Leslie Gray Streeter on her New Book "Black Widow"

“You’ve got to talk about these things. And I don’t want to be adding to his therapy requirements when he’s older, that I lied to him or that I didn’t, to the best of my ability, either tell him how I could help or find other people who could help.”

— Leslie Gray Streeter

I had such a great discussion with Leslie Gray Streeter for this episode. First of all, big congratulations to Leslie on the launch this week of her new memoir, Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title.

Leslie became a widowed parent after the sudden death of her husband, Scott, in 2015. At the time they were in the process of adopting their two-year-old son. As it says on the back of her book, “With her signature warmth, hilarity, and tendency to overshare, Leslie Gray Streeter gives us real talk about love, loss, grief, and healing in your own way.” Her book is both funny and touching; if you’re a widowed parent, I know you’ll recognize much in her story, even if your situation is different.

Some topics Leslie and I cover include:

• Continually having to answer the question “where’s daddy?” from her young son;

• The pressure of making decisions as the only parent;

• Wanting to write the book in order to start a conversation about grief; and

• Her mom moving in with her to help co-parent her toddler.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Leslie Gray Streeter.

Links & resources for this episode

• Leslie’s website

• Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title, by Leslie Gray Streeter

• Camp Widow

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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