I recently had the opportunity to join the Did You Earn It, or Did You Learn It? podcast for a really open and honest conversation about grief.

Grief isn’t one thing. It isn’t a single feeling, a single chapter or a single experience you “go through”. It’s a landscape, and everyone walks it differently. Some people move slowly. Some sprint and crash. Some feel nothing at all at first. Some break open immediately. All of these responses are human.

When someone you love dies, life doesn’t go back to normal. It reshapes itself around the loss. And as you start moving through the world again, you come face-to-face with a series of moments known simply as the firsts.

Christmas has a way of amplifying whatever is already sitting quietly beneath the surface. For many, it’s a time of warmth, connection and celebration. For others, especially those carrying grief, the season can feel sharp, hollow or entirely disconnected from what’s happening inside.