<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>This episode covers:</p><p>• A long-term partnership built on acceptance and deep emotional safety<br class="my-2">• The impact of COVID on medical care and end-of-life choices<br class="my-2">• Katie’s strokes and the rapid progression to home hospice&nbsp; <br class="my-2">• Caring for a partner at home, including communication loss and dependency<br class="my-2">• Advocacy, autonomy, and the idea of a “good death”<br class="my-2">• The emotional reality of early grief, including anger and administrative overwhelm<br class="my-2">• Lockdown, stillness, and being unable to avoid grief<br class="my-2">• Writing, memory, and learning to live alongside loss rather than resolve it</p>