Episode 17: The Long Grief: Facing Loss, Milestones, and Our Own Mortality

Grief is not a problem to solve, it’s a human experience to live through-- and we all will at one point or another. In this episode, we explore the many layers of grief and how it weaves itself through our lives, sometimes quietly, sometimes all-consuming. From the long tail of trauma and the controversy around whether or not “time heals all wounds,” to the invisible weight of milestone moments, we talk about how grief resurfaces, evolves, and shapes our understanding of ourselves.

This episode features our first ever Podcast guest, Gianna DeMedio Simon. Gianna is natural networker, she has worked with media outlets like Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Ellen Show, Time Magazine, and more during her more than 10 year career in public relations. She has hosted and produced three podcasts ranging in topic from motherhood to grief and has been asked to speak about grief on various stages and podcasts. Now, when she’s not on a playdate with one of her two toddlers, or volunteering at Avow Hospice in Naples doing bereavement work, she can be found on Instagram collaborating on content with some of the beauty and fashion industry's top brands. She holds the controversial belief that grief DOES in fact get better in time and that there can be light that is born out of the darkest times of our lives.

In this episode Gianna references her story of discovering that 3 generations of her family died at the age of 63- she has a blog post that details this more in-depth here: https://www.giannademedio.com/sixty-three/

Other ways to learn and hear more from Gianna!:

Her podcast- https://www.giannademedio.com/podcast/

Her Episode with cofounder of The Dinner Party- https://www.giannademedio.com/episode-39-find-your-grief-tribe/

The Dinner Party- https://www.thedinnerparty.org/

Avow Hospice in Naples- https://avowcares.org/

Join Chris, Gianna, and Brie in this episode as we unpack:

-The impact of time on trauma and grief.

-How to face grief head-on, without bypassing or minimizing it.

-How loss takes shape— from death itself, how it molds our identity, relationships, the futures we expected, and different roles those that we've lost would have held over our lifetimes.

-The collision of grief and milestones (birthdays, anniversaries, transitions).

-Generational grief patterns and what we unknowingly carry.

-Rebuilding life after loss and finding balance.

-Facing our own mortality and what that can teach us.

-How shared grief can become a powerful source of connection and community.

Whether you're deep in it, supporting someone who is, or just human enough to know grief will come eventually—this conversation holds space for it all.

Links to Death and All the Rest