Giving Grief Grace

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Giving Grief Grace

Lisa Hartung

37 episodes

2 days ago

What does grief look like when it begins with leaving home? In this episode, artist and musician Jacqueline van Bierk shares her extraordinary life story of escaping communist East Germany as a teenager just weeks before the Berlin Wall fell, leaving her parents behind with no way to know if they’d ever reunite. Jacqueline opens up about growing up in a controlled, black-and-white world, her daring escape through Prague, and the emotional weight of choosing freedom while risking everything. S...

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Health & Fitness

All content for Giving Grief Grace is the property of Lisa Hartung and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

What does grief look like when it begins with leaving home? In this episode, artist and musician Jacqueline van Bierk shares her extraordinary life story of escaping communist East Germany as a teenager just weeks before the Berlin Wall fell, leaving her parents behind with no way to know if they’d ever reunite. Jacqueline opens up about growing up in a controlled, black-and-white world, her daring escape through Prague, and the emotional weight of choosing freedom while risking everything. S...

Show more...

Health & Fitness

Episodes (20/37)

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 34 - The Holiday Hangover: Grief, Reflection, and Finding Joy After Christmas

After weeks of anticipation, celebration, and emotional effort, the holidays end and for those who are grieving, the quiet that follows can feel overwhelming. In this solo episode of Giving Grief Grace, Lisa reflects on the often-unspoken weight of the days between Christmas and the New Year. Lisa shares personal stories of navigating grief during the holidays, growing up with a birthday just days after Christmas, and now holding both joy and guilt as her son celebrates a December birthday of...

23 hours ago

16 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 33 - Grieving Through the Holidays (Week 4): Gratitude & Grief

As we arrive at the final week of the Grieving Through the Holidays Advent journey, we turn toward a powerful truth: gratitude can coexist with grief. In this episode, Lisa reflects on how grief is not something to “move past,” but rather to live alongside. Grief is love with no place to go. When we allow gratitude and grief to sit side by side, we begin to see how deeply we have loved and how expansive the human spirit truly is. Through sharing a personal story of hiking Bald Mountain with h...

1 week ago

15 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 32 - Grieving Through the Holidays (Week 3): Legacy & Creating New Memories

In Week 3 of the Grieving Through the Holidays Advent series, Lisa invites the community to shift from remembrance and fully embracing emotions into a sense of renewal. After honoring our loved ones in Week 1 and holding space for our emotions in Week 2, this Week 3 episode focuses on honoring legacy while intentionally creating new memories. Lisa shares about a new tradition that she's begun with her daughter through doing daily Advent puzzles together. This daily task has become a sacred mo...

2 weeks ago

10 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 31 - Grieving Through the Holidays (Week 2): Feel & Hold Space

In Week 2 of our Grieving Through the Holidays Advent Series, we move from honoring memories to fully feeling what is bubbling up inside. Our focus is about feeling the feelings and holding space for where you are right now. In a season full of busyness, expectations, and emotional triggers, grief tends to be ever present. When we give our grief room to breathe, we also make space for healing, relief, and even unexpected moments of gratitude. Without grief, it would be tough to feel joy. ...

3 weeks ago

13 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 30 - Grieving Through the Holidays (Week 1): Honor & Remember

The holidays are tough. Add grief to the mix and life can get a bit complicated. We get it - we're there too, sitting alongside you on this grief journey. Welcome to Giving Grief Grace's "Grieving Through the Holidays" Advent series. This is Week 1 where we focus on the theme of honoring and remembering our loved ones by carrying memories forward with grace and intention. Lisa shares her own real-life holiday grief experience—crying the night before Thanksgiving, waking up physica...

4 weeks ago

21 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 29 - Finding Support Through Grief: Navigating Work, Parenting, and Identity After Loss

This week, we explore what it means to navigate grief while juggling work, caregiving, motherhood, and identity shifts. Sarah Kagan of Keriah Grief Coaching shares the story of losing her mother to pancreatic cancer, how returning to work without acknowledgment magnified her pain, and the moment she realized her life no longer aligned with who she was becoming. Together, we talk about the “double loss” that comes with caregiving, how grief support in the workplace could improve, and how quest...

1 month ago

42 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 28 - Grief Through the Holidays: Ideas, Rituals, and Support for the Hard Days

The holidays can feel overwhelming when you’re grieving. In this episode, we are joined by Walker Posey, a fourth-generation funeral director at Posey Funeral Directors and National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) spokesperson known for blending tradition with meaningful, modern ways to honor life and support families. Together, we explore grief through the holidays with practical ideas, gentle rituals, and compassionate guidance for navigating a season that brings both love and heartach...

1 month ago

47 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 27 - Running with Purpose: My NYC Marathon with Project Purple and the Power of Community

In this solo episode, Lisa shares her experience of training for and running the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon with Project Purple. At ten months postpartum, she took to the streets of NYC on a perfect marathon day, raising awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer research. From the hours of training to the electric energy of the cheering crowds and thoughtful race-day details like lactation support for moms, Lisa reflects on how every step of the race was fueled by purpose and community. ...

1 month ago

24 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 26 - Grief, Legacy, and Literacy: How Loss Shaped an Educator’s Mission to Help People Read

Former teacher and principal, and current K–12 literacy director, Katie Megrian has spent over two decades working in schools. She founded The Reading Symphony, a mission-driven platform that helps families and educators understand how reading develops and how it can transform lives. Behind her work lies a deeply personal story of love and loss. In this episode, Katie shares how losing her brother at age four, her aunt as a teen, and her father to pancreatic cancer just months before her wedd...

1 month ago

38 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 25 - Grief in the Digital Age: Dr. Camelia Clarke on Social Media Etiquette and Setting Boundaries After Loss

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Camelia Clarke — owner of Paradise Memorial Funeral and Cremation Services and nationally recognized Funeral Director and grief etiquette advocate — as she shares how compassion can guide us through even the most delicate moments of loss. With nearly thirty years in the funeral profession, Dr. Clarke has helped countless families navigate death with dignity. After experiencing the sudden loss of her nephew and witnessing how quickly painful news can sprea...

2 months ago

46 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 24 - Living Fully with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer: The Freedom of Letting Go

When stage 4 ovarian cancer came back for the third time, Melanie Ezell made a radical decision—to stop fighting and start living. A surfer, yogi, nutritionist, and coach in Oahu, Hawaii, Melanie has turned her diagnosis into a daily practice of presence, gratitude, and freedom. She shares how surrender eased her anxiety, how acceptance steadied her body, and how peace arrived only after she let go of the need to “beat” cancer. Together, we explore what it means to live fully while going thro...

2 months ago

54 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 23 - Soul Echoes: Finding Comfort and Connection After Death Through a Spiritual Medium

This week we sit down with Trish Riggle, a fifth-generation intuitive and spiritual medium who has been connecting with spirits for over twenty years. Trish opens up about what it means to carry that lineage—how she first recognized her intuitive gift at the age of four, and how she now uses her abilities to bring comfort, healing, and validation to those seeking peace after loss through her company Soul Echoes with Trish. She's worked with nurses, lawyers, and police offers on missing person...

2 months ago

58 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 22 - From Soviet Silence to Soulful Healing: A Refugee’s Journey to Inner Peace After Lymphatic Cancer

Born Jewish in the former Soviet Union, Diana Esther grew up in a world where faith was forbidden and smiles were rare—she didn’t see a real smile until her late teens. Fleeing as a refugee with her parents and only three suitcases, she sought freedom but later faced another life-altering challenge: a rare lymphatic cancer diagnosis as a young mother. Diana traveled around Europe in search of the right doctors because she needed to be there for her family. After her treatment options were exh...

2 months ago

53 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 21 - Breaking Through the Dark: Redefining Self After a Near-Death Experience (NDE)

Dawn Christensen’s life has been defined by resilience and reinvention. Born without breath, surviving a near-death experience (NDE) after a car accident, living with chronic illness, and still finding her way back to the light—Dawn embodies what it means to reinvent the self amidst tremendous challenge. A certified somatic healer, expressive arts counselor, and founder of The Grace Program—a nonprofit bringing the arts to cancer patients—Dawn shares how body, soul, and synchronicity ca...

3 months ago

55 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 20 - A Sacred Passage: Shamanic Journeying Through Loss and Light

This week we sit down with Rachel Fitzpatrick, a yoga teacher, creator, and host of The FitZen Project Podcast. Rachel shares her life-changing experience of taking her grandmother’s hand and walking her home during a shamanic journey. She offers listeners an intimate look at how this spiritual practice can open space for love, presence, and release at life’s threshold. Together, we talk about how grief can be both a weight and a portal—an invitation to deepen intuition, connect with spirit, ...

3 months ago

47 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 19 - Senior Living Made S.I.M.P.L.E.™: Shari Ross on Caregiving, Community, and Courage

Navigating senior living decisions can feel overwhelming—whether you’re noticing red flags with loved ones' health, living situation, or wellbeing, avoiding challenging family conversations, or feeling guilt around choosing the best affordable caregiving option. In this episode, we sit down with senior living consultant, author, and advocate Shari Ross, creator of the Senior Living Made S.I.M.P.L.E.™ Method. Shari blends professional expertise with her own caregiving journey to bring families...

3 months ago

51 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 18 - What Happens After? Author Diane Namm on Love, Loss, and Healing on Your Own Time

This week we sit down with Diane Namm—author of 65 books to discuss the release of her new book:What Happens After? Together we explore love, loss, and how healing from grief takes as long as it takes. Diane shares her extraordinary writing journey and the inspiration behind this heartfelt story that honors grief as a process without a timeline. Together, we discuss the many ways we can move forward while still holding close the memory of loved ones, and how celebrating them in unique, ...

3 months ago

42 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 17 - Building a Roadmap of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer with Dino Verrelli of Project Purple

This week we sit down with Dino Verrelli, Founder and CEO of Project Purple, a leading nonprofit dedicated to fighting pancreatic cancer. Inspired by his father’s pancreatic cancer journey, Dino turned grief into purpose by creating a community that funds groundbreaking research, provides direct patient support, and builds hope for families navigating one of the toughest cancer diagnoses. Together, we explore Project Purple’s impactful support of early detection research with Duke Cancer Inst...

4 months ago

55 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 16 - How to Survive Caregiving: 5 Practical Tips to Ease Stress and Overwhelm

Caregiving can feel like too much to carry — the constant demands, the emotional weight, and the exhaustion that lingers even when you’re doing your best. In this solo episode, host Lisa Hartung shares five practical caregiving tips to help reduce stress, ease overwhelm, and find moments of peace amidst a challenging time. From taking just one minute for yourself, to cherishing small moments, letting go of regrets, leaning on your support network, and truly listening to your loved one, these ...

4 months ago

27 minutes

Giving Grief Grace

Episode 15 - The Power of Presence: A Mother’s Story of Child Loss, Leukemia, and Finding Joy

When Suzanne Andora Barron’s son Christopher was first diagnosed with leukemia at age three, she could never have imagined the rollercoaster that lay ahead. Over the next six years, Christopher faced leukemia three times, passing away at age 9. Through it all, Suzanne made a powerful choice: to be fully present with Christopher and his younger brother Ryan. Traditional rules went out the window, and each day was filled with fun and play, no matter the circumstances. Suzanne and her husb...

4 months ago

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