Holding The Both/And - Steph Tupper On Grieving Her Children

In 2022, Steph Tupper's two older children, Ali and Joe, were killed in a car crash. Ali was 16 and Joe was 14. Four years later, Steph is still learning how to live with the reality of losing her children while continuing to parent her youngest daughter.  In this episode, Steph talks openly about the devastating night she learned Ali and Joe had died, the ways she continues to feel connected to them, and the complicated process of building a life around an absence that will never go away. She shares what she has learned about community, judgment from others - and herself, parenting after loss, and allowing grief to unfold without a timeline.  In the last four years, Steph has learned how devastating pain and great joy can coexist, and how her capacity to carry grief continues to grow. We discuss: The shock of sudden loss  Feeling connected to Ali and Joe through signs, memories, and a sense of their presence  Parenting her daughter while grieving  The importance of community and finding other parents who have experienced child loss  The pressure and judgment people who are grieving can face  Why grief doesn't follow a timeline - and why support shouldn't either  Navigating anniversaries, holidays, birthdays, and back-to-school season  Learning to anticipate difficult seasons rather than trying to make them disappear  Making space for both joy and profound sadness  What it means to simply sit with someone's grief instead of trying to fix it  Learn more about Dougy Center's grief education & training offerings: https://www.dougy.org/professionals-trainings