In this episode, Rosie Moss speaks with Becky Shepherd, a mother of two and the widow of Paul, her husband of more than twenty years. What begins as a warm and funny look back at their early romance in Birmingham unfolds into a raw, deeply human account of sudden loss and the impossible steps that follow.

Becky talks about meeting Paul in her early twenties and the ease of falling in love with someone who felt like home from the start. Together they built a loud, music-filled family life where their sons, Jake and Archie, grew up knowing a present and devoted dad. “We were his hobby,” Becky says, remembering nights spent dancing in the kitchen and the ordinary joy of being together.

Everything changed on a family holiday in Turkey when Paul, a healthy forty six year old, suffered a cardiac arrest in the hotel gym. Becky describes the desperate search for a defibrillator that did not exist, the kindness of strangers who stepped in to help her boys, and the moment in the hospital when her world shattered.

In the days that followed, she navigated repatriation, post-mortem paperwork, and the unbearable task of telling her sons that their dad had died. She also shares glimmers of light: the boys choosing Paul’s sunglasses and drumsticks for his coffin, music from their family life echoing through the funeral, and the quiet gratitude that life insurance allowed them to keep their home.

With honesty, humour, and a remarkable steadiness, Becky reflects on grief, anger, love, and rebuilding. Together, she and Rosie explore how widowhood reshapes a life and why remembering the good years matters just as much as surviving the hard ones.

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