Grief and Unexpected Losss
From Messages From the Middle | Mental Health, Anxiety, Depression, Late Diagnosed ADHD, Undiagnosed Trauma, Neurodivergence, PTSD, Complicated Grief, by Wendy Parrish
April 3, 2026 · 13 min · Episode 102
About this episode
Wendy Parrish discusses the unexpected nature of grief and how it can manifest in various forms beyond death.
Grief doesn’t always look the way we expect it to. In this episode, I share a personal moment that caught me completely off guard—sitting in church, listening to little kids sing, and suddenly being overwhelmed by emotion. Not because of a major loss, but because of a quiet, tender one: the passing of a season, the shift from little kids to growing ones. We often think grief only belongs to death, but the truth is, any unmet expectation or change can carry grief with it—and when we don’t recognize it, it can feel confusing and heavy. In this conversation, I walk through what grief really looks like, why we can’t logic our way out of it, and how learning to name it can be incredibly healing. I talk about letting go of judgment, allowing emotions to move through us, and recognizing the many ways grief can show up—like fatigue, anger, or even forgetfulness. If you’ve ever felt sadness you couldn’t quite explain, this episode will help you understand what might be underneath it—and remind you that grief isn’t a weakness, it’s a reflection of how deeply you’ve loved.
People in this episode
Host: Wendy Parrish
Topics covered
- grief
- emotional healing
- unmet expectations
- mental health
- personal reflection
Keywords
- grief
- emotions
- mental health
- loss
- healing
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