Giving Grief Grace, a Grief Podcast for the Sandwich Generation
Loss changes everything. But it doesn't have to have the last word. Giving Grief Grace is a podcast dedicated to those in the throes of caregiving and loss with honest, compassionate conversations about grief, healing, and what it means to keep living after loss. Hosted by Lisa Hartung, a speaker, HR professional, and fellow griever, each episode creates space for the stories we don't always know how to tell.
From disenfranchised and hidden grief, to grieving while parenting, to the ways men experience loss differently, to the unexpected power of creativity and legacy, this show covers grief in all its forms. Featuring expert guests, real stories, and practical tools you can use right now.
If you've lost someone you love or are in the throes of caregiving, you belong here.
New episodes drop every Sunday. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episodes
78 episodes
Who Am I Now? Jennifer Zona on Finding Yourself After a Life Transition (Episode 76)
After more than two decades in public education, Jennifer Zona found herself in what she calls "the desert": the old self gone, the new one not yet here, and no one bringing a casserole. In this conversation, she shares what sitting with hospic...
Put the Fun Back in the Funeral: Tia Ma on Death with Dignity and Her Father’s Last Wishes (Episode 75)
Content note: This episode includes an open conversation about medical aid in dying (death with dignity) and the death of Tia’s father. Please listen with care.When Tia Ma’s father, Richard Powers, was diagnosed with ALS at 82, he...
Grief Is Our Roommate, Not Our Enemy: Rebecca Feinglos on Founding Grieve Leave (Episode 74)
Rebecca Feinglos, certified grief support specialist, founder of Grieve Leave, and host of Grief'd Up podcast<...
Healing the Unseen: Nicole Mixdorf on Akashic Records, Grief & Ancestral Wounds (Episode 73)
Nicole Mixdorf spent 15 years chasing a chronic illness through 60+ healing modalities before she found the piece no doctor could give her: the grief she never let herself feel. In this episode, the transformational healer and Akashic Records p...
I Play Solitaire with My Dead Mom and Eat Chocolate for Both of Us (Episode 72)
This week, Lisa discusses running a half marathon on the anniversary of her mom's death and getting get news at work, and all she wants to do is pick up the phone and call her mom. Instead, she communicates with her mom through what her mom did...
Grief and Marathon Running: Losing Your Mom While Raising Kids with Heather Morrison Mainville (Episode 71)
Grief and life are a marathon, not a sprint. They are full of uphills, downhills, and unexpected turns. In this episode, recorded live on the fourth anniversary of Lisa’s mother Emily's passing (and just hours after finishing a half marathon to...
The $200K Mistake Families Don't See Coming with Senior Transition Advisor Ryan Riggins
There's a mistake hiding in almost every "we'll buy your house for cash" letter. These sometimes come when a family is most vulnerable as they prepare for or already have a loved one in a continuing care community. It can cost them $200,000 ins...
Episode 69 - Be a Little Dolly: Honoring Dolly Parton's Legacy of Grief, Generosity & Grandpa Honky's "Girlfriend"
This week, Lisa reflects on Dolly Parton's passing. Dolly was a legend, a woman whose warmth, honesty, and generosity touched millions. Her legacy teaches us about turning personal loss into lasting good. From the origin of the Imagination Libr...
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Episode 68 - The Call You Never Want: Real Talk on Caregiving Next Steps for a Parent
Lisa got the call about her dad this week, and instead of pretending everything's fine, she decided to talk about it because that's what this podcast has always been for.This is a real-time, in-the-thick-of-it episode about what happens ...
Episode 67 - You Never Know If It's the Last Goodbye: Make Every Farewell Count
In this solo episode, Lisa tunes in from her family's camp in Maine — a place where her mom's presence still lingers in the woodland gardens, the lake air, and the memories tucked into every corner. Between a midsummer garden party at the
Episode 66 - Turning Grief Into Growth: Ksenia Merck on Creative Expression Through Art, Loss, & Ghost Flower
What happens when the person you built your life with leaves behind an unfinished manuscript? In this episode, artist and architect Ksenia Merck joins us to talk about turning grief into growth. We learn how she picked up her late husban...
Episode 65 - What Is Your Handicap? Choosing Joy, Presence, & What Really Matters After Loss
In this solo episode, Lisa opens up about a bittersweet wave of grief triggered by an old photo memory of a day spent with her mom exploring Maine — and turns it into a gentle teaching moment on how to live with grief rather than wait ...
Episode 64 - Moments Matter: What I'd Do Again Caregiving for Mom and Her Terminal Diagnosis
When someone you love receives a terminal diagnosis, time suddenly feels different — heavier, more precious, and impossible to plan around. In this solo episode, Lisa shares what caregiving through her mom's stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis ...
Episode 63 - Grief at Work: A Compassionate Guide for Employees, Managers & HR Practitioners
Grief doesn't clock out when the workday starts. In this solo episode, Lisa draws on her own experience as an HR practitioner and a griever, from caregiving for her mother through stage 4 pancreatic cancer to losing her grandmother whi...
Episode 62 - Alzheimer's, Caregiving, & the Anticipatory Grief No One Prepares You For with Caroline Shelby
There's a particular kind of heartbreak in loving someone whose mind is fading while their body stays. Caroline Shelby, founder of Grief Clarity Labs, lived inside that heartbreak for over a decad...
Episode 61 - Scriptotherapy: The Healing Power of Writing Through Grief
Writing has been a thread running through Lisa's grief journey long before she had a name for it. In this mini-sode, she introduces "scriptotherapy" — a term coined by Suzette Henke, researched by James Pennebaker — and explores why putting pen...
Episode 60 - Vacation Starts Now: How to Stop Waiting to Really Live
What does a Zanzibar vacation have in common with a terminal diagnosis? More than you'd think.In this solo episode, Lisa reflects on a pattern she noticed during her recent trip to Tanzania — every single day for five days, there was
Episode 59 - This is Your Permission Slip: A Guided Meditation from Zanzibar
What does it look like to give yourself permission — really, truly, no-guilt permission to rest, restore, and fill your own cup? In this special field note episode, Lisa calls in live from her balcony in Zanzibar, Tanzania. In this ...
Episode 58 - Grief, Joy, and Clean Water: A Field Note From Tanzania
In this field-recorded episode, Lisa broadcasts live from rural Tanzania during a work trip with her day job with a water nonprofit. Visiting communities at different stages of clean water access, she finds an unexpected throughline: grief, lov...
Episode 57 - What No One Tells You About Grieving Your Mom and How She Still Shows Up
Grief doesn't wait for a convenient moment. Sometimes it finds you mid-walk, while packing for a trip, or when you are stressed, missing the woman who would have been your first call.In this solo episode, Lisa shares what she's learned a...
Episode 56 - Crafting Through Grief: How Kenya McCarthy Turns Her Mom's Belongings Into Healing Gifts
What do you do when grief meets a house full of craft supplies? For Kenya McCarthy, creator of @chronicallykenya and @k.carthydesigns, the answer was to start making things, sharing the process online, and building a strong grief community so p...
Episode 55 - 100 Years of Living: Lucy DeRoche's Secrets to Adventure, Purpose, and Joy
She feels 45. She has been all around the US. She planned a month-long trip through England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1971 with no cell phones, no credit cards, and a 9-year-old in tow, and she thought nothing of it. She lost her first husband ...
Episode 54 - From Surviving to Thriving: The Grief Recovery Method with Dawn Michele Jackson
Have you ever carried grief you didn't have a name for? Today's guest, Dawn Michele Jackson, a registered nurse, bestselling author, and Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist, spent decades watching patients' unprocessed emotions show up as...
Episode 53 - The Little Things Are the Big Things: Obituaries with Mary McGreevy of Tips from Dead People
What if the most profound life lessons you ever received came from the dead? In this episode of Giving Grief Grace, Lisa sits down with Mary McGreevy, the creator of @tipsfromdeadpeople and author of an upcoming HarperCollins book (Aug...
Episode 52 - A Year of Giving Grief Grace: What No One Tells You About Starting a Grief Podcast
One year. 52 episodes. 62 countries and territories. 454 cities. Thank you for a year of grace, gratitude, and being part of this grief journey. In this special solo anniversary episode, Lisa Hartung pauses to celebrate what
