When We Start Laughing, We Start Healing

This week, I'm sitting down with Erica Richmond, a writer, grief guide, and founder of Open Sky Stories. Erica lost her ex-husband to suicide when their kids were just seven and ten. Eleven years later, she lost her dad. She's been living in grief for over a decade and has learned that the only way through it is to let it be as messy as it needs to be.What stands out about Erica is how she's held space for her kids to grieve in their own ways. They made a Lego figurine of their dad and called him Lego Dad. Her youngest drew pictures with his dad in a coffin or as a floating head in the sky. And when her ten year old asked if cremation was done with a laser beam or a flamethrower, she just went with it. Because sometimes that's all you can do.We talk about the exhaustion and blur that comes with grief, how she grew to resent being called resilient, and why dark humor became her family's way of surviving. Erica also shares how writing and creating art helped her process what words alone couldn't touch, and how that eventually became Open Sky Stories, a space for others to do the same.This conversation is honest, funny, and full of the kind of realness that only comes from someone who's been in the thick of it. If you've ever felt like you weren't grieving the right way, this one's for you.We get into:what surprised her most about losing her dad at 49how her kids expressed grief through play and artthe question her son asked about cremation that caught her off guardwhy she grew to resent being called resilientthe blur that comes with grief and what it actually feels likehow dark humor became a lifeline for her familythe grief group that helped more than she expectedwhy writing and art give her something talking can'twhat she built with Open Sky Storieswhat healing means when you're never really over itErica's story is a reminder that grief doesn't have to look a certain way. Sometimes it looks like Lego Dad. Sometimes it looks like laughing at a meet and greet for dead grandpa. And that's okay.🌐 Learn more about Erica's work: https://openskystories.com  📸 Follow Erica on Instagram: @openskystories  Learn more about Robert DelFave’s grief coaching and writingWebsite: robertdelfave.comGrief coaching: robertdelfave.com/coachingSchedule a complimentary Grief Map Session: Book a Grief Map SessionThe Other Side of This: robertdelfave.com/bookContact: [email protected] Carried Forward Podcast is hosted by Robert DelFave, grief coach, David Kessler Certified Grief Educator, and author of The Other Side of This.