Welcome.

Hi, I’m Cait—the host of Growing Up Grieving.

I’m really glad you’re here.

Grief has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a household shaped by chronic illness, where love and fear often existed side by side. My first experience with loss came early, when my uncle died while I was just four years old. A few years later, when I was seven, I lost both of my maternal grandparents within a single month. Even then, grief felt familiar.

My mother lived with kidney disease for decades and endured two life-saving kidney transplants—one given by her sister and another a decade later given by her nephew— She had open-heart surgery, years of dialysis, and countless medical battles over the years. In many ways, I grieved her long before she died. When she passed in 2017 at the age of 61, it felt like the loss I had been bracing for my entire life had finally arrived.

My father’s health journey was equally complex. Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when I was young, he later survived a stroke, battled bladder cancer, and was ultimately diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which he died from. He died on Christmas Day in 2023 at the age of 73—a loss that reshaped my understanding of grief all over again.

Illness has touched nearly every corner of my family. My sister was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child and was one of the first children in Boston diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. Both she and I were diagnosed with celiac disease as adults, and my other sister continues to live with ongoing, undiagnosed autoimmune symptoms. For years, my life was driven by fear—fear of illness, fear of loss, fear of who might be next.

How Growing Up Grieving Began — and How It’s Grown

For a long time, grief consumed me. I lived in cycles of sadness and emotional shutdown, believing the pain I carried would always define me. I never imagined that the very thing that hurt me most could someday become a source of connection, purpose, or even strength.

Growing Up Grieving began as a space for me to speak honestly about my own experiences with loss. But as the show evolved, so did I. What started as a deeply personal project has grown into a shared space for real conversations—where grief isn’t polished, timelines aren’t rushed, and emotions are allowed to exist exactly as they are.

Season 2 marked a major evolution of the podcast. I was joined by my cousin, Alyssa Shepard, as co-host—bringing a new dynamic, deeper dialogue, and a shared understanding of family loss. Together, we created a season rooted in community: meaningful guest stories, listener feedback, recurring segments like Speaking Your Griefy Truth and Grief Wins, moments of humor alongside heartbreak, and honest conversations that reflect how grief actually shows up in everyday life.

Season 2 of Growing Up Grieving is now streaming in full.

A Space for Your Grief, Too

This podcast—and this community—exists to bring grief out of the shadows. To say the things people are often afraid to say. To make room for sorrow, anger, love, laughter, confusion, and everything in between.

If you’re here because you’re grieving, I want you to know this: you are not alone. Your grief is valid. Your story matters. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting—it means learning how to carry what we’ve lost.

Thank you for being here.

Welcome to Growing Up Grieving—where grief is complicated, humor is necessary, and no one has to do this alone.

All episodes recorded with love, in honor of my parents Dick and Sue. 🖤