Widowed AF: Real stories of love, grief and beyond - With Rosie Moss

In this episode Rosie Moss speaks with Jackie L. Disch, who shares the story of her wife Katie and the life they built together over 23 years. A relationship rooted in deep acceptance.Katie’s death came suddenly in 2020 after a series of strokes, during a time when COVID restrictions meant hospitals were inaccessible, isolating, and frightening. What followed was a rapid shift from normal life into end-of-life care at home, as Jackie supported Katie through her final weeks.This is a conversation about presence. About what it means to stay when things are hard. About advocating for the person you love, even when every part of you wants a different outcome. Jackie speaks candidly about the decisions they made to prioritise comfort over intervention, and the complexity of holding both love and loss in the same space.There is honesty here about fear, anger, and the practical realities that come after death. But there is also something else running through it, a thread of dignity, connection, and what Jackie describes as “living grief” rather than moving on from it.This episode covers:• A long-term partnership built on acceptance and deep emotional safety• The impact of COVID on medical care and end-of-life choices• Katie’s strokes and the rapid progression to home hospice  • Caring for a partner at home, including communication loss and dependency• Advocacy, autonomy, and the idea of a “good death”• The emotional reality of early grief, including anger and administrative overwhelm• Lockdown, stillness, and being unable to avoid grief• Writing, memory, and learning to live alongside loss rather than resolve it

In this episode I’m joined by Orlagh Reynolds, whose husband Fraser died from motor neurone disease.Their story starts the way so many of the best ones do. A chance meeting in Dublin, a bit of boldness, and a gut feeling that turned into a life. Together they built something full. Australia, travel, work, marriage, and their daughter, Una.And then another gut feeling. This one telling Orlagh they needed to go home to Ireland.Not long after, Fraser was diagnosed with MND.What follows is a conversation about what happens when you are told, in no uncertain terms, that the person you love is going to die, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Oriagh talks about what the disease took from Fraser, slowly and relentlessly, and how they made a conscious decision to focus on what remained. Their home became a place of care, honesty, humour, and, perhaps most strikingly, gratitude. Not forced positivity, but a daily practice that carried them through the worst of it.We talk about parenting through terminal illness. How you explain something like this to a child. How you include them without overwhelming them. And what it looks like to raise a child in the middle of something most adults would struggle to survive.We talk about Fraser’s creativity in the face of unimaginable loss. The art he created using only his eyes. The legacy he built while his body failed him. And the letter he left behind for his wife and daughter, waiting until the moment it was needed.And we talk about what comes after. Solo parenting. The empty house at night. The decisions that are yours and yours alone. And the relentless reality of continuing on.This one is devastating in places. But it’s also full of love, strength, and a kind of perspective that stays with you.

Rosie is joined by Fran Milne, whose husband Matt died suddenly after collapsing on a flight home from Singapore.What begins as a familiar story of work travel, school runs and family life shifts in an instant into something unthinkable. A knock at the door. A police officer standing on the driveway. And the kind of shock that splits your life into before and after.In this deeply honest conversation, Fran talks Rosie through the moment everything changed. From the surreal wait in her living room, to the phone call from the air ambulance, to the long drive to the hospital knowing something was very wrong. And then the moment no one can prepare you for.They talk about the practical and emotional chaos that follows sudden loss. Telling the children. The decisions you never thought you’d have to make. The strange, jarring details that stay with you. And the small moments of humanity that carry you through the worst day of your life.There is heartbreak here, but also warmth, humour, and the kind of clarity that only comes from living through it.This episode covers:Sudden death and medical traumaThe reality of a police knock at the doorDeep vein thrombosis and missed symptomsThe experience of hospital after a sudden lossTelling children their parent has diedEarly grief, shock, and survival

Jess Herrick was 28 when her partner Max was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer.What followed was a year of brutal treatment, long hospital stays, and a kind of life that no one in their twenties expects to be living. Against the odds, Max went into remission and they tried to rebuild. But just a year later, the cancer came back, this time terminal.In this episode, Jess talks about loving someone through illness, becoming a carer in your mid-twenties, and the quiet, devastating losses that come with young widowhood, not just the person, but the future you were meant to have together.They got married in a hospice just days before Max died.Jess also shares what it’s actually like to be widowed at 28, the messy reality of grief in your twenties, and why she’s now helping other young widows find each other through peer support.This one is raw, honest, and devastating, but also full of love.

Rosie is joined by Leslie Harter-Berg, author of You Are So Strong, to talk about sudden loss, solo parenting, and rebuilding a life you never asked for.Leslie’s husband Ryan died unexpectedly in 2019 after suffering an aneurysm and stroke while they were on a family holiday. He was 34. They had two very young children. One moment they were by the pool, the next, everything had changed.They talk about the reality of those early days. Telling your children their dad has died. Coming home without him. The strange, relentless practicalities of grief. And why being told “you are so strong” can feel completely off the mark.They also talk about what comes next. Finding love again. Building a blended family. Raising children who grieve in very different ways. And holding both joy and devastation at the same time.Leslie shares how her book came to be, and how writing it felt less like revisiting trauma and more like spending time with Ryan again.About Leslie's BookTitle: You Are So Strong: On Grief and Letting Go of My Favourite Compliment Available: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Kindle, and Audible (narrated by Leslie herself)Where to Find LeslieInstagram: @lesliehartbergNonprofit: Bids for Wids (sharing widows' stories)Where to Find RosiePodcast: Widowed AFBook: Rosie's memoir (published on the anniversary of Ben's death)Content NoteThis episode discusses sudden bereavement, young widowhood, children's grief, and the death of a spouse. If you have been affected by any of the topics discussed, you can reach out to Rosie or Leslie directly via their social channels.