Will Owens on His Journey as a Widowed Dad

“I would tell anybody to find some sort of group of people to speak with. People who are somewhat similarly situated so that you can kind of lean on each other as you navigate these waters of uncertainty, because it’s rough and it helps having someone you can lean on. Especially with dads who are dealing with other guys who may not be as open to talking about it.”

— Will Owens

Today I’m so pleased to be sharing with you my discussion with Will Owens. Will is a widowed dad and he has an 8 year old son. It was great to hear his perspective on widowed parenting, and what he finds to be unique challenges as a dad, and also what parts are similar in all of our journeys, whether we are moms or dads who lost our spouses.

Some topics Will and I discussed include:

• What it’s like being in a grief group for dads, and whether he finds it worthwhile (spoiler alert: he does!);

• Enlisting the moms of his son’s friends to help him navigate school & kid activities;

• Taking over household and schedule management, which his wife used to do for their family;

• Getting through the first year milestones, including grief triggers that he didn’t expect; and

• Trying to be a “good enough” parent, which is a concept that Justin Yopp talked about in episode 9.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Will Owens.

Links & resources for this episode

• The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life, by Justin Yopp and Donald Rosenstein

• My discussion with Dr. Justin Yopp (episode 9)

• Camp Kesem

• Grief care through Transitions of Wake County (Raleigh, North Carolina)

• UNC REX Healthcare KidsCan program

• Cook with Amber - cookbook and website

• Raddish kids cooking club

• Alexa

More links for listeners

• Download: Kids & Grief: What You Need to Know

• Article: I’m a Widowed Mom: Here Are My 3 Tips for COVID-19 Widows

• Book: Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another

Thank you sponsors & partners:

Help Texts - Grief support text messaging service. Tips and support delivered all year long, personalized based on your loss. Listeners get $10 off: https://helptexts.com/jennylisk

BetterHelp - Talk with a licensed, professional therapist online. Get 10% off your first month: betterhelp.com/widowedparent

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