Hope After Child & Sibling Loss/the empty chair endeavor

Thirteen days can change an entire family’s history. We sit down with Cheri Fletcher to remember her daughter Annie, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter, social worker, and photographer whose sudden decline ended in an unthinkable goodbye. With honesty and tenderness, Cheri walks us through what it’s like to lose an adult child to an aggressive cancer she did not even know was there, and how shock lingers long after the hospital. 

We also get practical about what grief really does. Cheri describes grief brain, the fog that makes reading hard and memory unreliable, the physical exhaustion that settles into daily life, and the way fear can spike when another loved one is late to return a call. We talk marriage and family dynamics, why counseling can help couples grieve in different ways without turning on each other, and how giving space and grace becomes a daily decision. 

A major thread is faith in suffering. When prayer feels impossible, Cheri shares how God met her through friends who kept sending scripture and personalized prayers, and how she learned to see God’s presence without minimizing pain. She also offers a perspective that stopped her in my tracks: God misses watching Annie too. 

Finally, we dig into the moment so many people dread: “I don’t know what to say.” Cheri created “Beyond I Don’t Know What To Say” grief cards to help friends and churches show up with courage, ask meaningful questions, and keep a child’s name present. Listen regularly for more hope-filled conversations, and share this with someone walking through loss, and leave a review so more grieving families can find this support.
https://cherifletcher.com/
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**** You can also opt to leave a review or rating on Podchasers by clicking the link below. Your opinions matter and mean so much to us!
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You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
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We sit down with Roxanne Hutchison to talk through the unthinkable reality of losing three children and a son-in-law and what it takes to keep living when your family feels shredded. We explore honest faith, the loneliness of stillbirth and child loss, and the slow work of learning to grieve with hope instead of pretending you’re fine.
• how Roxanne and Craig’s early faith and marriage foundation shape their endurance
• the trauma of stillbirth and why neonatal loss is often dismissed or misunderstood
• grief as a roller coaster and why isolating silence can hurt as much as words
• the myth of “do everything right and life works” and what a broken world exposes
• mental health, rare diagnoses, and the long shadow of medical crises
• what life looks like after the funeral when routine tasks become triggers
• what grieving parents actually need from friends: presence, listening, practical help
• lament, the Psalms, and rebuilding trust in God over time
• the Romans 8 promise that becomes a lifeline
I hope that you'll rejoin us again in two weeks to hear another story of hope and healing in the life of another grieving parent.

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*** If you have an Apple account, please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this podcast by clicking the link below. By doing so you help increase our visibility and discoverability for others, and we value your feedback!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/id1654053256
**** You can also opt to leave a review or rating on Podchasers by clicking the link below. Your opinions matter and mean so much to us!
https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor

You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
Thank you for listening!

A sudden illness can take a child in days, but the grief can echo for decades and it changes far more than most people realize. I’m joined by Ron and Nan Deal as they share the story of losing their 12-year-old son, Connor, and what 17 years of child loss grief has taught them about love, memory, triggers, and the hard work of continuing to live.

We talk about a mom’s experience of loss, including the moment Nan describes leaving the hospital and feeling like she’s losing part of herself. We also get painfully practical about grief triggers, why “sweet without bitter” becomes a normal tension, and how grief intensity can shift over time without ever fully ending. If you’re a bereaved parent, or you love someone who is, you’ll hear language that makes the invisible parts of grief easier to name.

Then we go straight at marriage after the death of a child: the scary divorce statistic people repeat, what the actual research suggests, and how couples can protect their connection when one spouse needs words and the other needs quiet. We also discuss surviving siblings, fear and hypervigilance, and why honesty at home matters more than pretending to be strong. Ron and Nan share two memorable tools: protecting a “grief garden” with healthy boundaries, and “grieving between the rails” where sadness and hope run parallel, just like biblical lament. We end with the Scriptures they’ve clung to, including Proverbs 3:5–6 and the raw honesty of Psalm 22.

I’ll include the Focus on the Family video link they reference in the episode notes. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs language for their pain, and leave a review so more grieving families can find it.
Click the link below to view Ron and Nan’s Focus on the Family video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwC0xmKjccs
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*** If you have an Apple account, please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this podcast by clicking the link below. By doing so you help increase our visibility and discoverability for others, and we value your feedback!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/id1654053256
**** You can also opt to leave a review or rating on Podchasers by clicking the link below. Your opinions matter and mean so much to us!
https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor

You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
Thank you for listening!

One phone call can erase the world you thought you were living in. Greg Buffkin talks with Linda Stirling, president of Umbrella Ministries, about the sudden and unthinkable loss of her 19-year-old son, Jeff, who was killed in an airplane crash in the mountains of Idaho. Linda doesn’t sanitize the story. She names the shock, the scream, the days that don’t feel real, and the quiet moment after the memorial when everyone goes home and the true weight of child loss settles in.

We also dig into what actually helps a grieving parent and what makes it worse. Linda shares why simple presence matters more than perfect words, why people often look away out of fear, and why saying their child’s name can feel like warmth on a cold day. If you’ve ever wondered what to say to someone who lost a child, this conversation offers practical do’s and don’ts grounded in real life, not theory, along with honest talk about guilt, regret, and the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” loop so many bereaved parents carry.

Faith is woven through everything, not as a shortcut around pain, but as a lifeline in it. Linda describes how Psalm 23 became personal and daily, and how learning to walk with God looked different than simply believing. We close with hope you can act on: the power of community, taking the next small step, and finding support through Umbrella Ministries, including conferences, groups, and resources for grieving moms and couples.

Learn more at https://umbrellaministries.org and for San Diego support at https://umbrellaministriessd.com. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with someone who’s hurting, and leave a review so more families can find hope.
https://www.umbrellaministries.com/
https://janetteifonelife.wixsite.com/umbrellaministries/san-diego
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*** If you have an Apple account, please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this podcast by clicking the link below. By doing so you help increase our visibility and discoverability for others, and we value your feedback!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/id1654053256
**** You can also opt to leave a review or rating on Podchasers by clicking the link below. Your opinions matter and mean so much to us!
https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor

You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
Thank you for listening!

A midnight knock can split your life in two. Diane Grotberg remembers the moment two sheriff’s deputies told her their 19-year-old son, David, was dead, and how the first thing she felt was that everything had changed forever. David was a Baylor University sophomore, a gifted musician and friend, and a young man whose faith and compassion had already shaped people far beyond his hometown in Minnesota.

We walk through the hard truth of the hit-and-run that killed him and the long, grinding wait for justice, including the reality of delay, denial, and a trial that didn’t arrive until years later. Diane also shares what grief looks like when you still have kids at home, schedules to keep, and a mind that feels like it’s turned to fog. If you’ve experienced child loss, traumatic grief, or you love someone who has, you’ll recognize the private sobbing behind public “strength,” and the exhaustion that comes when the shock wears off.

We also talk candidly about support and faith: what helped, what hurt, and why silence from church communities can feel like a second wound. Diane contrasts that with the people who showed up, including the Baylor community that honored David’s life, stayed connected, and made space for stories. You’ll hear simple, practical guidance for helping bereaved parents, plus grief resources like “Lament For A Son” and the search for hope that points beyond tragedy.

If this conversation matters to you, please share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more grieving families can find real support.
Share any comments here

*** If you have an Apple account, please take a minute to leave a review on Apple Podcasts if you enjoy this podcast by clicking the link below. By doing so you help increase our visibility and discoverability for others, and we value your feedback!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-after-child-sibling-loss-the-empty-chair-endeavor/id1654053256
**** You can also opt to leave a review or rating on Podchasers by clicking the link below. Your opinions matter and mean so much to us!
https://www.podchaser.com/HopeAfterChildSiblingLossTheEmptyChairEndeavor

You can contact us by email at: hope@emptychairendeavor.com
If you would like to share your story on an upcoming episode, please send us an email so that we can talk with you about it.
Thank you for listening!