Holding Joy and Grief Together: Motherhood, Loss, and the Stories we Carry

Some stories change you quietly.They don’t always arrive with visible signs or easy language. Instead, they settle into the rhythms of everyday life—shaping how you love, parent, grieve, and continue moving forward while carrying experiences few people fully understand.In this deeply honest episode of Elsplend Realities, we’re joined by Val Kleppen — writer, speaker, podcast host, homeschooling mother, and bereaved parent — for a conversation about motherhood in all its beauty, complexity, and heartbreak.Val shares her journey through premature birth, NICU experiences, stillbirth, grief, resilience, and the ongoing reality of parenting while carrying profound loss. Together, we explore the emotional layers many parents silently hold, the tension between joy and sorrow, and the ways storytelling can create healing, connection, and understanding.This episode is a gentle but powerful reminder that grief does not erase love, and love does not eliminate grief. The two often exist side by side.We also discuss emotional presence, support for grieving families, identity after loss, homeschooling and family life, and the quiet strength required to continue showing up through every season of motherhood.If you’ve ever carried pain that felt difficult to explain, questioned whether your story mattered, or longed for a conversation that honors both tenderness and truth, this episode offers a space to feel seen.