Critical Junctures - Navigating the loss of a child. Introduction of the podcast

Parents who lose a child face one of the most traumatic experiences in life. The purpose of this podcast is to share with others who have lost a child that there is recovery. Hope critical junctures will explore the choices that grieving parents have made to determine the course of their future life, the loss of a child.

Can affect mental health, relationships, marriage, other children, friends, jobs, hobbies, outlook of the future. Loss of a child can create an emotional, physical, and psychological effects that last a lifetime. Critical junctures is defined as a critical turning point or important moment in time, often marked by a confluence of circumstances.

Where decision, choice, or action can have significant impact on the future. My name is Rick Williams and I'm not recovered from the loss of my son and do not believe I ever will. He passed away almost five years ago, and I had many years prior to his passing to make peace with the inevitable death from a rare cancer.

In no way am I saying that we have figured out a magic formula to minimize the grief and trauma of losing a child. We have found intentional ways to honor our child's memory while finding peace and joy and living in the present. In critical junctures, we be sharing and interviewing other parents who have had some time and space from the loss of their child.

They'll be sharing insights and lessons they have learned about ways to cope with the loss. We all still feel the sting of that loss and it will never leave. You can live a life of peace and fulfillment, still mourning your loss, but learning to celebrate the life and time you had with your child. For us, we've realized how important the support people in our life have been through this journey from family, friends, pastors, work associates, caregivers, and even pets.

Their support has had a significant impact in our recovery journey. On this podcast we will talk about and interview some of these extraordinary people whose gift of time and acts of kindness have been so impactful. Losses come in many forms for us. A rare cancer took our son and we'll explore his journey and how it changed our perspective of life priorities. Others have lost a child in an instant. All of our stories are unique, but in the end, we all have the same impacts of a child that is no longer with us. Most of the podcasts will focus on the recovery journey view through the lens of time and space. If you've lost a child, our prayers are with you beyond the impact of the loss of the child.

There are other immediate impacts that parents deal with depending on the age of their child. My son was 29 when he passed. And through his long bout with cancer, we were able, prior to his passing to financially plan for the impact of his passing, put a will together and address many important topics. Even with our time to plan, there were many items and expenses we had not contemplated. We are building a website, critical junctures.com that helps parents navigate these added challenges while dealing with the unimaginable grief. This will be a work in progress that we will continue to build as a resource for parents of all ages.

These types of stressors on top of grief can add to mental health challenges of the loss and long-term recovery. As we start this podcast, our hope is that your journey will be helped by the stories of others who've had to navigate this loss. All of our stories are unique to us, but we all have experienced common threads that provide life lessons.

To lessen the recovery time, please share with anyone you believe would benefit from the messages of the Critical Junctures podcast. The official release date of Critical Junctures podcast will be June 1st, 2025 with a regular schedule of episode releases to follow. Subscribing and sharing will help us connect with grieving parents that may benefit from others with from other stories.