9. Finding Glimmers in the Grief with Kelsey Reidl

Kelsey's mom, Heather, was a gatherer of people. She watched the Food Network all day, wrote recipes on cards for friends and family, and never sat down at her own dinner party because she was too busy tending to everyone she loved. When Kelsey describes her mother, you can feel her mom flowing through her — in the way Kelsey gathers her community, loves her coffee, and shows up for the people around her.Kelsey lost her mom just over four years ago. About a year after, she felt an overwhelming pull toward motherhood — a pull she now believes was her mother's hand guiding her. Her son Freddy was born on Christmas Day, her mother's favorite holiday, and that timing cracked something open that had felt broken ever since her mom died.WHAT YOU'LL HEAR IN THIS EPISODEThe story of how Kelsey's son Freddy came into the world on Christmas Day — her mom's favorite holiday — and what that meant for healingWhat it felt like to be a motherless woman who also wasn't yet a mother, and how that quiet, dual identity created an internal darkness she hadn't expectedHer honest reflection on finding silver linings versus toxic positivity — and why searching for glimmers was the only thing that kept her goingHow her family each dealt with grief completely differently: her sister consumed by the past, her dad running toward the future, and Kelsey learning to live in the presentThe quote that changed everything: "When you're depressed, you live in the past. When you're anxious, you live in the future. But when you're at peace, you live in the present."How losing her mom shook Kelsey's belief that everything happens for a reason — and how she found her way back to that beliefWhat she has learned about love, expansion, and choosing to live with more of itA MOMENT THAT WILL STAY WITH YOU"I would do anything to have her back. But this is what it is — so how can we expand it into more?" Kelsey shows us that finding meaning in loss isn't about pretending loss is good. It's about refusing to let love stop growing.Connect with Nicole:Register for Nicole’s free Community Call may 21, 12pm ET ⁠https://www.nicoleweston.ca/communitycall⁠Book a free 20 minute introductory call with Nicole   https://nicoleweston.as.me/introductorycallWebsite: ⁠www.nicoleweston.ca⁠Instagram: ⁠ @thenicoleweston⁠Produced by Nicole Weston & Co-Produced by Hunter BlackettPhotography by Heather Whitcombe⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.whitcombecreative.com/⁠⁠If This Episode Resonated: Please subscribe, leave a review, and share this with a woman in your life who is carrying this. You know someone who lost her mom during Covid and has never had a space to talk about it. Send it to her. Every share reaches another motherless mother who is searching for this community.