In the fall of 2023, Mackenzie Galloway-Cole was living out her rom-com-worthy love story with her wife Megan in New York City. Then, on an ordinary night in November, Megan collapsed and died a few hours later from a sudden cardiac event. In the aftermath, Mackenzie had to find her way in this newly shattered world without Megan, her anchor and biggest cheerleader.
Mackenzie reflects on the shock of becoming a young widow, the added layers of grief that come with queer partner loss, and the painful realities of navigating death care systems that often default to heteronormative assumptions.
Together, Jana and Mackenzie talk about the isolating nature of sudden and unexplained death, the importance of finding people who “get it,” and the ways time itself becomes a particularly painful aspect of grief. Mackenzie also shares why New Year’s can feel like a uniquely brutal grief milestone, how absence accumulates as life continues, and how Megan’s love still shapes the way she takes care of herself today.
This conversation holds space for heartbreak, dark humor, love stories, and the not-so-quiet ways grief rewires daily life - especially when the person you most want to turn to is the one who died.
In this episode, we discuss:
Mackenzie Galloway-Cole writes about grief at Good Gay Grief on Substack and can also be found on Instagram at @deadwifeclub
It’s our annual holiday episode, this time with Dougy Center Executive Director and TEDx speaker Brennan Wood. Brennan first encountered Dougy Center after her mom, Doris, died of breast cancer three days after Brennan’s 12th birthday. She has since navigated almost four decades of holiday seasons with grief along for the ride. She shares about the early years that were awful; the young-adult years she spent volunteering away from family; and how, as an adult, she’s learned to hold both grief and joy while creating new traditions for her own family. Whether this is your first or 41st holiday season with grief, this conversation offers validation, tangible suggestions, and new ways to think about this time of year.
We discuss:
How attending a peer grief support group as a teen introduced Brennan to the idea that grief is to feel, not fix.
Accepting that not everything has to be bright and shiny, especially during the holidays.
Recalling the first Christmas after her mom died and why it felt awful.
New traditions she's created as an adult with her own family.
Grounding rituals Brennan uses, especially during the holidays.
Why it's okay to be mad at holiday traditions you used to love.
Need additional tips and suggestions for this time of year?
Check out our past episodes and our Holiday Grief Tip Sheet & Worksheet
Under Pressure – Grief & December Holidays
Watch Brennan's TEDxPortland Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN4zP5baJrg
Read her A Kid's Book About Grief - https://dougybookstore.org/products/a-kids-book-about-grief
Learn more about Brennan - https://www.dougy.org/about/team-dougy/executive-director
When Kyndal Parks’ grandfather died on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving – she lost one of her biggest supporters and confidants. While navigating her grief, Kyndal was also navigating life as a college student where she often felt unseen in her grief by faculty and the wider institution. What began as a class assignment turned into a powerful audio piece about loss, legacy, and the urgent need for grief-informed spaces on college campuses, particularly at HBCUs where collective trauma, silence, and resilience intertwine.
In this conversation, Kyndal shares about her grandfather’s extraordinary life - from his childhood in the 1940s, to living with a disability, to his time as a Black Panther, a gardener, a traveler, and the steady source of love that shaped her into the person she is today. She talks about the traditions they built together, how her grief shows up even from 2,000 miles away, and why vulnerability and community care are essential if we want to build environments where students who are grieving feel supported.
Kyndal also explores the cultural and historical patterns of grief in Black communities, the pressure to “push through,” and her vision for a world where grief is met with connection, not silence.
We discuss:
Check out News Ambassadors, the program that helped connect us with Kyndal and her audio piece.