Seventeen days changed everything.

Shane Musgrove came home from a normal work trip expecting dinner and a movie with his wife, Sonia.

Instead, a stop at a clinic became a trip to the emergency room.

Then came three words:

“You have cancer.”

Seventeen days later, Sonia was dead.

In this deeply personal conversation on the Solo Dad Podcast, Shane walks Matt through the 17 days that changed his family forever—and what happened after everyone else went home and grief became part of everyday life.

Shane was suddenly trying to be a grieving husband, father to three grieving children, employee, bill payer, funeral planner, and the person responsible for keeping everything moving.

Eventually, it stopped working.

His health suffered. Work suffered. Bills slipped. Sleep disappeared.

And Shane realized something important:

Being strong wasn't the same thing as grieving.

In this episode, Matt and Shane discuss:

• The 17 days between Sonia's cancer diagnosis and death
• Telling three children that their mother was dying
• Why each child experienced grief differently
• Sonia's final conversations with the people she loved
• Her last coherent words to Shane
• Trying to take care of everyone while ignoring his own grief
• Anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep deprivation, and survival mode
• Why grief requires a toolbox, not one perfect solution
• Counseling, grief coaching, grounding, breathwork, nature, and memorialization
• Discovering who you are when the WE becomes a ME
• Dating after the death of a spouse
• Why nobody else gets to dictate your dating timeline
• How Shane introduced a new partner to his grieving children
• Respecting a child's grief around things as small—and meaningful—as Mom's chair
• Survivor's guilt after becoming the man Sonia always believed he could be
• Why loving someone new doesn't diminish the person who died
• Building “chapter two” without erasing chapter one
• Turning grief into advocacy through Shane's 17 Days work

THE CLIMB CONNECTION

C — Courage
Facing the reality of Sonia's death, acknowledging mistakes, and eventually admitting he needed help.

L — Learning
Understanding that grief is different for every person—including each of his three children.

I — Integration
Keeping Sonia present in his life, family, advocacy, and new relationship rather than trying to “move on.”

M — Movement
Counseling, grounding, breathwork, nature, coaching, and deliberately participating in grief instead of only surviving it.

B — Building / Belonging
Creating 17 Days, becoming a grief coach, building a blended family, and helping other grieving people feel less alone.

Shane's story is proof of something we talk about often on the Solo Dad Podcast:

You can hurt and still laugh.

You can grieve and still love.

You can miss the life you had while building the life you have now.

Both things can be true.

LINKS

🌐 Solo Dad Life: https://solodad.life

💬 Solo Parent Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19U6vFXBbL/

💬 Solo Dad Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/186cXc8Q9H/

📱 Follow Shane: [https://www.instagram.com/_17_days/?hl=en|

https://www.tiktok.com/@_17days

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/