Sometimes grief shows up in ways that surprise you. Laughing at the worst possible moment. Feeling nothing at all when you expected to fall apart. A flash of relief that frightens you. Anger that seems to come from nowhere and land everywhere.

In this episode of Widow's Permission Slips, I sit with you in the parts of grief that feel strange or even wrong, the ones that make you quietly wonder if something is broken in you. We talk about why anger belongs to grief, why numbness is a form of grieving too, and why each of these reactions is your heart doing exactly what grief asks of it.

Widow's Permission Slips is a production of Ember & Bloom Coaching for Widows, hosted by Gladys Jean Ullstam, certified life coach and Gary's widow.

If you are ready to be met exactly where you are, my free discovery call, Holding the Ember, is open at emberandbloomcoaching.com/appointments.

Follow the show so a new permission slip finds you each week, and share it with a widow who needs to hear it.

Website: emberandbloomcoaching.com

You are not alone in this.

It has been a while now, and you can feel the expectation in the air. The sense that you should be further along by this point. Maybe someone has said it out loud, or maybe it is just the way the conversations around you have moved on while you are still standing in the middle of it.

In this episode of Widow's Permission Slips, I sit with you in the myth that grief runs on a schedule. We look at where the idea of neat stages and tidy timelines came from, why it does not match the real experience of losing your person, and what starts to loosen when you stop measuring yourself against a clock that was never built for grief.

Widow's Permission Slips is a production of Ember & Bloom Coaching for Widows, hosted by Gladys Jean Ullstam, certified life coach and Gary's widow.

If you are ready to be met exactly where you are, my free discovery call, Holding the Ember, is open at emberandbloomcoaching.com/appointments.

Follow the show so a new permission slip finds you each week, and share it with a widow who needs to hear it.

Website: emberandbloomcoaching.com

You are not alone in this.

Episode 1 — You Don't Have to Be Okay

Everyone around you seems to need you to be okay. The friend who keeps telling you how strong you are. The coworker who relaxes when you smile. The part of you that has learned to say "I'm fine" because it is easier than watching someone's face fall.

In this first episode of Widow's Permission Slips, I sit with you in the exhaustion of performing okay when you are anything but. We talk about where that pressure comes from, why it shows up so early in grief, and what starts to ease when you finally set it down.

Widow's Permission Slips is a production of Ember & Bloom Coaching for Widows, hosted by Gladys Jean Ullstam, certified life coach and Gary's widow.

If you are ready to be met exactly where you are, my free discovery call, Holding the Ember, is open at emberandbloomcoaching.com/appointments.

Follow the show so a new permission slip finds you each week, and share it with a widow who needs to hear it.

Website: emberandbloomcoaching.com

You are not alone in this.