Grief & Happiness

If you've ever wondered whether it's okay to feel relief alongside grief, episode 448 of Grief and Happiness is for you. Debut novelist Anna Nordberg shares how losing her mother as a teenager inspired her novel When She Was Ours. Drawing on twenty years as a journalist, she opens up about becoming a mother herself, rediscovering her own mother as a person, and why Americans still lack the language to talk about loss.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:55) Anna Nordberg's shift from journalism to her debut novel, When She Was Ours(02:35) Why grief is now a universal theme in books, film, and TV(03:49) Losing her mother at 17, and learning to hold relief and guilt(06:37) Creating a believably human mother inspired by her own mom(09:49) Setting the scene: a wedding, a diagnosis, a family under pressure(13:24) Why siblings are fiction's most underexplored bond(18:17) Researching medical detail firsthand, bringing journalistic rigor to fiction(24:13) A fictional scene that shifted her bond with her mother's memory(27:24) The "Bay's daughter" moment, carrying her mother through her son's medical scare(32:44) Why writing is a healing, cathartic act, private or sharedAnna Nordberg is a journalist and culture writer whose essays have appeared in Slate, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She grew up in New York City and now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children. After two decades in journalism, she pivoted to fiction in her forties, drawing on her mother's death as a teenager to write her debut novel, When She Was Ours, out August 1 and available for pre-order now.On the episode, Anna spoke candidly about how losing her mother to illness at 17 left her without language for contradictory feelings — sadness alongside relief, love alongside loneliness — that no one had told her were normal. She described how becoming a mother gave her new insight into her own mother as a person, and how writing the novel became a way of reconnecting with that memory. She also discussed her fascination with sibling relationships and happy families under pressure as underexplored fiction territory, citing Little Women as an inspiration, and credited journalism with helping her write authentic scenes beyond her own experience. She closed by calling writing a healing, cathartic act, echoing the episode's themes of grief and growth.Connect with Anna Nordberg:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramBook: Anna Nordberg - When She Was OursLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

What do you want? Listen to this to see how to get that!Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 446 of Grief and Happiness is for anyone who's wished a moment of grief or gratitude could last. Author Erica Gerard Di Bona shares how a typewriter and a thousand letters a year have helped her comfort grieving friends and reconnect with a stranger whose life her note changed. Her candid advice on condolences shows why a letter really is better.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:57) Erica's mission to bring back civility, one letter at a time(02:36) How grief after losing her husband led Emily to a year of weekly letters(09:44) Why a letter can reach people carrying hidden grief(10:49) Erica's advice to stop dancing around the word "death"(18:02) Small ways to stay connected — jokes, clippings, and horoscopes(21:02) The letter that resurfaced nine months later and changed a stranger's life(27:23) Erica's "secret weapon" for meetings: typed letters as a UC Santa Cruz "friend raiser"(29:23) What to say — and never say — in a condolence letter(34:14) The century-old letters that revealed hidden family history(39:46) How one letter can turn someone into a lifelong letter writerErica Gerard Di Bona is a lifelong letter writer and author of A Letter Is Better! The Art of Thank You, which makes the case for handwritten notes as tools for connection and healing. A former producer in network news, kids' game shows, and documentaries, she now works as a fundraising consultant for UC Santa Cruz. She types roughly 1,000 letters a year on one of her seven typewriters, connecting her with correspondents like Henry Winkler. Erica lives in Los Angeles with her husband, producer Vin Di Bona, and their daughter.Erica joins Emily to explore letter writing as an antidote to grief and isolation. She shares how her practice has helped her comfort grieving friends, thank strangers for small kindnesses, and stay close to loved ones far away — including a tattoo artist who called nine months after receiving her note to say it pulled him back from despair. She and Emily also swap stories about century-old letters that revealed hidden family history, showing how a letter can outlast the moment it was written. Erica offers guidance on condolence notes, encouraging people to name death plainly and skip empty platitudes in favor of personal memories — framing letter writing as a small act of kindness that can ease someone's grief.Connect with Erica Gerard Di Bona:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramFacebookBook: Erica Gerard Di Bona - A Letter Is Better!: The Art of Thank YouLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

The self-care of paying attention to keeping your emotions positive allows you to experience more positivity which in turn lightens your grief.Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide here See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've ever believed grief and joy can't coexist, episode 444 of Grief and Happiness will change your mind. Cancer survivor Harriet Cabelly shares the mindset that carried her through diagnosis: it's not what happens to you, but what you do with it. Sitting with pain, not rushing past it, is the real path to a life worth living.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:03) Introducing Harriet Cabelly and her work in grief, loss, and positive psychology(02:34) Viktor Frankl, logotherapy, and the life-changing lessons of Man's Search for Meaning(04:27) Harriet's cancer diagnosis and choosing not to live as a victim of circumstance(10:58) Post-traumatic growth: how difficulty can become the seed of real change(11:55) "Leaving an imprint in the sand" — redefining legacy and paying it forward(12:44) Building community through small, unplanned acts of connection(18:08) Turning to creativity — handwritten cards and nature photography — as an outlet for grief(24:33) Why Harriet chose a creative arts therapist over a traditional support group(26:40) Confronting society's discomfort with grief and its obsession with quick fixesHarriet Cabelly is a licensed clinical social worker in New York focused on grief, loss, and life transitions. A cancer survivor, she blends positive psychology with Viktor Frankl's logotherapy, studied through his Vienna institute, and founded Rebuild Life Now. She has authored several books, including Light Through Darkness and Your To Die For Life, and works as a speaker and facilitator helping clients hold grief and joy together.In this episode, Harriet reframed grief around one idea: it's not what happens to us, but what we do with it, that shapes our lives. Rather than adopting a victim mentality after her diagnosis, she used it to fuel a mission of paying forward the gift of her life. She and Emily discussed how creative outlets like handwritten cards and nature photography can substitute for talk therapy, and why growth only emerges once pain is fully felt. Harriet also challenged society's discomfort with grief, noting people reach for quick fixes instead of sitting with pain. The conversation closed on her image of "leaving an imprint in the sand," capturing that healing happens through small acts of care.Connect with Harriet Cabelly:WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeLet's Connect: WebsiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterestThe Grief and Happiness AllianceBook: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

What can you do today to make someone else’s day? What can you do to make your day?Let's Connect:You can join the Grief and Happiness Alliance which meets weekly on Sundays by clicking hereYou can order the International Best Selling The Grief and Happiness Guide by clicking here.You can order Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief by clicking here at Amazon:You can listen to my podcast, Grief and Happiness, by clicking hereRequest your Awaken Your Happiness Journaling Guide hereSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.