Melissa Pierce on Parenting the Kids You Have and the Importance of Self Care

I had such a great discussion with Melissa Pierce for this episode. Melissa is a widowed parent, an author, and a self-care advocate. She has two sons, and her older son really struggled as a teen so be sure to listen for that part of our discussion if you’re facing a similar situation. Some topics Melissa and I discuss include: Melissa and her husband, Dave, adopting their two sons from the Oregon foster care system; Moving their family from Portland to a small town in Eastern Oregon; The traumatic shock of finding her husband dead after he’d gone to bed the night before feeling just a little unwell; Making major changes in her life right away, despite all the grief literature suggesting one should not do this; How the small town they lived in rallied to support Melissa and her boys after Dave died; Finding The Dougy Center after she moved back to Portland; How her grief therapy ended up dipping in and out of personal development therapy; How her older son began to struggle that he so much that needed more help than could be provided locally; Making the decision to send her teenage son to a wilderness therapy program and then to Boys Town; Deciding to remarry; How self-care changed her life; and Melissa’s book recommendations for widows. I hope you enjoy my discussion with Melissa Pierce. Listeners: get a 10% discount on Melissa's self-care subscription boxes at filledwithgold.org - use discount code WIDOWEDPARENT. -=-=-=-=- Thank you sponsors & partners: Audible - Get a FREE audiobook and 30-day free trial: www.audibletrial.com/widowedparent BetterHelp - Talk with a licensed, professional therapist online. Get 10% off your first month: betterhelp.com/widowedparent Blue Apron - Special offers for listeners of the podcast: jennylisk.com/blueapron Grief Coach - Grief support text messaging service. Tips and support delivered all year long, personalized based on your loss. Listeners get $10 off: https://grief.coach/jennylisk/ Support the show: Patreon, Merch, and More -=-=-=-=-