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Grief Shape-Shifts: Guidance for Parents and LGBTQ Allies Navigating Loss
Description
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Do you ever feel like you should be "past" your grief by now? Like there's some invisible finish line you haven't reached?
On what would have been her sister Corinne's 49th birthday, Heather opens up about the moment that cracked her wide open and why grief doesn't expire, it shape-shifts. In this deeply personal episode, she walks through the five stages of grief not as a checklist, but as a living landscape and draws a powerful through-line between personal loss, the hidden grief parents of LGBTQ+ youth carry, and the collective heartbreak so many of us are feeling right now.
Whether you're an ally looking for guidance, a parent navigating your child's identity, or simply a human carrying something heavy you haven't been able to name, this episode is for you.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why the five stages of grief aren't linear and why that's actually good news
- How denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance show up for parents of LGBTQ+ kids and for allies navigating a world in crisis
- A powerful reframe: acceptance isn't complacency, it's the birthplace of sustainable action
This is the first episode in a three-part grief series. Next week, we'll explore how personal grief maps onto the collective, and what it looks like to hold space for LGBTQ+ families while also holding space for yourself.
If you're ready to stop judging your grief and start getting curious about what it's teaching you, press play now.
Hi, I’m Heather Hester, and I’m so glad you’re here!
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At the heart of my work is a deep commitment to compassion, authenticity, and transformative allyship, especially for those navigating the complexities of parenting LGBTQ kids. Through this podcast, speaking, my writing, and the spaces I create, I help people unlearn bias, embrace their full hum