If you've ever wondered what it would feel like to stay present at a loved one's death, or how to keep them close after they've passed, episode 348 is for you. Nancy MacMillan, psychotherapist, spiritual care provider, and author of The Call to the Far Shore, joins Emily for a tender and profound conversation about how reclaiming traditional practices around dying can bring peace, healing, and lifelong connection. Together, they explore how small rituals, presence, and storytelling can open a doorway to a more soulful grief experience.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

(1:10) Why Nancy wrote The Call to the Far Shore despite not planning to write a book

(2:30) What we've lost by distancing ourselves from death in modern society

(5:10) Nancy's spiritual experience at her father's bedside

(7:30) How she kept connection with her father alive through weekly "coffee chats"

(9:40) Why death is not an emergency, and how staying present can shift your grief

(11:00) The powerful ritual of tending to her mother's body for three days

(14:20) How personal and ancestral rituals can ease the fear of death

(17:00) The value of writing letters to loved ones who have passed

(20:30) Simple ways to invite a felt sense of presence from someone who has died

(25:00) How signs and synchronicities can affirm that love continues

(29:10) The importance of including ancestors in our family stories and gatherings

In today's episode, Emily is joined by Nancy MacMillan, a Canadian psychotherapist, spiritual care provider, and the author of "The Call to the Far Shore: Carrying Our Loved Ones Through Dying, Death, and Beyond." Drawing from decades of professional and personal experience, Nancy invites listeners to reimagine death as something sacred, present, and transformative. Her approach blends emotional insight with spiritual awareness, offering a path to connection and healing.

Nancy shares stories of witnessing her father's final breath, caring for her mother's body at home, and finding ways to stay close to loved ones who have passed. She and Emily explore how gentle rituals, creative expression, and quiet presence can help us navigate grief while staying connected to the people we miss most. At its heart, this episode reminds us that love continues, and we can learn to feel its presence in new ways.

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Book: The Call to the Far Shore: Carrying Our Loved Ones through Dying, Death, and Beyond

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The Grief and Happiness Alliance

Book: Emily Thiroux Threatt - Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief

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If you've ever wondered how to find yourself again after years of caregiving, silence, or loss, episode 346 of Grief and Happiness is for you. Brenda Coffee, author, blogger, and survivor, joins Emily for a deeply personal conversation about grief, trauma, and the long path back to yourself. Through stories of profound heartbreak and quiet resilience, Brenda shares how she went from being the strong one for everyone else to finally listening to her own voice.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

(1:22) Brenda's first experience with profound grief: losing her father

(4:00) Living with and caring for a mother with mental illness

(5:30) Why trauma made Brenda grow up fast—and stay quiet for decades

(8:10) Her first marriage, emotional abuse, and the moment she said, "No more"

(12:30) Meeting her second husband and building a new life

(14:50) The first experience of anticipatory grief during her husband's illness

(17:40) Losing her second husband suddenly on Christmas Day

(20:10) The complexity of grief: relief, heartbreak, and isolation

(25:40) Why Brenda finally started writing—and what it healed

(28:10) The silent cost of being "the strong one"

(31:00) How writing and blogging became a path back to herself

(33:10) A friend's phone call that helped her shift her perspective

(36:50) What survivors really need—and the courage to be vulnerable

(39:30) The importance of not comparing trauma or grief

(42:10) How happiness can coexist with sorrow

In today's episode, I’m joined by Brenda Coffee, author of Maya Blue: A Memoir of Survival. Brenda is a former caregiver, writer, and speaker whose life has been shaped by loss, emotional abuse, and deep resilience. Her memoir offers a raw and honest look at surviving two marriages filled with illness, addiction, and tragedy. For decades, she put others first, but eventually, she found the strength to reclaim her own identity. Now, she uses her voice to support others in grief and guide them toward new beginnings.

Throughout this episode, Brenda opens up about losing her father as a child, navigating her mother’s mental illness, and surviving an emotionally abusive first marriage. She shares how caregiving for a husband with cancer became both a burden and a purpose, and how losing her second husband suddenly on Christmas Day unraveled everything she had rebuilt.

Connect with Brenda Coffee:

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Maya Blue: A Memoir of Survival

Read Brenda’s blog - 1010 ParkPlace

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The Grief and Happiness Alliance

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