Just for Today Podcast

Two days before they were supposed to move into their dream home, Makela Allen's husband died by suicide. He'd been sober for nearly two and a half years. She was 29, with a three-year-old, a 15-month-old, and a 15-year-old niece she'd just taken in after her own mother died eight months earlier.
In this episode of Just For Today, Makela sits down with Adriana to tell the whole story, not the version she posted on Instagram. She talks about the years of drinking and abuse she hid behind smiling photos, the intervention, the night she gave him the ultimatum that got him sober, and the Thursday morning he brought her a cup of coffee before he left. She walks us through the Target parking lot, the cop cars, the drone, the hospital, and the phone call to his mother that ended their relationship for good.
She also talks about what nobody prepares you for: that there is no research on childhood suicide grief. That her four-year-old told his friends at school a werewolf killed his dad. That her son says "my dad died" to waiters, and she refuses to teach him shame about it. That Father's Day is now donuts at the cemetery at 7am because Arizona hits 100 degrees by 8. That year two was harder than year one. That she felt peace for the first time in eight years, and felt guilty for feeling it.
And then there's the part people don't expect from a widow: she's dating again. "Ten men, ten experiences," which turns out to be less about sex than about learning who she is when she's not somebody's wife.
This is a conversation between two young widows who have both told their kids their dad is dead, who have both been asked why they're "still talking about it," and who both keep coming back to the same answer: grief and joy can coexist, and life can still be beautiful.
⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains detailed discussion of suicide, domestic violence, alcohol addiction, and child grief. Please take care of yourself while listening.

CHAPTERS
00:38 Meet Makela: mom of two, wedding producer, widow
02:20 Married at 23: "we were two broken puzzle pieces"
03:33 The drinking, the anger, and the apartments he destroyed
04:24 The work trip that changed everything
06:04 February 7th: the ultimatum that got him sober
08:03 "You can't love someone more than they love themselves"
10:49 "If I knew our ending, would I still have chosen him?"
12:25 Healing out loud when he suffered in silence
14:27 The Disneyland photo where she hid her bruises
17:00 What her kids remember (and what she's grateful they don't)
18:18 "There are no books on childhood suicide grief"
22:00 The werewolf theory: how kids piece it together
24:31 "My dad died": teaching a six-year-old there's no shame
26:52 Donuts with Dad at the cemetery
29:04 The last week
32:14 The last morning: the coffee, the kiss, the text
34:40 The Target parking lot
37:20 The hospital, the cops, and the call to his mom
41:13 Telling a three-year-old his dad died
45:00 Grieving a parent at every developmental stage
49:40 Filling your own cup while everyone judges you for it
52:00 Dating again: "ten men, ten experiences"
57:18 Her non-negotiables now
1:02:04 What grief taught her: life can still be beautiful

Connect with Makela
► Instagram: @makelaallen

Connect with Adriana
► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast
► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast
► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact hello@scufdstudio.com
Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Welcome back to the Just for Today podcast, where we dive deep into the uncomfortable with zero filters. I'm your host, Adriana, alongside co-host Kevin, and in this episode we're joined by Cassie and Nick, two people who each lost a spouse to cancer and then, against every odd, found each other.
Cassie, a nurse practitioner, lost her high school sweetheart, Cody, to pancreatic cancer just 66 days after his diagnosis, leaving her to raise their four children. Before he died, Cody told her something she could barely stand to hear: that he'd been praying for her future husband. Nick, a Texas head football coach, spent three and a half years fighting alongside his wife, Anna, as breast cancer spread through her body, before losing her and becoming a single dad to their two young daughters. What neither of them knew was that Anna had quietly reached out to Cassie, a stranger at the time, while she was still sick.
In this episode, Cassie and Nick share the raw details of their spouses' final days, what it taught them about advocating inside the medical system, and the almost unbelievable chain of events that brought them together, from a single Facebook message to a wedding just months later. They open up about blending a family of six, parenting as a united front while honoring the two people they lost, and facing a community that judged them for "moving on too fast." Most of all, they talk about how grief and joy can live side by side, and why choosing to love again was the most selfless thing they could do.
A heads-up that this conversation covers loss, terminal illness, and grief honestly.
I hope this one stays with you.

Connect with Cassie & Nick
► Instagram: @rebuildingrogers

Connect with Adriana
► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast
► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast
► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast
This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact hello@scufdstudio.com
Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

On this episode of Just for Today, Adriana sits down with Aaron, who lost his wife Natalie just ten hours after she gave birth to their first child, Parker, in February. What began as a precautionary hospital visit for lower back pain turned into an emergency C-section, a placental abruption, and internal bleeding the doctors ultimately couldn't stop.
Aaron shares the full story: meeting Natalie at church in 2023, their marriage, the pregnancy, and the surreal walk out of the hospital as a new father and widower. He opens up about grieving while raising a newborn, wrestling with anger toward God, learning to let his emotions out for the first time, and the small, unexpected moments that trigger the loss. He also reflects on Natalie's legacy as a beloved teacher, the daily routines he's built so Parker will know his mother's voice, and what he's learned about how to truly show up for someone who's grieving.
This is a raw, honest conversation about faith, fatherhood, and finding a way to keep going.
If you or someone you know is struggling with grief, please reach out to a trusted person or a mental health professional.

Connect with Aaron
► Instagram: @_aamartin

Connect with Adriana
► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast
► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast
► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact hello@scufdstudio.com
Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

I'm sitting down with Amy - a nutritionist of nearly 25 years and a licensed EMDR trauma therapist who got into this work the hard way, through her own ten-year battle with anorexia.
Amy doesn't hold back. She talks about recovering from an eating disorder in the '80s when there was basically no treatment for it, the abuse and constant moving that marked her childhood, and losing her brother to addiction eight years ago. Along the way she drops the kind of ideas that stick with you: that an addiction is usually the solution, not the problem. That there's a 1940s starvation study showing how restricting food can turn a perfectly healthy person anxious, obsessive, and depressed in three months. That so much of what we call willpower or personality — the overspending, the doom-scrolling, the not being able to sit in a quiet room — traces back to a nervous system that never learned how to settle.
We also get into parenting: why eating disorders are showing up in kids younger and younger, the small comments that do more damage than you'd think, and why doing your own work is how you stop passing things down. Amy shares her honest take on the whole GLP-1 wave and what it's like helping people come off it, and she rattles off real resources for anyone who can't afford therapy right now — including warm lines you can text from your bed when you just need someone to pick up.
It's a real one. Hope you get something from it.
Just for today, keep going.
This episode touches on eating disorders, addiction, abuse, and grief. If you're struggling, please reach out to a qualified professional or a local support line.

Connect with Amy
► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyleifermancounseling/

Connect with Adriana
► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast
► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast
► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast
This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact hello@scufdstudio.com
Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Cassie and Nick Rogers each buried a spouse — and then found each other.
In this episode of Just for Today, Adriana and co-host Kevin sit down with both of them for an honest conversation about grief, faith, blending a family of six kids, and the judgment that comes with finding love again after loss.
Cassie's husband Cody — her high school sweetheart and the father of her four children — went from seemingly healthy to a stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and passed away just 66 days later. As a nurse practitioner, Cassie carries the weight of having seen his scans before anyone said the word "cancer," and of advocating fiercely when doctors pushed back. Before he died, Cody did something extraordinary: he told her he'd been praying for her future husband — and for the man who would one day help raise their kids.
Nick's late wife Anna fought a three-and-a-half-year battle with inflammatory triple-negative breast cancer that spread to her brain, spine, and liver. In one of the most moving parts of their story, it was Anna herself who first reached out to Cassie on social media — months before she passed — asking this young widow to one day be a friend to the family she would leave behind.
What unfolds is a raw, faith-driven conversation about:
Trusting your gut and advocating inside the medical system
Telling your children a parent is dying — and the regrets that linger
Why "grief and joy can coexist"
The backlash, the lost friendships, and the people who truly showed up
How two grieving families became one — and why all six kids now call them Mom and Dad
This is an episode about choosing to live again, and the belief that loving again isn't selfish — it's one of the most selfless things you can do.
Follow Cassie & Nick: @rebuildingrogers
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Content note: This episode discusses terminal illness, the loss of a parent, grief, and accidental overdose. Please take care while listening. If you're struggling, support is available — in the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For grief support, reach out to a local hospice or a licensed grief counselor.
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Just for Today is hosted by Adriana Sansam — diving deep into uncomfortable topics with zero filters. New episodes drop regularly. If this one moved you, follow the show and share it with someone who needs it.