Charlotte continues last week’s conversation about grief, focusing on pivotal moments when life splits into “before” and “after,” and shares her experience of losing her mum to renal cancer: diagnosis in 1994, death in December 1996 when Charlotte was 27, and the disorienting, overlapping emotions and nervous-system overwhelm that followed.

She describes denial as protection, how familiar places felt unfamiliar, and how she became the emotional caretaker at the funeral, supporting family while suppressing her own feelings. In rapid succession she and Neil took in her younger brother, learned they were unexpectedly pregnant two days after her mum died, married three months later, and she faced a new nursing role; nine months later, after the birth of their daughter, she experienced postnatal depression.

Charlotte emphasises that grief isn’t linear, people often need presence rather than solutions, and she uses pickleball to illustrate how one moment can change everything, redefining strength as feeling, receiving support, and allowing transformation over time.

00:00 Welcome Back and Why This Matters

01:06 When Life Changes Overnight

02:49 Mum’s Diagnosis and Denial

05:02 Grief in the Body

07:29 Being Strong for Everyone

09:58 Pregnancy Amid Loss

11:25 What Help Really Looks Like

14:09 Postnatal Depression After Grief

17:16 Grief Isn’t Linear

18:45 Pickleball and Sudden Pivots

21:53 Choosing How We Respond

23:33 Redefining Strength and Healing

26:14 You’re Not Broken Closing

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Music: Purple Planet Music
Thanks to Purple Planet Music for Pickleball & Partnership Intro and Outro music Purple Planet Music is a collection of music written and performed by Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey.