The Give and Take of Grief

This one’s tender, you guys.

Links to the episode:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mariah-effect/id1686592829
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OCSU8xOL1RaxMKtOmJRHB?si=dcfa506722fb43a9
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-the-mariah-effect-114523514/
Spreaker Podcast Player: https://www.spreaker.com/user/17109124/the-mariah-effect-5-for-realsies-5-3-23-

Grief is one of those things that never comes at the right time, never looks how you expect it to, and never leaves you quite the same. In this episode, I’m talking about my current grief—what it feels like to watch someone you love slip away slowly. This one is for Roland Merrill, my dad by heart, who is currently on hospice and who I love deeply.

I talk about what it means to grieve before someone is gone, how grief doesn’t wait for the funeral to start, and what it’s like to try to be strong for others while also barely holding it together yourself. This one hit me hard—and I hope it helps anyone else out there holding both love and loss at the same time.

In This Episode:

• The surreal experience of grieving while someone is still alive

• Hospice: how it stretches and compresses time all at once

• Feeling like an outsider in your own family during a crisis

• Balancing full-time work and health issues while navigating grief

• How grief affects your body, your mind, and your relationships

• Taking care of yourself when you're overwhelmed by love and loss

• What grief gives us, not just what it takes away

If you’ve lost someone—or are in the process of losing someone—I hope this makes you feel a little less alone. I’m right there with you.

Listen now and let’s hold space for it together.

For Roland Merrill, I loved you deeply.

1966 - 2025