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Nico Slate was 23 when his older brother, Peter, died in a car accident. Seven years older and raised alongside Nico by their single mother, Peter had been far more than a brother—he was a father figure, protector, and the person who pushed Nico beyond his fears while always making him feel safe. In the immediate aftermath of Peter’s death, Nico barely had space for his own grief. His mother was devastated, and for years his energy went toward helping her survive a loss that had completely consumed her life. It wasn’t until more than a decade later, after Nico became a father himself, that his grief began to change. He wanted his children to know their Uncle Peter, but he also realized there was still so much about his brother that he didn’t know himself. In this conversation, Nico and Heather talk about sibling grief, the complicated relationship between a grieving parent and surviving child, and what it means to discover new parts of someone long after they’re gone. A historian and professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Nico eventually turned the tools of his profession toward his own family, interviewing Peter’s friends, digging through old documents and police records, and reconsidering moments from their childhood through an adult lens. That process forced him to look more deeply at Peter’s experience as a biracial Black man with a white brother, including the violent attack that cost Peter an eye and changed the course of his life. It also gave Nico something unexpected: new stories of Peter’s humor, friendships, music, love, and the tremendous amount of joy he packed into his short life. More than two decades after Peter’s death, Nico shares how getting to know his brother again has helped him carry Peter into his own family—and become a little more like the brother he still misses every day. Resources & Ways to Connect Nico Slate: https://www.nicoslate.com/ Brothers: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Race: https://www.nicoslate.com/books Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Anna Nordberg was 13 when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and 17 when she died. During those years, her mother did something Anna only fully understood much later: she prepared her children for a life without her. There were no grand bucket-list trips or dramatic final gestures. Instead, she kept life as normal as possible—showing up for track meets, filling out permission slips, being honest about her illness, and making sure Anna and her brother knew exactly how deeply they were loved. For years afterward, Anna kept moving forward, waiting for the moment when grief would finally feel finished. Instead, she discovered that losing her mother would continue to take on new meaning with every stage of her own life. In this conversation, Anna and Heather talk about what it means to become a mother without your own mom and how parenthood can completely change the way you understand an old loss. Anna shares the “ghost conversations” she still has with her mother, the fear of leaving her own children too soon, and the realization that motherhood made her grieve not only what she had lost, but everything her mother never got to experience. She also shares how going through her mother’s journals and papers eventually inspired her debut novel, When She Was Ours, and why writing fiction allowed her to explore some of the complicated feelings around grief that are hardest to say out loud. Together, Anna and Heather reflect on the ordinary days that become precious in hindsight, carrying our parents into the families we create, and the surprising ways a relationship can continue to evolve long after someone is gone. Resources & Ways to Connect Anna Nordberg Website and Book: https://www.annanordberg.com/ Anna Nordberg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annanordberg_writer/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Casey Mulligan Walsh was just 12 years old when she lost both of her parents within ten months of each other. Suddenly uprooted from the only life she knew, she was sent to live with relatives in upstate New York while her older brother remained behind. Eight years later, her brother died unexpectedly, leaving Casey as the last surviving member of her immediate family. She built a family of her own, determined to create the stability she had lost so young. Then, years later, she experienced the loss every parent fears when her 20-year-old son, Eric, was killed in a car accident. In this conversation, Casey and Heather look beyond the losses themselves to the ways they shaped everything that followed. Casey reflects on learning as a child not to take up too much space, losing the people who were the “keepers” of her history, and her lifelong instinct to control what she could in a world that had repeatedly shown her how little control we actually have. She also shares who Eric was before his death—the funny, charismatic, adventure-seeking son who made her a mother—and how his spirit continues to influence the life she leads today. Together, Casey and Heather explore the difference between surviving tragedy and eventually finding meaning within it, the possibility of post-traumatic growth, and the belief that when we cannot change what has happened to us, we can still decide what we do with the life that remains. It’s a conversation about unimaginable loss, the people who stay with us, and believing, even in the darkest moments, that there can be another way. Resources & Ways to Connect Casey Mulligan Walsh Website: https://caseymulliganwalsh.com/ The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared: https://caseymulliganwalsh.com/the-full-catastrophe-all-i-ever-wanted-everything-i-feared/ Jake’s  Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Before she turned 30, Tara Accardo lost both of her parents to cancer within six months of each other. An only child who had always considered her parents her “North Stars,” Tara suddenly found herself navigating a world without the two people she would have turned to when everything fell apart. Her mother’s illness introduced her to anticipatory grief before she even had a name for it, and while she was still reeling from that loss, her father’s health began to decline. Then, less than a year after his death, Tara lost Princess, the beloved dog she’d had since childhood. In the span of a year and a half, the family and sense of home she had always known were gone. In this conversation, Tara and Heather talk about compound grief, the loneliness of losing your parents young, and the strange process of figuring out who you are after loss fundamentally changes you. Tara shares how giving herself grace helped her begin to rebuild, eventually leading her to create Losses Become Gains, become a certified grief coach, and launch the Life With Grief podcast. They also explore the complicated idea that something meaningful can grow from devastating loss without suggesting the loss itself was somehow worth it, why grief can make the small stuff feel a whole lot smaller, and how community can help us feel seen when the people around us simply don’t understand. Tara also shares the story behind Letters of Light, her monthly snail-mail project offering fellow grievers a tangible reminder that they aren’t alone. It’s an honest conversation about the person you were before loss, the person you become afterward, and learning to make room for both. Resources & Ways to Connect Losses Become Gains: https://lossesbecomegains.com/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Ann Marie Farino’s oldest son, Richard, was charismatic, funny, deeply empathetic, and the kind of kid who could walk into a room and connect with just about anyone. But beginning around age 12, he also struggled with depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges that eventually gave way to addiction. For years, Ann Marie did everything she could to help—therapists, schools, treatment programs, boundaries, second chances, and countless “deep breath mom moments” when there was no obvious right answer. Eventually, Richard got sober and stayed that way for the final three years of his life. He was working, building a life, and preparing to get married when, in June 2016, he died by suicide at just 24 years old. In this conversation, Ann Marie and Heather talk honestly about what it means to love a child through mental illness and addiction, the limits of what even a fiercely devoted parent can fix, and the complicated reality of losing someone to suicide. Ann Marie shares why, even during Richard’s years of sobriety, part of her always feared what might happen, and how she came to understand that life had simply become too painful for him. They also talk about the joy and humor that existed alongside the chaos, the “divine nudges” that continue to make Ann Marie feel Richard’s presence, and the bench in his hometown that has become an unexpected place of connection and remembrance. Nearly ten years after Richard’s death, Ann Marie has learned that grief and joy can occupy the same life—and that the love between a mother and her son doesn’t end when he dies. Resources & Ways to Connect Ann Marie Farino Website: https://annmariefarino.com/ Chronic Chaos: A Son’s Addiction, A Mother’s Love, and Her Quest to Find Joy: https://amplifypublishinggroup.com/product/nonfiction/health-medicine-and-wellness/mental-health/chronic-chaos/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

It’s been just over two years since Melissa Allen lost her daughter, Liv, after a sudden illness at 18 years old. Melissa has joined Heather on A Place of Yes before, but grief looks different now. Some days she can work, laugh, show up for the people she loves, and feel genuinely grateful for her life. Other days, a photograph can send her right back to the earliest days of loss. And as her younger daughter, Sophia, graduated from high school and left for college, Melissa found herself confronting an entirely new layer of grief: watching one daughter reach the milestones the other never had the chance to experience. In this conversation, Melissa and Heather talk honestly about what child loss looks like years later and the losses that continue to emerge as life moves forward. They discuss the complicated mix of pride and heartbreak that comes with watching their surviving children grow up, the strange loneliness of an empty nest after losing a child, and the work of allowing yourself to have terrible days without letting them consume your life. Melissa also reflects on how the Live Like Liv Foundation has given her a way to help others and keep Liv’s memory present, while acknowledging that grief work can sometimes carry its own emotional cost. Together, she and Heather talk about giving their living children space to build lives of their own, finding comfort in the smallest memories, and the perspective that comes from experiencing the unimaginable. As Melissa puts it, “death humbles you”—and more than two years later, she is still learning what it means to carry that truth forward. Resources & Ways to Connect Live Like Liv Foundation: https://livelikelivfoundation.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Angelina was just three and a half years old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. Faced with devastating odds, her mom, Danielle Phillips, made a promise: if there came a point when treatment was no longer working, she wanted enough time to help Angelina do something incredible. What followed were seven and a half years of treatment, but also a life filled with huge birthday parties, cruises, Disney trips, indoor skydiving, swimming with sea turtles, ziplining in Hawaii, and checking off as much of Angelina’s bucket list as they possibly could. Even as the end approached, Danielle kept going, determined that cancer might shape Angelina’s life, but it would never be the only thing that defined it. In this conversation, Danielle and Heather talk about parenting a child with cancer, making impossible decisions, and what it means to help your child not just survive, but truly live. Danielle shares the story behind Angelina’s adventures, the final whirlwind of trips they took together, and the conversation shortly before Angelina died that reassured her they had done exactly what they set out to do. They also explore the ripple effect Angelina’s story had on other families facing childhood cancer and how, after her death, Danielle created They Were Here to preserve the stories and lessons of people who are gone. It’s a funny, heartbreaking, and life-affirming conversation about making the time you have count and ensuring the people we love are remembered for how they lived—not simply how they died. Resources & Ways to Connect They Were Here: https://theywereherelessons.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

David Ferrugio was just 12 years old when his father was killed in the September 11th attacks. Growing up in a New Jersey commuter town, David went to school that morning knowing his dad worked in the World Trade Center but with no way to comprehend what was unfolding. More than two decades later, he still lives with a uniquely public kind of grief—one where the day his father died belongs, in some way, to everyone. From unexpectedly encountering footage of the attacks to grieving the relationship with his dad he never got to have as an adult, that loss has profoundly shaped the way David thinks about death, life, and what we do with the time we're given. In this conversation, David and Heather talk candidly about losing a parent young, the strange reality of grieving someone whose death is part of history, and why humor—even the wildly inappropriate kind—can sometimes help us carry the unbearable. David shares how repeatedly confronting the footage of 9/11 became part of his own grieving process, why he believes getting unstuck requires both grace and accountability, and how his father's death ultimately led him to create the podcast DEAD Talks. They also explore post-traumatic growth, survivor's guilt, mediumship, the possibility of an afterlife, and the importance of staying present when you know firsthand how quickly everything can change. It's an honest, sometimes funny conversation about accepting the absurdity of life and death, leaving room for the "maybe," and choosing to keep living when someone you love no longer can. Resources & Ways to Connect You're Not Dead Yet: https://a.co/d/0fcJmUZBDEAD Talks: https://deadtalks.net/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Brad Wolfe has spent much of his life asking what gives life meaning. As the grandson of Auschwitz survivors, he grew up hearing stories of unimaginable suffering, survival, and the kind of love that can still exist after profound trauma. Later, when his close friend Sarah was diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer, Brad found himself showing up at her bedside with the one language he knew best: music. Writing songs for Sarah during her illness became both an offering to her and the beginning of a larger question that would shape his life and work: why wait to live with more love, purpose, and compassion? In this conversation, Brad and Heather talk about grief, music, post-traumatic growth, and the ways pain can become something meaningful without ever making the loss itself okay. Brad shares the story of his grandparents, the lessons his grandmother left behind, the friendship that inspired his early work with pediatric cancer families, and the creation of Reimagine, a community built around helping people face death and embrace life. They also explore what it means to keep showing up, how small acts of service can carry someone’s memory forward, and why the people we lose can continue shaping how we live. It’s a thoughtful conversation about love, legacy, creativity, and choosing not to wait for some later moment to live more fully. Resources & Ways to Connect Reimagine Website: https://letsreimagine.org/ Brad Wolfe and the Moon: https://www.bradwolfe.com/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

For most people in Saratoga Springs, Patrick Pipino is known as the guy who always shows up. Whether he's organizing community events, teaching someone how to snowmobile, baking sourdough for friends, or helping a neighbor in need, Pat has built a reputation around generosity and connection. But behind that outward kindness is a loss he has carried for nearly four decades. When Pat was 19 years old, his younger sister Meredith was killed in a tragic house fire set by an arsonist. She was just 13 years old. In an instant, his family was forever changed, leaving behind questions, heartbreak, and a grief that would follow them for the rest of their lives. In this conversation, Pat and Heather talk about sibling loss, survivor's guilt, and the complicated ways grief evolves over time. Pat shares the lasting impact Meredith's death had on his mother, his brother, and his own understanding of family, as well as the guilt he still wrestles with decades later. They explore what it means to keep someone's memory alive, the challenge of living with unanswered questions, and why small acts of kindness have become such an important part of Pat's life. Along the way, they discuss social media, community, parenting, and the quiet ways the people we love continue shaping who we become long after they're gone. It's an honest conversation about loss, guilt, legacy, and learning to carry grief without letting it define you. Resources & Ways to Connect Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

When Andrea Wilson Woods was 22 years old, she made a life-changing decision: she became the legal guardian of her eight-year-old half-sister, Adrienne. What began as stepping in to provide stability quickly became a true parent-child relationship, with Andrea raising Adrienne through childhood, adolescence, and eventually a devastating liver cancer diagnosis. By the time Adrienne died at just 15 years old, Andrea had spent years fighting for her, advocating for her care, and building a life centered around the person she loved most. In this conversation, Andrea and Heather talk about the unique grief of losing a sibling who was also your child in every way that mattered. Andrea shares what it was like to navigate the medical system as a young caregiver, the heartbreak of watching friendships disappear after loss, and the struggle of reconciling a life that has been permanently shaped by grief. They also explore intuition, anniversaries, the milestones their loved ones never reached, and the ways we continue carrying someone forward decades after they are gone. Andrea reflects on writing her memoir, Better Off Bald, preserving Adrienne’s own words and artwork, and building a national liver cancer organization in her sister’s honor. It’s a deeply moving conversation about love, advocacy, identity, and what it means to spend a lifetime keeping someone’s memory alive. Resources & Ways to Connect Andrea Wilson Woods Website: https://andreawilsonwoods.com/ Better Off Bald: https://betteroffbald.com/ Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association: https://bluefaery.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Erica Phelps never imagined she would one day be navigating life after the loss of her daughter, Emmie. Born healthy, Emmie began experiencing infantile spasms as a baby, and over time her condition became increasingly medically complex, requiring around-the-clock care and reshaping every part of family life. In this conversation, Erica shares what it looked like to parent a child with profound medical needs, the identity and purpose that caregiving created for her family, and the devastating reality of losing not only a child, but the entire life built around caring for them. Erica and Heather talk openly about the rawness of early grief, the physical and emotional weight of losing a medically fragile child, and the complicated process of figuring out who you are after years of 24/7 caregiving. They also explore sibling grief, guilt, honoring a child while continuing to live, and the ways parents try to keep their children’s presence woven into everyday life after they’re gone. Erica shares how donating Emmie’s medical equipment to other medically complex families has become one meaningful way to carry her legacy forward. It’s an incredibly honest conversation about child loss, caregiving, survival, and the deep need to feel understood by people who truly know this kind of pain. Resources & Ways to Connect Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Kate Walsh grew up alongside the community at Double H Ranch, the camp co-founded by Paul Newman and Charles Wood for children living with serious illnesses. Her connection to the camp began through her father, a pediatric ICU doctor who volunteered there for years and helped shape the experience for countless families. When he was diagnosed with stage four metastatic kidney cancer shortly after Kate’s wedding in 2021, her family was suddenly forced to navigate the impossible balance of celebrating new life while preparing for profound loss. In this conversation, Kate and Heather talk about caregiving, anticipatory grief, and the way loss reshapes how we move through the world. Kate shares how her family chose to celebrate everything during her father’s illness, why creating moments of joy became so important, and what it looked like to help him spend his final days peacefully at home surrounded by the people he loved most. They also explore parenting after loss, the unexpected moments grief resurfaces, and how carrying someone forward can show up through stories, community, work, and even the smallest everyday interactions. It’s a thoughtful conversation about legacy, family, grief seasons, and learning how to show up better for the people we love. Resources & Ways to Connect Double H Ranch Website: https://www.doublehranch.org/ Double H Ranch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doublehranch/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Erin Mark has lived with the awareness of death for as long as she can remember. Born with cystic fibrosis and told at just five years old that she likely wouldn’t live past 18, Erin grew up navigating a reality most people never have to face: building a life while believing time may be running out. But instead of letting that diagnosis define her, she spent years determined to squeeze as much joy, laughter, and meaning out of life as possible — even as her health steadily declined and she entered end-stage illness in her 30s. In this conversation, Erin and Heather talk about what it means to grow up grieving the future you thought you’d have while still learning how to fully live in the present. Erin shares the emotional impact of living with chronic illness, the importance of advocating for yourself when others give up on you, and the perspective shift that comes from surviving beyond the timeline you were once given. They also explore grief that exists beyond death — grieving health, fertility, identity, and the life you imagined for yourself — while holding space for joy at the same time. It’s a powerful conversation about resilience, uncertainty, love, and what can happen when someone refuses to stop fighting for your life. Resources & Ways to Connect Erin Mark Website: https://www.erinmark.com/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/

Cassie Wilusz never expected her life to unravel the way it did. What began as a season of happiness — raising her daughter, running a successful café, and rebuilding a close relationship with her father after years apart — was suddenly shattered by a series of unimaginable events. First, her father died unexpectedly in a house fire. Then, just a few years later, her husband Dave was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At the same time, Cassie found herself trapped in a years-long nightmare involving an escalating stalker who terrorized her family while she was already fighting to survive overwhelming grief and trauma. In this conversation, Cassie and Heather talk about what it means to keep functioning when life becomes almost impossible to carry. Cassie shares the emotional toll of caregiving during Dave’s cancer journey, the fear and helplessness of navigating stalking while trying to protect her daughter, and the frustration of a system that repeatedly failed her. They also explore therapy, resilience, boundaries, and how profound loss can completely reshape the way we value time, relationships, and what truly matters. It’s an intense, honest conversation about survival, advocacy, motherhood, and finding clarity after years spent living in crisis. Resources & Ways to Connect Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/ Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/ Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/