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Episode 49: Dad, I Need to Talk to Mom

Sometimes there are moments in raising children when you can almost hear the words: “I really wish Mom was here for this.” For a widowed father, those moments can be especially difficult—because sometimes your child needs the parent who isn't there, and you have to figure out how to show up anyway.

In this deeply personal episode, Jamal and David talk about the conversations that can leave a father feeling completely out of his depth. From puberty, relationships, and growing into adulthood to mental health, identity, and the complicated questions that come with growing up, they explore what happens when your children bring you something they might naturally have taken to Mom.

They talk about the pressure fathers can feel to fill the space their wives left behind, the difference between listening and trying to fix everything, and the importance of building a trusted village around your children. Because you can't become the parent your child lost. But you can remain the parent who's still here—present, available, honest enough to say “I don't know,” and willing to find someone who does.

Don't disappear because you're uncomfortable. Show up.

Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.

Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back up is how we live.

Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones
Executive Director: Marlon Jackson
Editing: Marlon Jackson
Music:
Grenada, "Treasure"
McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com

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