Christmas can intensify grief in ways you don’t expect. For many people, the festive season brings memories, longing, and a deep sense of absence - especially if you’re facing your first Christmas without someone you love.

In this solo episode of Life’s Too Short, I talk honestly about Christmas grief and what it’s really like to cope with loss during the holidays. I share a personal story about the first time I heard a Christmas song after my mum died, how grief can surface suddenly, and how this season can feel isolating when the world expects joy.

This episode explores:

• why grief often feels heavier at Christmas
• the emotional complexity of the festive season after loss
• how to survive your first Christmas without a loved one
• permission to lower expectations and opt out of traditions
• how joy and grief can exist together over time

Whether you’re grieving a parent, partner, child, or someone deeply important to you, this episode is for anyone trying to get through Christmas while carrying loss.

You can find me on Instagram @lifestooshortpodcast, where I share updates, reflections and details about upcoming episodes. I’ll be taking a short break over the Christmas period to rest and be with my family, but new episodes will be back in the new year. Thank you so much for listening, sharing, and holding space for these conversations.

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This week’s episode is one I’ll carry with me for a long, long time.

Marina joined me to talk about a different kind of grief - the grief that comes before loss. The kind that lives inside uncertainty, scans, treatments, watching your child grow, and holding both hope and heartbreak in the same breath.

At 34, Marina was living her dream life in the west of Ireland - painting, teaching, growing a garden, building a future with her husband. Then came a diagnosis that changed everything: ALK-positive lung cancer. A disease she never imagined could happen to her, and one that is, for now, incurable.

In this conversation, Marina speaks with honesty, clarity and unbelievable strength about:

• the shock of diagnosis

• the years of treatment that followed

• becoming a mother after cancer

• parenting through uncertainty

• anticipatory grief

• the everyday beauty she holds onto

• and the spiritual grounding that keeps her going

I’m so grateful Marina trusted this space with her story. It’s emotional, it’s human, it’s real, and it will stay with you.

If you or someone you love is navigating cancer, or the uncertainty of life-limiting illness, there is support, community, and advocacy happening every single day. I’ve linked to Marina’s work and the Marie Keating Foundation below.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinawild_art/
• Website & Artwork: https://www.marinawild.com/

• Support, information & resources: https://www.mariekeating.ie
• Lung cancer awareness & advocacy: https://www.mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/lung-cancer/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Annabelle Reynolds for an incredibly honest conversation about complex grief - the kind of grief we don’t often talk about publicly.

Annabelle shares the story of her father, a deeply kind and vibrant man whose life changed dramatically after the 2008 recession. Over the years, addiction, shame, and difficult family dynamics reshaped their relationship long before his death from esophageal cancer in 2019.

We talk about:

• What it’s like to “lose” a parent many times before they physically die
• Anger, rage, jealousy, and the emotions society rarely associates with grief
• Growing up fast and becoming the caretaker long before adulthood
• Navigating addiction, family fractures, and grief that doesn’t fit the traditional mould
• The first year after loss, anticipatory grief, and building a toolbox to survive it
• Healing as sisters, spirituality, signs, humour, and the messy truth of moving forward

This is the first time Annabelle has shared her story in full, and it’s a conversation I know will resonate deeply with anyone who has experienced complicated loss - or ever wondered whether their version of grief is “normal.”

A gentle content note: this episode includes discussion of addiction, self-harm, and complex family trauma.

If this episode meant something to you, please follow the show, leave a review, or share it with someone who might feel a little less alone hearing it. That’s how our community grows.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.