Tara is our last guest for season 3, and her story is an incredible one to end on. Tara speaks with us about losing her daughter, Taylor in a skiing accident. Tara and her family were able to give the gift of life through donating Taylor's organs. They then decided to help form a support group for families who grieve the death of a loved one and also educate about the importance of organ donation. Tara and her husband founded their organization, Taylor's Gift. Their slogan is - Outlive Yourself. We found Tara to be inspiring and uplifting. To go through the loss of a child and to continue to build from that loss is extraordinary. We hope you love her episode!

20 years ago Heidi lost her 5 year old daughter Alison, to a brain tumor. She walks us through what life was like before Alison's diagnosis, and what happened throughout her life after Alison passed away. Heidi is definitely making lemonade with her lemons. She chose to keep moving forward and to honor Alison through living her own life and fulfilling what matters most to her.

Heidi has made some big changes in her career and location. She worked in public affairs advising on health care policy in a variety of positions including the Idaho Director of Government Affairs for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. 8 years after losing her daughter and realizing she had some good tools & resources to share with others she founded 'Ohana Oasis' in hopes to help others work through their grief & loss through retreats.

Talking with Heidi was so uplifting. We are so happy that she shared her story and wisdom on our podcast. We hope that you guys love this episode as much as we did.

http://ohanaoasis.org

This week's guest, Mandi tells us about her son, Tate who passed away a couple of years ago. Tate was a talented, smart, brave, and very busy boy who seemed to excel at many things in life. Tate unfortunately left this world too soon, and Mandi does a beautiful job at sharing her experiences through the grief and mourning of her son.

We love when you guys leave comments for our guests. Thank you for listening to our episodes. We love you guys!

Stephanie is our guest on this weeks episode. She tells us her story of losing her child due to an incompetent cervix. Stephanie teaches us all about her diagnosis, and what she has been through since losing her son and the multiple miscarriages after. She is doing a wonderful job at raising awareness and educating others all about having an incompetent cervix. We know her episode will find who needs to hear her story. We are honored that she chose to share it on Making Lemonade, and hope that you enjoy this episode.

Robert Bowles talks about the loss of his first born and his late wife Sarah’s battle with stomach cancer.

Child Loss + Widower

Michele Benyo is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®, a parent coach, and the founder of Good Grief Parenting. After her 6-year-old son died of cancer, her 3-year-old daughter said, “Mommy, half of me is gone.” This heartbreaking statement focused Michele’s career as an early childhood parenting specialist on the impact of grief on young children, particularly after child loss. Michele equips parents and other caring adults to recognize young children’s grief and to provide the support children need to cope well with any loss. The desire of Michele’s heart is to see families live forward after loss toward a future bright with possibilities and even joy.

Angela! She is our guest today on the podcast and let me tell you a little about this amazing woman! She lost her son, Cole at age 15 to brain cancer. While Kels and I can relate to losing a child, what came next we cannot. She then lost her husband right before the pandemic. To go through grief, lose your spouse and then become isolated when the world shut down. Was a whole other level for Angela. The way she climbed out of that grief is inspiring. She also started a foundation in Cole's honor. It's called The Cole Project. They focus on peer to peer music based support services for grief and healing. "Where words fail, music speaks". Angela has done incredible things for teens and young adults in her community. You can find out more about The Cole Project here:

www.thecoleproject.org

And on Instagram @the_cole_project