Charlene Lam joins host Lisa Keefauver for an in-depth and intimate conversation about the aspects of grief we long to explore but so rarely do in our daily life. Just as she does in her gorgeous book, Curating Grief: A Creative Guide to Choosing What to Keep After a Loved One Dies, Charlene explores what it means to curate the tangible and intangible left behind in the wake of loss. Sometimes we're working through the objects that help us access memories. She explains how decision-making about belongings often involves emotional processing and that the act of letting go can be as meaningful as holding on. Themes of bringing intention to what you’re paying attention to, the cultural context of naming and remembering, and the deep self-compassion necessary in the grieving process emerge throughout our time together. Charlene offers so much wisdom, care, and curiosity in this episode.

Charlene is a grief coach, curator, and speaker who helps grieving people engage with and curate the things that hold meaning — the belongings, stories, and symbols that connect us to those they’ve lost. Through creativity and reflection, she guides people to work tenderly with what remains, turning the stuff of loss into the stuff of meaning. Charlene is a proud Chinese-American New Yorker now based in Lisbon, helping people worldwide to make space for connection, healing, and meaning through creativity and curation.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARLENE: https://curatinggrief.com/

READ CURATING GRIEF: https://bookshop.org/p/books/curating-grief-a-creative-guide-to-choosing-what-to-keep-after-a-loved-one-dies-charlene-lam/dd45350a514f1c37?ean=9798991986212&next=t

FOLLOW CHARLENE ON SOCIALS: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/curating_grief/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@thegriefgallery LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/charclam/

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

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Nina Rodriguez joins host Lisa Keefauver to explore aspects of grief too often ignored, particularly focusing on sibling loss and the the societal stigmas surrounding addiction-related deaths. Nina shares the impact of unexpected loss, the importance of savoring life's little pleasures, her journey of reclaiming narratives and the ongoing process of living with wonderment. One of the things you won’t hear in her bio, though you will get to know about her in our conversation today, is the way she carries her grief with such care. Honoring the love she still holds for her brother Yosef, even in a world that often dismisses or diminishes deaths that result from addiction.

Nina Rodriguez is a grief-informed guide, indie podcaster, host and founder of Grief and Light, a platform and podcast dedicated to fostering a more grief-informed, hopeful world through honest conversations about life after loss. Following the sudden passing of her only sibling in 2019, Nina launched the Grief and Light podcast to shine a truthful light on grief as a lived experience to honor, tend, and integrate, rather than something to 'fix'. Now in its fourth season, the show has earned a 2025 Women Who Podcast Magazine award and ranks #18 of 100 on Goodpods in the Grief category.

Nina speaks nationally on grief, grief literacy, and post-traumatic growth, with recent engagements at the University of Miami, the 2025 Latinas in Podcasting Summit, and multiple Reimagine events. She writes the Substack 'Resting Grief Face', contributes to Get Griefy Magazine, co-authored Resilient A.F.: Stories of Resilience, Vol. 2, and completed a Grief Care Professional Certificate Program.

Based in South Florida, Nina welcomes aligned collaborations, speaking engagements, and opportunities to create spaces where grief, resilience, and humanity can be met with honesty and care. Follow her work at Grief and Light on all platforms.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NINA: https://www.griefandlight.com/

LISTEN TO HER PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grief-and-light/id1680003901

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

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Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer joins host Lisa Keefauver for a heartfelt conversation exploring the complexities of grief, the power of poetry, and the importance of self-compassion in the grieving process. They dive deep into the role of metaphor as a way to metabolize grief, and how writing can serve as a vehicle for self-compassion. Rosemerry is in a deep and expansive relationship with grief after the death of her son Finn by suicide in 2021 followed shortly afterwards by the death of her dad. In her work, just as she does in this conversation, she offers a tender voice, big heart, appetite for play, willingness to plum the depths of love and loss, and an insistence to be honest in her use of words. She emphasizes the duality of love and loss, and the significance of community in navigating grief. The conversation culminates in a powerful reading of Rosemerry's poetry, highlighting the beauty and pain intertwined in the human experience of love and loss.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer has been writing and sharing a poem a day since 2006—a practice that especially nourished her after the death of her teenage son in 2021. Her daily poems can be found on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils, or a curated version (with optional prompts) on her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, available with the Ritual app. She is the author of Exploring Poetry of Presence II: Prompts to Deepen Your Writing Practice. Her spoken-word albums include Dark Praise, which explores “endarkenment,” and Risking Love, which explores loving even when it seems impossible. Both are available anywhere you listen to music.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROSEMERRY at www.wordwoman.com

READ HER BOOKS: Unfolding, All The Honey, and more at https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=rosemerry+wahtola+trommer

SIGN UP FOR HER POETRY WORKSHOPS: at www.wordoman.com

Lisa Keefauver is an author, keynote speaker, social worker, widow, assault & cancer survivor turned grief activist on a mission to help us center aliveness in a world full of loss by reimagining the narratives of grief, one conversation at a time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LISA: at https://lisakeefauver.com/

ACCESS GRIEF SUPPORT: https://lisakeefauver.com/support

READ BOOK: Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. https://bookshop.org/p/books/grief-is-a-sneaky-bitch-an-uncensored-guide-to-navigating-loss-lisa-keefauver/ffd73d6b6921e6b5?ean=9781477329306&next=t&

READ ESSAYS: AFGO with Lisa Keefauver on Substack - https://afgowithlisakeefauver.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

grief, grief support, child loss, suicide, grieving, grieving parent, community, poet, poetry, writing, healing, unfolding, podcast

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