Let's Chat... Back to School Pain (with Elizabeth Leon)

#048 If you're feeling any pain with the words 'back to school' - this episode is for you. This last-minute Let's Chat... episode was inspired by a very honest Instagram video that I saw posted by a previous guest about the pain of ‘Back to School’ week. I know it’s a hard time for a lot of people, because it is for me too, so I reached out to this person to see if she’d return to The Silent Why to chat to me about it. And she said 'yes!' So I’m putting the episode straight out for anyone else that finds September hard - you’re not alone. These Let’s Chat… episodes pop-up every now and then instead of one of our 101 different types of loss, as I (Claire Sandys, co-host of The Silent Why podcast) chat to a guest who has experience or expertise in a particular area that can help us deal with, or prepare for, loss.In this episode I chat to Elizabeth Leon from Virginia, US, about back to school pain.Whether you’re facing the excitement and heartbreak of sending a child to school for the first or last time, fed up with the holidays and enjoying that first peaceful cup of tea, wishing your child could hit those 'normal' milestones, or watching it all play out wishing you had any part in it (and all the other emotions!), this conversation is a safe space to listen and explore your own feelings. Elizabeth went live on Instagram last week because it was the first time for 22 years that she wasn't part of the back to school week. The shock came about partly because her two high school children aren't living with her this year, but she's also aware that her son, John Paul (who was born with Trisomy 18 and only lived for 28 hours), would have been starting school next year.So I invited her to explore what a conversation might sound like between a mum of ten,  a loss mum, an empty nester and a childless woman (and that's just two women!).I ended up throwing out all my questions part-way through this interview because our heart-to-heart was so natural it didn’t need them.Hear more about Elizabeth in Episode 26 of The Silent Why (Loss 19 of 101). Loss of a newborn baby: https://www.thesilentwhy.com/podcast/episode/78784b16/loss-of-a-newborn-baby-elizabeth-leon You can visit her website for more about her and her book, Let Yourself Be Loved; https://www.elizabethleon.org/ Or follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letyourselfbeloved1690/ And with each Let’s Chat… guest I'm building a whole tool shed (metaphorically), of tools to help you face and get through loss. So let’s see what Elizabeth adds to my growing list of tools. Send us Fan MailSupport the show-----thesilentwhy.com  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn What's a Herman? / Buy a Herman - thehermancompany.comSupport the show: buymeacoffee.com/thesilentwhySign-up to my mailing list (only used for sharing news occasionally!): thesilentwhy.com/newsletterHow to talk to the grieving:  thesilentwhy.com/post/howtotalktothegrievingReview the show: Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |  GoodpodsEpisode transcripts: thesilentwhy.buzzsprout.comThank you for listening.