Grief Is My Side Hustle

Ep. 47. Inez Ribustello: Author of Life After Windows

On 9/11 Inez Ribustello worked her dream job at Windows on the World at the top of the World Trade Center.  She lost 85 friends and colleagues. Inez talks to me about what it has meant to build a life after such tremendous loss. 

 

Eastern North Carolina native, Inez Ribustello, got her start in the world of food and wine after moving to New York City to pursue a career in cooking. She chose New York’s Institute of Culinary Education to jumpstart her new path, where she began to learn about wine. From there, she worked at Best Cellars, the groundbreaking, mid-priced wine store on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Her wine career took a huge leap forward when she became an Assistant Cellar Master at the renowned World Trade Center restaurant Windows on the World. In a very short time, she was promoted to Beverage Director, putting her in the position as wine buyer for the largest grossing restaurant in North America. 

 

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 impacted her both personally and professionally.

Having lost friends, colleagues, and her job in the attacks, she had to face her future. She chose

to throw herself into her work and took the position of Beverage Director for Blue Fin Restaurant

in the W Hotel-Times Square. Her work received rave reviews from New York Magazine

Ep. 46. Eileen Robertson Hamra

Meghan Talks to Eileen about her Book Time to Fly which tells the story of losing her beloved husband Brian in a plane crash on Christmas Eve when her three children were very small.  Creator of Fit Together, Eileen is a believes in taking care of your body, and also your mind.  Her book Time to fly highlights her belief that we are still connected even in death and all the signs we can receive if we are open to it.

https://www.eileenrobertsonhamra.com

Ep. 45. Disenfranchised Grief with journalist/author Simon Kuper from The Financial Times

In This bonus episode I talk with journalist Simon Kuper about his recent article on Disenfranchised Grief in the Financial Times.  Simon explores the feelings of those left behind when an unvaccinated loved one dies of COVID.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/a1b5350a-4dba-40f4-833b-1e35199e2e9b

Ep. 44 Leslie Gray Streeter: Author of Black Widow

In this laughter filled episode Meghan talks with Leslie Gray Streeter, author of the beautiful book Black Widow, about the sudden death of Leslie's husband, Scott.  This show covers music, friendships, dating, and honoring the love that is left behind.

 

Leslie Gray Streeter:

Born in hood-adjacent Baltimore City, Leslie is a University of Maryland College Park graduate, a veteran journalist and someone always looking for new ways to tell stories, both her own and those in her communities. She also really likes vegan cheese, because she’s a now a vegan and can’t eat real cheese anymore. But she’s mostly cool with it.

Leslie has done a lot of cool media situations, mostly from some bedroom or other, since “Black Widow” came out. It’s not the tour she chose, or even the world she thought she or anyone else were living in, but this book has found people in their lowest moment and helped them feel they were a little less alone.

Ep. 43. Susan Kendal: Surviving Compound Grief and Loss

On May 20, 2014, Susan’s world came crashing down. Her 54-year old husband passed of a sudden heart attack. The years since have been a whirlwind of emotion, trauma & joy (yes, joy, thanks mostly to the birth of her grandchildren).

Over the next five years, Susan experienced additional heartache following the death of her dad & both of her brothers. She knew the only way to make sense of all her grief and honour her ‘men’ was to find purpose and help others experiencing loss.

So, she increased her vast experiential knowledge with a coaching certificate and David Kessler’s grief educator certification.

Each step along her path highlighted the necessity to shatter the taboo surrounding death and grief within society.

Death is still in the shadows. We squirm and avoid it at all costs. And the costs, both emotional and financial are tremendous.

Thankfully, many societal taboos such as mental health, cancer and sexual orientation have had a light shined on them providing an opportunity for healthy dialogue, normalization and respect.

Isn’t it odd that we avoid death - the only taboo that affects all of us?

Susan hopes to encourage an annual day where we dialogue and educate about all things death.

Let’s normalize death – before it kills you.

For more information, conversation and opportunities to get involved, please reach out to Susan at evolve beyond grief.

 https://www.evolvebeyondgrief.com/

 https://www.instagram.com/evolvebeyondgrief/

https://www.facebook.com/evolvebeyondgrief

evolvebeyondgrief@gmail.com

Ep. 42. Deborah Copaken: Author/photojournalist: Lady Parts, Shutterbabe

Deborah Copaken is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including Shutterbabe, The Red Book, and Between Here and April, among others. A contributing writer at The Atlantic, she was also a TV writer on Emily in Paris, a performer (The Moth, etc.), and an Emmy Award–winning news producer and photojournalist. Her photographs have appeared in Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Observer, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Slate, O, the Oprah Magazine, and Paris Match, among others. Her column “When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist” was adapted for the Modern Love streaming series. Her seventh book, Ladyparts, a memoir of bodily destruction and resurrection during marital rupture, was just published by Random House.

Her article about the anniversary of her father's death and her sub stack is here:

https://deborahcopaken.substack.com/p/love-loss-and-dads-deaths-bar-mitzvah

 

 

Ep. 41. Shea Wingate

Two years ago, when she was in her early twenties, therapist Shea Wingate's father, sister and mother died in the same year.  Join us as we discuss loss from prolonged illness versus sudden unexpected loss, navigating grief when your peers and planning weddings and surviving multiple deaths.

 

https://www.wingatecounseling.com

 

Shea Wingate is a licensed clinical social worker. Her work centers on supporting clients through times of grief, transition, and emotional difficulty. She believes therapy is a process and an investment in yourself. She strives to create a nonjudgemental space centered on your well-being and free from the demands and noise of life. No one will ever fully know your pain, but her goal is to equip you to navigate, adapt and heal.

 

Ep. 40 Author Bethany Harvey: Dipped In It

Bethany Harvey is a debut memoirist whose book, Dipped In It, reached the best seller list on both Barnes & Noble and Amazon when released in July of this year. Dipped In It came to life when Bethany’s "gratitude journaling" went awry. In Dipped In It, Bethany’s daily reflections during a period of deep grief explore the question, “Can gratitude and grief coexist?”  The answer is a resounding yes, as Bethany learns that we can rage, weep, belly laugh, and ache over the beauty and fragility of life—all in one day, hour, or moment. It all gets to belong. 

 

Bethany is a deep thinker and feeler, the mother of two inspiring children, and the owner of a much sought after childcare center in her home State of Rhode Island. 

Ep. 39. Laura Parrott Perry

Author and truth-teller Laura Parrott Perry joins Meghan on the podcast to discuss grief, sobriety, the legacy of sexual abuse, and the power of telling and owning your story.

 

Join us

 

https://lauraparrottperry.com

Ep. 38. Rebekah Jacobs: My Father Ran a Ponzi scheme.

Join me as I talk with Rebekah Jacobs about surviving the destructive force that was her father who ran a Ponzi scheme and swindled friends and family and left her and her mother and brother financially and emotional bereft before landing himself in jail for fifteen years. You won't want to miss the discussion.

 

Rebekah Jacobs is a writer, reading specialist, and book reviewer.  She lives outside of DC with her hubby, 3 kiddos (a teen, a tween, and a preschooler), plus a pandemic puppy. 

 

 

Rebekah's article:

https://www.kveller.com/like-bernie-madoff-my-dad-ran-a-ponzi-scheme-heres-why-we-shouldnt-mourn-their-deaths/

 

Notes to us from Rebekah!

 

Books we discussed during the episode: (that I can remember off the top of my head):

 

Knock At Midnight

Inheritance

Wild Game

Somebody's Daughter    

The Fear Factor: How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths, and Everyone in Between  

 

Other amazing memoirs about narcissists and/or embezzlers that I have read (and may help readers who have have experienced disenfranchised grief- )

 

Duped 

Nowhere Girl 

The Sociopath Next Door

The End of Normal (Mark Madoff's wife) 

The Survivors 

 

Books about parents in jail for kids (that I wish I had)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington

The Paris Project

Milo Imagines the World (a picture book)