In this episode Rosie Moss speaks with Lisa Marshall, known online as @the_widowdiaries on Instagram and TikTok. Lisa has built a powerful community by sharing her journey of surviving the sudden suicide of her husband Alan and raising three young children in the aftermath.

Through raw honesty and reflection, Lisa opens up about the shock of widowhood, the silence that often surrounds suicide, and the everyday reality of parenting through unimaginable grief. From breaking the news to her children, to navigating their neurodivergent needs, to finding fleeting signs of comfort in ladybirds and flickering lights, she offers a candid and unflinching account of resilience, love, and survival.

This conversation explores:

• The shock of suicide and the unanswered questions it leaves behind

• Parenting as a widow compared with single parenting after separation

• Explaining suicide to children with honesty and compassion

• The weight of public expectations and private grief

• Finding meaning in small signs, stories, and shared community

This episode is a moving reminder that grief lives in school runs, packed lunches, and the quiet work of staying present for those still here.

In this episode Rosie Moss is joined by Zoe Flory, who shares the story of her late partner Patrick from their whirlwind first meeting in a Brighton pub to navigating his terminal cancer diagnosis to raising their daughter Addie after his death.

With unflinching honesty and flashes of humour, Zoe speaks about the reality of becoming a full-time caregiver, the heartbreak of watching Patrick fade under the weight of cancer and Lynch syndrome, and the extraordinary tenderness that carried them through.

Zoe recalls the messy, magical, and devastating moments: draining fluid from Patrick’s lungs at home, creating “daddy magic” rituals for their toddler, and choosing a pub-style wake over the cremation she wasn’t ready for. She talks openly about preparing a young child for loss, using imaginative metaphors like “Daddy lives on the moon” to help Addie find comfort.

Now living in a platonic co-parenting arrangement with a close friend, Zoe reflects on parenting through grief, reclaiming her own identity, and the contradictions of widowhood where love, loss, exhaustion and laughter all collide.

This conversation is a reminder that grief is never simple, caregiving is never easy, and yet new forms of family and meaning can grow in the wake of heartbreak.

In this episode Rosie Moss speaks with Julie Farrin, who lost her husband Andy to glioblastoma, an aggressive and fast moving brain cancer.

Julie shares the story of meeting Andy, falling for his quiet kindness, and marrying him just weeks before their world was turned upside down. She talks about the first seizure that led to his diagnosis, the challenges of treatment during lockdown, and the painful reality of watching his words, independence and dignity slip away.

Together we explore what it meant to become a full time carer so early in marriage, the mix of exhaustion and dark humour that carried her through, and the heartbreak of hospice and widowhood. Julie also reflects on life after Andy, returning to work too soon, panic attacks, health struggles of her own, and the slow work of building a life without him.

She is honest about the isolation, the decisions she never thought she would face, and the importance of keeping Andy’s memory alive. As Julie puts it, “We are the gatekeepers, the memory keepers.”

We talk about:

• Julie and Andy’s love story and the early signs of glioblastoma

• The impact of lockdown on treatment and caregiving

• Watching decline up close and making end of life decisions

• The burden of being the only caregiver and managing others’ denial

• Choosing not to pursue motherhood under impossible circumstances

• Returning to work, health struggles and the ongoing reality of grief

• Why storytelling matters and how memory keeping keeps loved ones close