Episode 52: Embracing Life After 60 with Freda Ross: Life After Change: From Grey Divorce to Healing and Hope This Holiday Season

Older adults in DFW facing divorce, this one’s for you. 💔➡️💚

In this episode of Relax, I Got This! Embracing Life After 60, Robin McCoy sits down with Freda Ross, long-time DivorceCare facilitator, jewelry artist, and gray divorce survivor, to talk honestly about what it’s really like to navigate divorce in your 50s, 60s, and 70s.

They dive into:

• What “gray divorce” is and why it feels so different later in life
• Why divorce is a true grief process (just like a death) and why you’re not “crazy” if you can’t cook, clean, or stop crying
• The difference between being blindsided in a “happy” marriage vs leaving a toxic or abusive one
• The danger of jumping into a rebound relationship and creating “double trauma”
• How DivorceCare’s 13-week group support program helps you feel less alone and start healing
• Why having support from people who don’t love you (yet) can sometimes be more helpful than well-meaning friends & family
• Practical ways to re-discover who you were before you were a spouse or caregiver
• How Frida rebuilt a joyful life with handmade jewelry, theatre, travel, girlfriends, dinner parties, and fun

Freda shares powerful stories from her own journey after an 18-year marriage, including:

• Showing up to DivorceCare and only being able to say her name
• Realizing she was still “holding on” in subtle ways, like letting her ex keep picking up his mail
• Watching participants go from broken to strong enough to become facilitators themselves
• Ambush emotions, grief “beach balls,” and how you know you’re actually healing

You’ll hear real talk about:

• Loneliness after divorce & why it can hit so hard after 20–40 years together
• Why it’s OK if your house is a mess and you can’t keep up with laundry right now
• How to start getting out of the house again (parks, malls, museums, groups)
• Rebuilding identity: “Who am I now?” and “What actually brings me joy?”
• Choosing healing, instead of staying stuck in pain and shame

🎧 This episode is especially for you if:

• You’re over 50 and going through a gray divorce
• You feel ashamed, stuck, or like everyone else “moved on” faster than you
• Friends and family are tired of hearing the story, but you still hurt
• You’re tempted to numb out with a new relationship, alcohol, shopping, or busyness
• You want to believe there’s life, joy, laughter, travel, and connection on the other side

Freda Ross
📞 [phone]
📧 [e-mail]

senior living tips, aging in place guidance, downsizing for seniors, life after 60, senior home transition, family caregiver s

Robin McCoy
📞 214.226.3770
📧 [e-mail]
🌐 RelaxIGotThis.com
🎙️ RelaxIGotThis.buzzsprout.com

Robin's Recs & Favorite Products can be found here. This includes any books written by authors interviewed on this show.

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Robin McCoy is a Texas Realtor with Keller Williams Realty. License #0582766
RelaxIGotThis.com | 214.226.3770 | [e-mail]

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