Episode 7: Jenny and Angie’s Sister

On today’s episode, I speak with my dear friend, Michele Thorson. Michele and I became friends shortly after I moved to Grand Rapids, 15 years ago. Michele’s mother had recently died and my mother had died about 10 years prior to that so I was able to...

The Closets

The semi-annual cleaning of the closets is a task that I have done many times before. I go through my youngest son, Peter’s closet and take out all of the clothes that he has outgrown over the past season. We then make our way into Andy’s room and go...

Episode 6: Jack’s Mom

In today’s episode, I speak with Jack’s mom, Anna Whiston-Donaldson. Jack died in 2011 at the age of 12 in a freak flash flood while playing at a neighbor’s house. Anna had (and still has) a very popular blog post at the time entitled An Inch of...

Episode 5: Gwen – The Early Days

Today’s episode is the first of several where Gwen and I discuss specific topics related to grief. We decided to start at the beginning, those horrible first few days after the death of a child or another loved one. Originally, I planned for this to be Episode 7...

Episode 4: Seth’s Mom

In this Episode of Always Andy’s Mom, I talk with Jolynn Van Wienen and hear the story of her son, Seth. Seth was killed in 2007 when he was 10 years old. He was struck by a car while he was running across the street following a soccer game. Jolynn’s...