When “Someday” Becomes Now: Life After Mom and Dad

Planning isn’t just paperwork. What happens when families do everything they can, but without guidance, the plan unravels at the exact moment it matters most?

In this episode of Finding Common Ground, Heather and Steve are joined by Samantha Harrison, founder of Momentum Family Strategies and a disability support strategist who works with families navigating what she calls life after mom and dad.
Samantha brings a rare, honest perspective from the front lines. She supports siblings and aging parents who suddenly find themselves responsible for everything—services, housing, staffing, paperwork—often at the exact moment they are grieving the loss or decline of a primary caregiver. She explains, “We tell families to plan ahead, but we don’t teach them how to plan for the day they’re not there.”

Together, they explore why planning too often becomes reactive, why paperwork alone can’t carry a future, and how systems built around crisis leave families scrambling when stability matters most.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

Why families are told they’ve “planned,” but still feel unprepared when the moment comes

How siblings become caregivers overnight, without training or a roadmap

Why self-direction is often misunderstood as a shortcut instead of a responsibility

What truly makes a plan hold when the primary caregiver is gone

How guidance, education, and vision—not just forms—change outcomes

“Without guidance, families don’t fail to plan. They’re set up to plan in pieces.”

Samantha also shares practical insight into letters of intent, future planning, workforce realities, and how families can begin identifying gaps before those gaps turn into crisis.

“Planning has to start with the why—what kind of life do we want, and why does it matter?”

This episode is for parents, siblings, advocates, professionals, and policymakers who have ever asked themselves what really happens when support systems are no longer held together by one person’s unpaid labor.

This isn’t a conversation about fear.
It’s a conversation about preparation, honesty, and building plans that can stand—even when we’re not there to hold them up.

Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Pittsford, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com.

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Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production Studios in Rochester, NY. Learn more at rocvox.com.