In this deeply human and beautifully raw episode, Rosie Moss sits down with Aimie Strachan, a widow and mother of two whose husband John died suddenly from an undiagnosed aortic dissection. What unfolds is a conversation full of love, shock, courage, and the fierce tenderness of solo parenting after loss.

Aimie traces their story from meeting as young teachers in Dubai to the ease and joy of their marriage, and then to the night everything changed. With heartbreaking clarity she describes the medical crisis that unfolded, the impossible decisions she faced, and the moment she had to tell her children that their dad had died.

Rosie and Aimie explore the messy truth of grief. The anger. The bitterness. The lonely practicalities. The way it lands differently on children. And the exhaustion of trying to access the right support. Amid the devastation there is also movement. Aimie talks about how community, creativity, the outdoors, and connection with other widows helped her find her footing again. She has since launched a Whitley Bay brand in John’s honour and is determined to live with more urgency and intention. Life is so short. Just do the thing.

This conversation offers space for heartbreak, softness, rage, growth, and the small quiet moments of hope that show up when you least expect them.

Show Notes

In this episode Rosie and Aimie talk about

• How Aimie met her husband John in Dubai and how quickly and naturally their relationship grew

• Building a life together, marrying, and welcoming their two children

• The sudden onset of John’s symptoms and the unfolding of a rare aortic dissection

• The confusion, urgency and helplessness of those final hours in hospital

• The emotional and practical reality of end of life decisions

• The moment Aimie told her children their dad had died and the ongoing impact on them

• How grief shows up in children in unexpected ways and why childhood bereavement needs more awareness and support

• The anger, bitterness and sheer exhaustion of grieving inside a broken mental health system

• Finding comfort in nature, forest school sessions and small grounding routines

• The power of community and widowed friendship in the early stages of loss

• Launching a heartfelt Whitley Bay brand in John’s honour and rediscovering purpose

• Why Aimie now leans into life’s brevity and pushes herself to do the things she once hesitated over

• Navigating difficult seasons like Christmas with honesty and gentleness

In this episode, host Rosie Moss sits down with writer and solo parent Emma Charlesworth, whose husband Charlie died of COVID-19 during the first UK lockdown. Emma’s memoir, Daddy Going to Be Okay?, grew from voice notes and late night blog posts into a powerful account of grief, parenting through trauma, and finding connection in the darkest days.

Emma shares the story of Charlie’s final days in hospital, the painful reality of ICU restrictions, and the moment she had to answer her daughter’s impossible question about whether Daddy would come home. Together, Rosie and Emma talk about the invisible work of widowhood, the small moments that keep you going, and the way grief shifts and reshapes your life long after the world expects you to be fine.

This is a raw and hopeful conversation about love, honesty, resilience, and the courage it takes to tell your story.

Key themes from the episode include:

• Emma’s account of losing her husband Charlie during the earliest days of COVID-19 and the emotional toll of ICU restrictions and isolation.

• Parenting her daughter Rebekah through grief and choosing honesty over false reassurance when asked, “Is Daddy going to be okay?”

• How social media became a lifeline that humanised the statistics dominating the headlines.

• Writing as survival, beginning with private notes and blog posts that grew into an award-winning blog and eventually a book.

• The invisible labour of widowhood, from solo parenting and finances to the fear that appearing “fine” will make your pain invisible.

• The way grief shows up years later in unexpected moments and the role of symbols, like tattoos and travel, in marking resilience.

• Emma’s belief that grief never ends, but it does change. “Grief is a book on the shelf. It is still there, but surrounded by other stories now.”

The episode closes with a conversation about the meaning behind her book’s title and the small joys, like a bouncing Tigger, that sit beside heartbreak in the story of love, loss, and carrying on.

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When Mat Owen lost his wife Nic to breast cancer in 2023, his world was turned upside down. Left to raise their two young children, he faced the unimaginable: grieving the love of his life while trying to stay present as a father.

In this powerful and deeply human conversation, Rosie and Mat explore what it means to parent through loss, love someone through illness, and rebuild life when the person who anchored you is gone. Mat speaks with raw honesty about emotional shutdown, male grief, and the isolation that often comes with being a widowed dad. He shares the highs and heartbreak of his life with Nic, from meeting in their teens to defying medical odds to become parents, and the quiet strength she showed throughout her cancer journey.

Together, they reflect on the small, everyday moments that carry enormous weight: bedtime routines, school WhatsApp threads, a child’s comment about a photo, and the instant you realise your daughter looks just like her mum. The episode also delves into coping after loss, from alcohol use to dating apps, and the difficult but hopeful path toward self-compassion and sobriety.

This is a conversation about love that refuses to fade, the legacy of a mother’s strength, and the courage it takes to keep showing up. Mat’s story is a reminder that even in the depths of grief, we can find purpose, connection, and hope.

Episode highlights:

• Mat reflects on meeting Nic in his early twenties and how her strength and clarity brought purpose and love into his life.

• They navigate the shock of a cancer diagnosis in 2011, a relationship tested through treatment, and their fierce determination to become parents against medical predictions.

• Mat discusses the return of Nic’s cancer after the birth of their second child, the emotional strain it brought, and Nic’s unwavering resilience through her final years.

• Together, they confront male emotional reticence in grief and the unexpected difficulty of building support networks as a widowed father.

• Mat shares how he and Nic co-created child-friendly bereavement tools, “cancer flashcards,” and how he now carries that legacy forward. https://www.littlecclub.com/shop

• The conversation explores coping mechanisms after loss, from alcohol use to dating apps, and the difficult but hopeful path toward sobriety and reconnection.

• Parenting after loss is shown in touching detail, from school run routines to gently helping children navigate insensitive playground remarks.

• They close on how grief reshapes identity, the quiet pride Mat finds in being “the school mum,” and the presence of Nic in the children she left behind.