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

In this special episode, Rosie Moss sits down with entrepreneur, widow and community builder Nicky Wake to explore the power of widow led spaces. Nicky is best known for founding Chapter Two Dating and Widows Fire, two platforms that reshape how widows re enter intimacy and connection. Her newest venture, The Widow Collective, goes even deeper, creating a free, grassroots home for widowed people to meet, talk and feel understood.

Together, Rosie and Nicky unpack why widowhood needs its own spaces, how unmet needs sparked these projects, and what happens when grief meets humour, friendship and real world support. Nicky talks candidly about her own loss, parenting and recovery, and why she believes solidarity is life saving.

This episode is an invitation to join the conversation and a glimpse into what The Widow Collective is building next.

Episode Highlights / Talking Points

• Why Nicky created Chapter Two Dating and Widows Fire

• The launch of The Widow Collective and how it already serves thousands

• Peer led support through Zoom chats, forums and local meetups

• Tackling taboo topics openly

• Why grief literacy matters for society

• Nicky’s personal journey, motherhood and recovery

#widowhood #griefsupport #bereavementcommunity #widoweddating #ChapterTwoDating #WidowsFire #TheWidowCollective #RosieMoss #NickyWake #WidowedAF #peersupport #lifeafterloss #griefliteracy #widowsintheUK #healingincommunity

In this deeply honest episode, Rosie Moss sits down with author, coach and mental health advocate Tabby Kerwin to talk about the kind of love that shifts you, the kind of loss that breaks you, and the slow, unexpected freedom that can grow from grief.

Tabby takes us inside her story with Simon, her late husband. First they were musicians side by side, then partners wrapped in intimacy, humour and shared purpose. They weathered an untypical cancer journey together, marked by delayed diagnosis, brutal treatment, remission, and a devastating infection that cut their time short.

This is a conversation about love, but it is equally about survival. Tabby opens up about parenting through bereavement, allowing her son Ollie autonomy in his grief, and the hidden pain of carrying the truth alone until she finally let family in before goodbye.

We talk about mental health, inherited expectations, and the teenage grief that shaped her early adulthood. Tabby reflects on the moment widowhood became permission rather than punishment, letting her live truthfully, speak publicly, and refuse shame.

She shares the solace she found in tiny rituals, prawn dumplings, Grey’s Anatomy, community, and fierce honesty. And she names the bittersweet peace of being content in her own company post loss, no longer running but coming home to herself.

If you have ever loved deeply, lost painfully, or rebuilt quietly, this episode will meet you where you are.

Episode Highlights / Show Notes

• Love and connection through music

• A complex cancer journey and sudden loss

• Parenting and autonomy in grief

• Mental health, teenage bereavement and identity

• Choosing authenticity and advocacy over silence

• Widowhood as a turning point into selfhood

• Finding peace in singleness, community and purpose

#widowhood #griefsupport #bereavementpodcast #widowedparents #griefjourney #mentalhealth #cancerloss #lifeafterloss #singleparenting #identityaftergrief #TabbyKerwin #SimonKerwin #lovestory #resilience #healingafterloss #womensstories #RosieMoss #WidowedAF #griefcommunity

In this episode, Rosie Moss speaks with Becky Shepherd, a mother of two and the widow of Paul, her husband of more than twenty years. What begins as a warm and funny look back at their early romance in Birmingham unfolds into a raw, deeply human account of sudden loss and the impossible steps that follow.

Becky talks about meeting Paul in her early twenties and the ease of falling in love with someone who felt like home from the start. Together they built a loud, music-filled family life where their sons, Jake and Archie, grew up knowing a present and devoted dad. “We were his hobby,” Becky says, remembering nights spent dancing in the kitchen and the ordinary joy of being together.

Everything changed on a family holiday in Turkey when Paul, a healthy forty six year old, suffered a cardiac arrest in the hotel gym. Becky describes the desperate search for a defibrillator that did not exist, the kindness of strangers who stepped in to help her boys, and the moment in the hospital when her world shattered.

In the days that followed, she navigated repatriation, post-mortem paperwork, and the unbearable task of telling her sons that their dad had died. She also shares glimmers of light: the boys choosing Paul’s sunglasses and drumsticks for his coffin, music from their family life echoing through the funeral, and the quiet gratitude that life insurance allowed them to keep their home.

With honesty, humour, and a remarkable steadiness, Becky reflects on grief, anger, love, and rebuilding. Together, she and Rosie explore how widowhood reshapes a life and why remembering the good years matters just as much as surviving the hard ones.

#widowhood#grief #suddenloss #soloparenting #bereavement #cardiacarrest #familyholidaytragedy #rebuildingafterloss#widowedparents #griefpodcast #WidowedAF #loveandloss #parentingthroughgrief #youngwidowhood #survivingtheunimaginable

In this deeply human and beautifully raw episode, Rosie Moss sits down with Aimie Strachan, a widow and mother of two whose husband John died suddenly from an undiagnosed aortic dissection. What unfolds is a conversation full of love, shock, courage, and the fierce tenderness of solo parenting after loss.

Aimie traces their story from meeting as young teachers in Dubai to the ease and joy of their marriage, and then to the night everything changed. With heartbreaking clarity she describes the medical crisis that unfolded, the impossible decisions she faced, and the moment she had to tell her children that their dad had died.

Rosie and Aimie explore the messy truth of grief. The anger. The bitterness. The lonely practicalities. The way it lands differently on children. And the exhaustion of trying to access the right support. Amid the devastation there is also movement. Aimie talks about how community, creativity, the outdoors, and connection with other widows helped her find her footing again. She has since launched a Whitley Bay brand in John’s honour and is determined to live with more urgency and intention. Life is so short. Just do the thing.

This conversation offers space for heartbreak, softness, rage, growth, and the small quiet moments of hope that show up when you least expect them.

Show Notes

In this episode Rosie and Aimie talk about

• How Aimie met her husband John in Dubai and how quickly and naturally their relationship grew

• Building a life together, marrying, and welcoming their two children

• The sudden onset of John’s symptoms and the unfolding of a rare aortic dissection

• The confusion, urgency and helplessness of those final hours in hospital

• The emotional and practical reality of end of life decisions

• The moment Aimie told her children their dad had died and the ongoing impact on them

• How grief shows up in children in unexpected ways and why childhood bereavement needs more awareness and support

• The anger, bitterness and sheer exhaustion of grieving inside a broken mental health system

• Finding comfort in nature, forest school sessions and small grounding routines

• The power of community and widowed friendship in the early stages of loss

• Launching a heartfelt Whitley Bay brand in John’s honour and rediscovering purpose

• Why Aimie now leans into life’s brevity and pushes herself to do the things she once hesitated over

• Navigating difficult seasons like Christmas with honesty and gentleness

In this episode, host Rosie Moss sits down with writer and solo parent Emma Charlesworth, whose husband Charlie died of COVID-19 during the first UK lockdown. Emma’s memoir, Daddy Going to Be Okay?, grew from voice notes and late night blog posts into a powerful account of grief, parenting through trauma, and finding connection in the darkest days.

Emma shares the story of Charlie’s final days in hospital, the painful reality of ICU restrictions, and the moment she had to answer her daughter’s impossible question about whether Daddy would come home. Together, Rosie and Emma talk about the invisible work of widowhood, the small moments that keep you going, and the way grief shifts and reshapes your life long after the world expects you to be fine.

This is a raw and hopeful conversation about love, honesty, resilience, and the courage it takes to tell your story.

Key themes from the episode include:

• Emma’s account of losing her husband Charlie during the earliest days of COVID-19 and the emotional toll of ICU restrictions and isolation.

• Parenting her daughter Rebekah through grief and choosing honesty over false reassurance when asked, “Is Daddy going to be okay?”

• How social media became a lifeline that humanised the statistics dominating the headlines.

• Writing as survival, beginning with private notes and blog posts that grew into an award-winning blog and eventually a book.

• The invisible labour of widowhood, from solo parenting and finances to the fear that appearing “fine” will make your pain invisible.

• The way grief shows up years later in unexpected moments and the role of symbols, like tattoos and travel, in marking resilience.

• Emma’s belief that grief never ends, but it does change. “Grief is a book on the shelf. It is still there, but surrounded by other stories now.”

The episode closes with a conversation about the meaning behind her book’s title and the small joys, like a bouncing Tigger, that sit beside heartbreak in the story of love, loss, and carrying on.

#widowhood #grief #soloparenting #covidgrief #bereavement #parentingafterloss #widowedmum #memoir #loss #resilience #mentalhealth #trauma #storytelling #widowcommunity #griefsupport #WidowedAF #RosieMoss #EmmaCharlesworth