends and loved ones across the years. For a long time, she simply thought of all that loss as normal life. In this conversation, Lauren joins Teresa Reiniger to explore how early grief followed her into adulthood, especially through fears of abandonment, relationships, divorce, and the difficult realization that sometimes trying not to lose someone can mean losing yourself. Lauren also shares how writing her memoir has brought memories and emotions back to the surface, why she has developed what she calls an “intimate relationship with grief,” and how leaving Austin after 40 years and moving to Belize at 60 opened an unexpected new chapter. This episode is not about rushing past grief. It is about recognizing what you’ve carried, honoring what mattered, and allowing yourself to ask a new question: How do I want to live differently now? Guest: Lauren Johnston Lauren spent 18 years as a hairdresser before moving into more than 20 years of work as an intuitive life advisor and coach. She is currently writing a memoir and sharing personal essays through Substack about life, loss, love, and beginning again. In This Episode ● How losing her mother at 10 shaped Lauren’s fear of abandonment in later relationships ● The moment she realized staying in a relationship meant abandoning herself ● Why accumulated grief can begin to feel like simply “normal life” ● Grieving relationships, a marriage, a city, friendships, and imagined futures ● Beginning again at 60 and building a new life in Belize ● How memoir writing brought old memories, grief, and emotions back to the surface What You’ll Take Away ● Grief does not have to be compared or ranked. ● Early loss can quietly influence adult relationships. ● Choosing yourself is not the same as giving up on others. ● Beginning again does not require erasing your past. ● You can carry grief and still make room for joy, love, and possibility. Memorable Quotes Lauren: “By staying with John, I’m abandoning myself.” Lauren: “As deep as I can feel grief is as deep as I can feel love and joy.” Lauren: “Grief is grief. There’s no degree to it.” Lauren: “We’ve got to step out of something in order to step into something.” Lauren: “Pain means it mattered. And grief is the process of it.” Lauren: “Don’t fear grief because it sits right next to love.” 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FemaleVoicesLifeLossPodcast 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurenjohnstonvibrationelevation📸 Instagram https://ww: w.instagram.com/laurenjohnstonlifecoach📩 Email: [email protected] 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-johnston-59053519/ 🌐 Website: https://laurenjohnston.me/

Episode 12 ~ What to Say to Someone Who Is Grieving | Important Announcement What if one of the most natural questions we ask after a death is also one we don’t always need answered? When someone tells us a loved one has died, our instinct is often to ask, What happened? But for the grieving person, answering that question may mean returning to a hospital room, accident, diagnosis, phone call, or moment that changed everything.In this solo episode, Teresa Reiniger explores the difference between genuine compassion and curiosity—and why grieving people deserve to decide when, where, how, and with whom they share the details of their loss. Through experiences from her grief support and coaching work, Teresa talks about emotional safety, boundaries, privacy, the body’s response to painful memories, and why telling a difficultstory can sometimes feel healing and other times deeply exhausting. Most importantly, she invites us to shift the conversation from “How did they die?” toward something more human: “Would you like to tell me about them?” This episode is both permission for grieving people to protect their stories and guidance for anyone who wants to support someone with greater compassion. About Teresa: Teresa Reiniger is a grief specialist, life transition guide, founder of Living After Grief, and host of Female Voices: Life & Loss. In This Episode ● Why repeatedly answering “What happened?” can become emotionally exhausting. ● How safety, readiness, trust, and choice change the experience of sharing a painful story. ● Setting boundaries around who receives the tender parts of your grief. ● The difference between privacy and secrecy after loss. ● Why asking about someone’s life can create deeper connection than asking about their death. ● How the same lesson can apply to pregnancy loss, divorce, infertility, illness, and other life-changing losses. What You’ll Take Away ● You do not owe everyone the details of your loss. ● Your body may give you useful information about when you’re not ready to share. ● Privacy can be a healthy form of choice. ● Compassion does not require knowing every detail. ● Sometimes a better question is simply, “Tell me about them.” Memorable Quotes Teresa: “Someone else’s curiosity does not mean you need to share.” Teresa: “Your story belongs to you.” Teresa: “Privacy can sound like, ‘I decide who knows.’” Teresa: “One question asks for information. The other asks for connection.” Teresa: “Maybe we need to start asking, ‘Tell me how they lived.’” Teresa: “The person you love was so much more than the way they died.” Episode Chapters & Timestamps ~00:00 — Do We Really Need to Know What Happened?~04:00 — Why Retelling the Story Can Feel Exhausting ~08:00 — Your Story, Your Choice, Your Boundaries ~12:00 — Privacy Is Not the Same as Secrecy ~15:00 — Ask About Their Life, Not Only Their Death ~19:00 — When Curiosity Shows Up in Other Kinds of Loss ~22:00 — Remembering the Whole Story A Special Thank You to Wayna 🤍 We’re deeply grateful to Wayna for being part of the Female Voices journey and for the stories, conversations, insight, and heart she shared along the way. Her voice helped shape meaningful moments within this community, and we appreciate everything she brought to the podcast. Thank you, Wayna, for being part of Female Voices: Life & Loss. We’re wishing you continued growth, joy, and success in everything ahead. 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR HOST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivingAfterGrief 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingaftergrief/?hl=en 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coachteresa5

Sometimes grief begins long before someone dies. It begins when the person you love is still beside you, but the life you knew together is already changing. In this episode, Teresa Reiniger sits down with Suzy McNamara for an honest conversation about caregiving, anticipatory grief, identity, faith, and carrying more than one devastating loss at once. Suzy spent five years as the primary in-home caregiver for her husband, Bob, after he was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s. She shares what it was like watching changes begin in his early 50s, protecting his dignity as his world became smaller, and slowly realizing that she was no longer only his wife, she had become his caregiver, advocate, and protector.Then, while Bob was entering the final stage of his illness, Suzy’s sister and best friend, Elizabeth, died. Suzy reflects on what happens when there is barely room to grieve because someone still depends on you. This conversation offers validation for caregivers who feel unseen, people experiencing anticipatory grief, and anyone carrying layered losses. About our guest: Suzy McNamara is a widow, mother of four adult children, former primary caregiver to her husband Bob, and author of The Silkworm, the Magician, and the Sister Tree: A Tale of Love and Loss. In This Episode ● How early-onset Alzheimer’s changed Bob’s identity, career, relationships, and independence. ● Why grief can begin while the person you love is still physically present. ● How Suzy’s identity shifted from wife to caregiver, advocate, and protector. ● Protecting a loved one’s dignity when others do not understand their limitations. ● Grieving Suzy’s sister Elizabeth while continuing full-time caregiving. ● How faith, writing, friendship, and a smaller support circle helped Suzy keep going. What You’ll Take Away ● Anticipatory grief is real grief. ● Caregivers can lose parts of their identity, too. ● Protecting someone may require disappointing other people. ● Surviving one difficult day deserves recognition. ● You do not need a large circle—you need people who can truly stay. MEMORABLE QUOTES Suzy: “There are so many little tragedies in the big tragedy of Alzheimer’s.” Suzy: “That’s when the grieving really begins.” Suzy: “The caregiver loses their identity for sure.” Suzy: “You do have to build sort of a wall around your heart.” Suzy: “Getting through one day is a huge, huge accomplishment.” Teresa: “Grief does not always wait for one loss to end before another one begins.” EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 — When Grief Begins Before Death 03:33 — Bob’s Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Story 08:26 — The Fear and Shame Before Diagnosis 13:28 — When Alzheimer’s Arrives in Midlife 18:00 — Losing the Identity of Wife and Becoming Caregiver 19:48 — Protecting Bob’s Dignity and Safety 24:59 — Grieving a Sister While Caring for a Husband 28:16 — When Caregiving Leaves No Room to Grieve 29:26 — The Story Behind Suzy’s Memoir 33:30 — Finding the People Who Can Truly Stay 35:48 — Getting Through One Day Is an Accomplishment 39:32 — Suzy’s Book and Audiobook 42:19 — A Reminder for Caregivers Who Feel Unseen 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@femalevoiceslifeloss 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR GUEST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzy.mcnamara 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcnamara.suzy📩 Email: [email protected] 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzymcnamara/ 🌐 Website: https://suzymcnamara.com/

What happens when grief doesn’t just change your life—but changes the way you see yourself? After a significant loss, the question may eventually shift from “How do I get through this?” to something much deeper: “Who am I now?” In this solo episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger explores the often-overlooked connection between grief and identity. She talks about the widow who is no longer a wife or caregiver, the person grieving a pet, relationship, health, dream, career, or future, and the women who became “the strong one” simply because survival required it. In recognition of National Grief Awareness Day on August 30, Teresa also shares what grieving people often wish others understood: you don’t need perfect words. Keep showing up.Keep inviting them. Say their loved one’s name. Don’t minimize a loss simply because you don’t fully understand it. Most importantly, this conversation offers permission to stop measuring healing by how closely you resemble who you were before. Teresa Reiniger is a grief specialist, life transition guide, founder of Living After Grief, and host of Female Voices: Life & Loss. Through her work, she supports people navigating grief, identity changes, and major life transitions. In This Episode ● Why grief can change your identity, roles, routines, and sense of the future ● How the brain continues expecting the life it knew before a significant loss ● Why grieving people need presence more than perfect words or advice ● How pet loss and other misunderstood losses deserve to be acknowledged ● Why continuing to invite someone matters, even when they repeatedly say no ● How the identity that helped you survive may not be the identity you need forever What You’ll Take Away ● You don’t have to become your “old self” again. ● A loss doesn’t need anyone else’s approval to matter. ● Supporting grief can be as simple as staying present. ● Joy and grief are allowed to exist together. ● Healing can include discovering who you’re becoming. Memorable Quotes ●Teresa: “Sometimes you’re grieving yourself too.”●Teresa: “Loss does not need public approval before your heart is allowed to hurt.”●Teresa: “You aren’t reminding us that they died. We haven’t forgotten.”●Teresa: “Grief isn’t either/or. It is so often both.”●Teresa: “Maybe healing is discovering the woman who is still here.”●Teresa: “Grief doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs to be witnessed.” 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: @femalevoiceslifeloss 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR HOST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivingAfterGrief 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingaftergrief/?hl=en 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coachteresa5 📩 Email: [email protected]

Episode 9 ~ What if your grief feels heavier now than it did when the loss first happened? Does that mean you’re going backward, or could something else be happening? In this solo episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger explores a part of grief that can catch people by surprise: sometimes the deepest emotions arrive months, or even years, after a loss. In the beginning, there may be funeral arrangements, paperwork, family responsibilities, phone calls, and decisions that simply have to be made. Your body may focus on one thing, surviving the day. But when life becomes quieter and everyone else begins returning to normal, grief can finally have room to surface. Teresa talks about the difference between surviving a loss and living with a loss, why ordinary moments can suddenly become painful, and the guilt some people experience when laughter, joy, and hope begin returning. If you’ve wondered, “Shouldn’t I be doing better by now?” this episode offers a compassionate reminder: deeper grief does not necessarily mean you are moving backward. Sometimes your heart is finally safe enough to feel. About Our Host Teresa Reiniger is a grief specialist, women’s coach, and founder of Living After Grief. In this episode, she draws from her work alongside grieving women to offer reassurance, perspective, and hope for those learning how to carry both love and life after loss. In This Episode ● Why grief may feel stronger months after a loss. ● How survival mode can postpone overwhelming emotions. ● The loneliness of watching the world return to normal while yours has changed. ● Why everyday routines and “firsts” can trigger unexpected waves of grief. ● The guilt that can come with laughing, enjoying life, or feeling hopeful again. ● What it means to begin living again without leaving your loved one behind. What You’ll Take Away ● Feeling more grief later does not mean you are failing. ● Your body may wait until it feels safer before allowing emotions to surface. ● Grief includes mourning the ordinary life you shared. ● Joy and grief can exist together. ● Healing does not require forgetting or “getting over” someone. Memorable Quotes ● Teresa: “In the beginning, you’re surviving the loss. Later, you’re living the loss.” ● Teresa: “Grief has been patiently waiting until we are finally still enough to feel it.” ● Teresa: “Every wave of grief is also revealing another place where love once lived.” ● Teresa: “Joy is not betrayal.” ● Teresa: “Laughter is not forgetting. Healing is not leaving someone behind.” ● Teresa: “What part of my heart is finally safe enough to feel?” 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: @femalevoiceslifeloss 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR HOST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivingAfterGrief 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingaftergrief/?hl=en 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coachteresa5

Have you ever forgotten a familiar word, sensed your loved one nearby, or cried unexpectedly and wondered, “Am I going crazy?” You are not alone, and in many cases, you are grieving. In this solo episode of Female Voices: Life & Loss, Teresa Reiniger explores the surprising ways grief can affect the brain, body, heart, and nervous system. Through compassionate stories and relatable everyday moments, Teresa explains why grieving people may struggle with memory, concentration, decision-making, exhaustion, emotional inconsistency, or the feeling that they heard, smelled, or sensed someone they lost. She also discusses why grief can surface in ordinary places, from the grocery store to a quiet self-care appointment, and why having a good day does not mean you are forgetting the person you love. Listeners will receive reassurance that grief does not follow a straight line, healing is not measured by the absence of tears, and joy is not a betrayal of love. Teresa Reiniger is a certified grief specialist, NLP master coach, life transition guide, founder of Living After Grief, and host of Female Voices: Life & Loss. She brings years of experience walking alongside women through grief, loss, identity changes, and life transitions. In This Episode ● Why grief can affect memory, concentration, energy, and decision-making ● Why people sometimes hear, smell, dream about, or sense someone they lost ● How familiar routines remain wired into the brain after a loved one dies ● Why ordinary questions, objects, songs, and places can activate grief ● How the nervous system responds to loss, trauma, caregiving, and prolonged survival ● Why laughter, joy, and new memories do not erase love What You’ll Take Away ● Forgetfulness does not automatically mean your mind is failing. ● A difficult day does not erase your healing. ● Grief and joy can exist together. ● Your grief does not need to look like anyone else’s. ● Self-compassion may help replace fear and shame. MEMORABLE QUOTES Teresa: “What if, instead of asking, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ you begin asking, ‘What has my heart been carrying?’” Teresa: “Understanding what’s happening doesn’t erase grief, but it often removes fear.” Teresa: “Your experience doesn’t need someone else’s permission to be meaningful.” Teresa: “That isn’t failure. That’s attachment. That’s love.” Teresa: “Joy is not betrayal. Healing is not forgetting.” Teresa: “There isn’t one right way to grieve. There’s only your way.” TIMESTAMPS 01:01 — Am I Going Crazy—or Is This Grief? 04:30 — The Experiences Grieving People Rarely Discuss 09:00 — Why the Brain Keeps Searching for Them 14:00 — When Grief Hides Inside Ordinary Moments 19:00 — Grief Brain, Forgetfulness, and Mental Exhaustion 24:00 — How the Nervous System Responds to Loss 29:00 — Why Grief Can Feel Unpredictable 34:00 — Healing Does Not Move in a Straight Line 39:00 — Joy Is Not a Betrayal 44:00 — When Years of Survival Affect the Body 49:00 — There Is No One Right Way to Grieve 54:00 — What Has Your Heart Been Carrying? 💖 JOIN THE CONVERSATION 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: @femalevoiceslifeloss 🔔 Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone. 💖 CONNECT WITH OUR HOST 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LivingAfterGrief 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingaftergrief/?hl=en 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@coachteresa5

What happens when you have spent so many years caring for everyone else that you no longer recognize yourself? In this episode, Teresa Reiniger welcomes returning guest and coaching partner Dena Woulfe for an honest conversation about identity, grief, people-pleasing, nervous-system regulation, and the hidden beliefs that shape how women move through life. They explore why feeling exhausted, stuck, or disconnected does not mean you are weak. It may be the result of years spent surviving, carrying responsibilities that were never fully yours, or defining yourself through roles such as wife, mother, caregiver, helper, or fixer. Teresa and Dena discuss how awareness, breathwork, supportive coaching, faith, healthy boundaries, and identity work can help women reconnect with the person beneath those roles. They also explain why the nervous system must feel safe before meaningful change can begin. Listeners navigating grief, divorce, caregiving, burnout, an empty nest, relationship changes, or the loss of a familiar role may recognize themselves in this conversation and feel encouraged to begin choosing themselves again. Meet the guest:Dena Woulfe is a registered nurse, holistic health coach, NLP master practitioner, business owner, and Teresa’s coaching partner. She brings a nursing, faith-centered, holistic-health, and nervous-system-informed perspective to helping women reconnect with themselves. In This Episode ● Why coaching should never be one-size-fits-all ● How guilt, shame, rejection, and abandonment create repeating patterns ● Why the nervous system needs safety before change can happen ● How women lose themselves inside roles and responsibilities ● When helping others turns into people-pleasing ● What women can expect from The Woman I Used to Be retreat What You’ll Take Away ● Survival patterns often began as protection. ● Awareness helps uncover hidden beliefs. ● Feeling “tired but wired” may signal high alert. ● You can help without carrying everyone’s burdens. ● Healing can mean remembering who you already are. Memorable Quotes ●Dena: “You can’t change what you’re not aware of.” ●Dena: “Shift cannot happen with a nervous system on high alert.” ●Teresa: “We get very stuck in the labels and the roles we have carried for so long.” ●Teresa: “Put down everybody else’s backpack and let them carry their own stuff.” ●Dena: “How you show up for one thing is how you show up for everything.” ●Teresa: “Healing isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering the woman who has been there all along." ✨ Resources & Links: 👉 Visit our website page and see what we offer: https://livingaftergrief.com/podcast-page 📍 Upcoming Experience: 💛 The Woman I Used to Be - A Retreat to Help You Find Her Again Click here: https://livingaftergrief.com/the-woman-i-used-to-be 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE GUEST 📘 Facebook: / holisticdenawellness 📸 Instagram: / denawoulfern 📧 Email: [email protected] Join the Conversation 📩 Email: [email protected] 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/femalevoiceslifeandloss/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femalevoiceslifelosspodcast/ 🎵 TikTok: @femalevoiceslifeloss ● Subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more women feel seen, supported, and less alone.