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A single phrase can crack the silence around addiction: “There’s no shame in it.” That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with author Katie Rizzo, whose memoir The Trimesters of Grief was born from losing her 25-year-old son, Nicholas, to addiction. She explains why grief arrived in stages that felt eerily similar to pregnancy, and how writing became a way to think when her brain could not fully process what happened.

We talk plainly about the opioid epidemic and why families get trapped between panic and secrecy. Katie shares what it’s like to watch someone you love chase relief through pills, how anxiety and injury can become part of the pathway to opioid use, and why the “just try harder” narrative collapses when you look at relapse, brain chemistry, and the reality of addiction as a medical condition. We also wrestle with the hard question: how do you stay compassionate without erasing accountability, especially when the stakes are life and death?

Katie also opens a window into Love in the Trenches, a writers group for parents who have lost a child to addiction, and the stark beauty of being real with people who understand. We discuss how shame keeps deaths hidden, how men often grieve in silence, and why telling the truth publicly can be a form of prevention. If you care about mental health, grief support, addiction recovery, and ending stigma, this conversation will stay with you.

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Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

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Quantum Squares: Support the show

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Faith. Society & Culture. Your Inspirational Stories. Mental Health. Entrepreneurship. We talk about what matters to you!

Join Mista Yu across our shows:

🎙 Inspiration Station

🎙 They Call Me Mista Yu

🎙 One on One With Mista Yu

🎙 The Men’s Roundtable Series / MRTS Interview Spotlight

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