When Stacey Heale’s husband, Greg, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, life became a blur of caregiving, grief, and trying to hold a family together with two small children and no time to waste. Overnight, Stacey became a caregiver, medical advocate, emotional buffer, and the person holding all the impossible pieces.

In this tender and fiercely honest conversation, Stacey and Kate talk about what it means to love someone all the way to the end, and then somehow keep living. They explore the invisible labor of caregiving, the loneliness of anticipatory grief, and the weird sacredness of the small things that break you. There are no perfect endings here. Just the beauty and brutality of trying to live inside a love that doesn’t get to last.

Heads up: There’s some strong language in this episode—because sometimes life is just too much for tidy words.

In this conversation, Kate and Stacey discuss:
Why we grieve the ordinary things like school plays and grocery store noodles
What it means to love someone without believing in soulmates
The quiet devastation of living in the “before and after”
The strange glow of early grief and what happens when it fades

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like: 
John Green: Chronic not Curable
Clover Stroud: The Rituals of Grief
Tembi Locke: Grief of the Almosts

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

When Stacey Heale&rsquo;s husband, Greg, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, life became a blur of caregiving, grief, and trying to hold a family together with two small children and no time to waste. Overnight, Stacey became a caregiver, medical advocate, emotional buffer, and the person holding all the impossible pieces.
In this tender and fiercely honest conversation, Stacey and Kate talk about what it means to love someone all the way to the end, and then somehow keep living. They explore the invisible labor of caregiving, the loneliness of anticipatory grief, and the weird sacredness of the small things that break you. There are no perfect endings here. Just the beauty and brutality of trying to live inside a love that doesn&rsquo;t get to last.
Heads up: There&rsquo;s some strong language in this episode&mdash;because sometimes life is just too much for tidy words.
In this conversation, Kate and Stacey discuss:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Why we grieve the ordinary things like school plays and grocery store noodles</li>
<li aria-level="1">What it means to love someone without believing in soulmates</li>
<li aria-level="1">The quiet devastation of living in the &ldquo;before and after&rdquo;</li>
<li aria-level="1">The strange glow of early grief and what happens when it fades</li>
</ul>
If you liked this episode, you&rsquo;ll also like:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">John Green: <a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/john-green-chronic-not-curable/">Chronic not Curable</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/clover-stroud/">Clover Stroud: The Rituals of Grief</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/grief-of-the-almosts/">Tembi Locke: Grief of the Almosts</a></li>
</ul>
<hr>
&nbsp;
Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by&nbsp;<a href="https://katebowler.com/podcast/">clicking here</a> or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.
Follow Kate on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katecbowler/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/katecbowler">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/KatecBowler">X</a> (formerly known as Twitter)&mdash;@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.  Find her online at @katecbowler.

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/

Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.  Find her online at @katecbowler.
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>

Honest conversation about life's less-shiny moments.

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