Salisbury Family Part 1: Leila Salisbury Reflects on Widowed Parenting

I had such a great discussion with Leila Salisbury for this episode. This is the first episode of a two-part series with the Salisbury family – Leila is with us this week, and next week we’ll speak with her 15-year-old daughter, Katarina, for part two of the series. It’s going to be so great to hear from both of them, and hear their different perspectives and reflections on the loss of the same person: Leila’s husband and Katarina’s dad.

Some topics Leila and I discuss this week include:

• Reflecting on how she initially shared at grief group that her husband died in a car accident, when he actually died by suicide;

• Wishing she’d told her then-five-year-old daughter the truth from the outset, and how she ultimately did talk with her about it;

• The guilt she felt because she had wanted to divorce her husband before he died;

• The pressure she felt to ‘curate’ her husband’s memory for their daughter;

• Her mom’s death a few years later, and how that was a very different experience of grief for her;

• How she and her now teen daughter have gotten to the point where they are having the hard conversations;

• How it was surprisingly hard to navigate the support options for her daughter; and

• Deciding to start a grief center in Lexington, Kentucky.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Leila Salisbury.

Links & resources for this episode

• Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families

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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