Coffee, Grief, And Gratitude
by Coffee And Grief
Anne Gudger and Maria Gibson are widening the grief conversation, talking about thethings we don’t normally take the time to talk about.We’ll hear different people’s grief stories and talk with them about their experience ofgrief throughout their lives. We get learn new things every time. We’re here to ask questions, not prescribe answers. We’re not experts in your grief. We’ll hear stories about death, sickness, politics, dementia, loss of youth, loss ofself.Anne Gudger’s memoir, THE FIFTH CHAMBER is out now. Follow her at: Annegudger.com. Find us on FB at Coffee and Grief Community.
Episodes
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Write Your Grief Out with Maria and Annie
Maria and Annie talk briefly about their free writing session they held that gives people a taste of their 30day writing group: Write Your Grief Out. In case you missed the free call, they made a recording of some of the highlights and are gifting you with a meditation and writing prompts. Have a...
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Coffee Talk #80: A Special Evening Honoring Harvey
We’re thrilled to bring you Coffee Talk #80 from May 2026, a special evening honoring Harvey Walker. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today: Anastasia Gambill, Margo Sidline, Marialicia Gonzales, Meg Weber, Monica Welty, and…
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Grief is a Foundation for Empathy With Rebecca Thompson
Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, is a family medicine and public health physician from Portland, Oregon, who specializes in women’s and children’s health—and the author of HELD TOGETHER: A SHARED MEMOIR OF MOTHERHOOD, MEDICINE, AND IMPERFECT LOVE. In this innovative new book, Dr. Thompson weaves her...
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Season Two Episode 39 Coffee Talk #79, April 2026
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #79 from April 2026. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today:Hilary Plattner, Kristina Amelong, Michael Horvich, Nancy Townsley, and Oona Metz.Enjoy! Thank you for letting us be…
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Self-discovery With Laura Cathcart Robbins
Laura Cathcart Robbins got divorced and sober at the same time. You’ll hear her laugh and say she doesn’t recommend doing these two huge life changes simultaneously. But she was unhappy and didn’t know why so she quit her marriage and addiction. In this tender conversation Laura talks about how…
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Coffee Talk #78, March 2026
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #78 from March 2026. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today: Dede Montgomery, Kim Owens, Krista Lee Hanson, Mallory McDuff, and Pallas Hupe´ Cotter. Thank you for letting us be…
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Special Reading with the Queer Love Project - Coffee Talk #77, February 2026
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #77 from February 2026. We hope this special reading emceed by Jerry Portwood with writers from The Queer Love Project is just what your heart needs today. Please enjoy these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories: Anthony...
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Coffee Talk #76, January 2026
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #76 from January, our first Coffee Talk of 2026. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Andrea Javor, Asha Dore, Nastashia Minto, Monica Welty, and...
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Coffee Talk #75, December 2025
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #75 from December, our last Coffee Talk of 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Adam Strong, Annie Gudger, Christina Larsen, Melissa...
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Coffee Talk #74, November 2025
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #73 from October 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Cait West, Ivy Eisenberg Jane Dorn, Jason Arias, and Pat Jewett.Enjoy! Thank you for...
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Grieving and Holding the Dead Close with Rebe Huntman
Rebe was 19 when her mother died. She didn’t allow herself to feel her grief, following well-meaning advice to put her grief aside. Thirty years later, Rebe went on a quest to know her mother, to grieve her. She traveled to Cuba and learned to grieve from a culture that holds their dead close.…
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Coffee Talk #73, October 2025
We’re thrilled to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #73 from October 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Asha Dore, Bob Macauley, Brad Snyder, Karen Bonofiglio, and Rebecca Thompson. Enjoy!...
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Don’t Lean into Regret with Chelsea Pegues
Chelsea shares her triple griefs: the death of her beloved dad, Eddie, her mom’s dementia, and recovering from being hit by a car while she was out for a run. In our conversation you’ll hear Chelsea talk about her love for her dad who was “magic.” She tells us grief taught her how to “pick…
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Coffee Talk #72 September 2025
We’re delighted to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #72 from September 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Ali Shaw, Christina Rivera, Kate Carroll de Gutes, Jasmine Nothing, and Liz Scott....
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Grief as a Synonym for Life with Doug Chase
Doug shares openly about many layers of grief from the death of his mom to being estranged from his kids. He talks about his mom who would say Kindness is the best thing. He says that thinking the best of people is his strength and can also be his weakness. He shares how in his grief he had to...
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What I Carried in Silence with Melanie Brooks
In this episode, Melanie Brooks openly shares the experience of her father dying from AIDS and how, as a family, they didn’t talk about him being sick. It took her 20 years to look at the silence and grief. Her dad was infected with AIDS from a blood transfusion during surgery. Her dad was a...
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Coffee Talk #71, July 2025
We’re delighted to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #71 from July 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We’re delighted to bring you Clare Simons, Debby Dodds, Laura Cathcart Robbins, Rebe Huntman, and Zane Thomas. Thank...
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Coffee Talk #70 June 2025
We’re delighted to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #70 from June 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We bring you: Lisa Cowan, Mary Klinger, Nancy Townsley, Shavaun Scott, and Suzy Vitello. Enjoy! Thank you for…
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Layers of Grief with Phillipa Leseberg
In this episode Phillipa Leseberg reads from her new memoir: HIS NAME IS ERIC: a book that records her love story with her beloved husband Eric who died from cancer. It’s a love story, a story of resilience and advocacy, and so much more. Phillipa shares how through Eric’s illness and death, her...
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Grief Connects Us Deeply with Becky Ellis
Becky Ellis shares about her dad’s experience as a Timberwolf in World War II and how that impacted him, then later her and the rest of their family. With her father sharing his story, she gained a deep understanding of who her father was. She was able to see him separate from her needs and...
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Coffee Talk #69 May 2025 - A Reading Honoring Harvey
We’re delighted to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #69 from May 2025. This is a special Coffee Talk, honoring Monica Welty’s son, Harvey who died as a newborn. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We bring you Becca Lynne,...
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Play On With Kevin O’Connor
Season Two Episode Twenty-one Play On With Kevin O’Connor In this open-hearted conversation Kevin O’Connor tells us how he was born into grief. He came home as a newborn to an apartment above a funeral home. Living with death was always part of his life as his dad and uncle were undertakers and...
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Coffee Talk #68 April 2025
We’re delighted to bring you our recent Coffee Talk #68 from April 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We bring you Annie Carl, Jen Violi, Nikki Darling, Nynke Salverda Passi, and Mary Mandeville. Enjoy! Thank you for...
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Incorporating Rituals With Shara Ruffin
Grab your coffee and come listen to this tender conversation with Shara Ruffin who talks about becoming comfortable with grief being part of life. She tells us some of the rituals she’s made part of her life since her daughter died and her mom-in-law too. She shares how important ritual is to…
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Coffee Talk #44: March 2023
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #44 from March 2023. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We bring you Carmel Breathnach, Jason Arias, Jessica Rich, Jill Deasy, and Rebecca Daniels. Enjoy! Thank you for letting us be...
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Grief Up Close and the Long View with Pamela Gwyn Kripke
Pamela reads her essay that she says is partially the eulogy she should have written/shared about her father and didn’t. She braids some sweet childhood memories with her last memories of her dad. In moving through her grief, she tells us: “The rough emotions have taken a back seat to the good...
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Coffee Talk #43: February 2023
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #43 from February 2023. We hope these four phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. We bring you Amy Kortuem, Annie Gudger, Gayle Brandeis, and MJ Atamian. Enjoy! Thank you for letting us be in your ears....
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All That Matters is Love with Casey Mulligan Walsh
Casey reads from her gorgeous new memoir: The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared. She talks about her many griefs that could have undone her, and how, while we can never be prepared for major loss, her early experiences with loss helped carry her through later ones. She…
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Coffee Talk #46: May 2023, A Reading Honoring Harvey
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #46 from May 2023. It’s a special reading, honoring Harvey, Monica’s infant son who died days after he was born. We’re honored to support Monica in these yearly readings, to keep talking about Harvey who has touched so many lives. We hope these five...
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Pedaling Hard with Ronit Plank
Season Two Episode Thirteen Pedaling Hard with Ronit Plank Ronit Plank reads from her fabulous memoir: WHEN SHE COMES BACK and talks about her grief of losing her mom, her family, and her sense of self. She shares gems about writing memoir along with talking about how all of her family...
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Coffee Talk #67: March 2025
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #67 from March 2025. We hope these four phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Christie Tate, Gina Moffa, Jing…
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Feeling Lucky Doesn’t Erase Grief with Jenny Leon
In this episode Jenny Leon talks about being a cancer survivor while two of her children were very young. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 33 weeks pregnant with her daughter, and had chemo until her daughter was nine months old. She’s since gone on to support others in their…
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Coffee Talk #63: November 2024
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #63 from November 2024. We hope these four phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Jessica Fein, Lanette Smith…
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Loving the Dying with Jennifer Bedford
Season Two Episode Nine Loving the Dying with Jennifer Bedford Jennifer reads a beautiful piece about her dog’s death, her mom’s death, and a paramedic who showed up at the scene of the car accident where her beloved dog, Leo, died a week after her mom died. She shares her experiences of being…
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Coffee Talk #60 - July 2024
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #60 from July 2024. July’s reading highlighted five contributors to the beautiful collection DARING TO BREATHE:Stories of Living with the Foreverness of Grief, edited by Armen Bacon and Nancy Miller. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and...
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How to Be the Mother of a Dead Girl with Eileen Vorbach Collins
Eileen Vorbach Collins shares about suicide loss, how a close friendship buoyed her during her hardest grief time, her up-close experience with hospice, and her strong feelings about long term grief being labeled a disorder. She tells us: “If we’re normalizing grief, we can’t call it a disorder.”...
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Coffee Talk #61 - September 2024
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #61 from September 2024. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Kelly James, Casey Mulligan...
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Self-forgiveness with Debra Gwartney
Debra Gwartney talks about her many layered griefs: the fire that ravaged her home on the McKenzie River, the death of her beloved husband Barry Lopez, the death of her parents and more. Barry died during covid, after their home and forest were destroyed in the fire, and she couldn’t get him…
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Coffee Talk #66 - February 2025
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #66 from February 2025. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Abby Maslin, Chelsea Pegues,...
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Being a Joy Broker with Sarah Gormley
Sarah Gormley talks about how she grieved the death of her parents, how she found joy and gratitude too. She calls herself a joy broker. She describes grief as “this slippery thing.” This conversation was recorded before her fabulous memoir, THE ORDER OF THINGS: a Memoir about Chasing Joy, was...
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Coffee Talk #62 October 2024
We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #62 from October 2024. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Terah Van Dusen, Jewelie Randall,...
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Coffee Talk #65 January 2025
Thank you for letting us be in your ears. We’re delighted to bring you Coffee Talk #65, our first Coffee Talk this year. We hope these five phenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their...
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Coffee Talk 55- Feb 2024
We’re delighted to highlight Coffee Talk #55 from last February. We hope these fivevphenomenal writers/readers/humans and their stories are just what your heart needs today. If you missed the live Coffee Talk, if you’d like to hear their voices again, we bring you Anne Richardson, Beth Bornstein...
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Coffee Talk #53- December 2023
We love sharing this Coffee Talk from December 2023. We hope you enjoy the heart-wide stories from these phenomenal humans: Alexis Chen Johnson, Amy Gamble, Asha Dore, Danielle Marie Walker, and J’aime Morrison. If you missed it or want to relisten, here it is. The readers all brought the best...
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Love, Respect, and Empathy with Ashmeeta Rama Madhav
Ashmeeta openly shares about being widowed and having her mom, whom she was close with, die. She talks about supporting her kids through their grief, how she both gave them space to grieve as well as keeping eyes on them, describing herself as an Eagle Mama. The grief support group Ashmeeta...
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What’s the Story That’s the Light? With Beth Bornstein Dunnington
Beth reads a piece about a beloved friend who died by suicide almost four decades ago. She talks about long term grief, the importance of writing our stories, the importance of sharing our stories. Beth leads the Big Island Writers’ Workshop in Hawai’i and in cities throughout the U.S, and since...
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Allow Grief to Unfold You with Gina Moffa
Gina talks about the complexities of grief, how grief is the great equalizer, and how we can be clumsy and awkward together. She shares how she wrote her book, Moving On Doesn’t Mean Letting go: a Modern Guide to Navigating Loss. She wanted to reach more people than she could in her practice and...
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Being Widowed While Getting Divorced with Robin Eileen Bernstein
Robin reads an essay that was published in Narratively about becoming a widow while she was in the process of getting divorced. Her essay opens up questions about how we navigate griefs that don’t fit in any boxes. Robin’s almost ex-husband had a girlfriend and they were planning on getting...
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“Grief Affects All of Me” with Kelly James
Kelly talks about her range of grief from divorce, to the death of her kids’ father, her dad’s death and more. In this engaging, funny, tender conversation Kelly offers fabulous suggestions, like instead of asking someone “How are you?” she asks, “How are you right this second?” After 22 years of...
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Coffee Talk #59- June 2024
We’re delighted to share our recent Coffee Talk with these phenomenal writers/readers: Robert McBride, Lucy Filppu, Ona Gritz, Heather Morris, and Anne Gudger. If you missed it or want to relisten, here it is. The readers all brought the best heart medicine. Thank you for letting us be in your...
About this show
Anne Gudger and Maria Gibson are widening the grief conversation, talking about thethings we don’t normally take the time to talk about.We’ll hear different people’s grief stories and talk with them about their experience ofgrief throughout their lives. We get learn new things every time. We’re here to ask questions, not prescribe answers. We’re not experts in your grief. We’ll hear stories about death, sickness, politics, dementia, loss of youth, loss ofself.Anne Gudger’s memoir, THE FIFTH CHAMBER is out now. Follow her at: Annegudger.com. Find us on FB at Coffee and Grief Community.
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Coffee And Grief