Grief doesn't end when the funeral is over. It doesn't follow a timeline, and it doesn't disappear simply because the world has moved on. In this deeply moving conversation, Sarah sits down with trauma nurse and Timely Presence founder Kelly Edmondson to explore what grief really looks like after the casseroles stop arriving and the support fades. Together they discuss loss, remembrance, healing, and how we can show up for grieving people long after everyone else has returned to normal life.
"People say they don't want to remind someone of their loss. It's the one thing I can't forget."
"Great loves are great losses. But the love is the gift."
"Grief will reshape you, but it doesn't have to limit you."
Sarah Jordan-Ross (00:00) everybody, welcome back to Taboo Talk with Sarah, the podcast that breaks the silence, fosters hope and talks about the tough stuff so you never feel alone. If you're new here, I'm your host, Sarah. I'm a wife, a mum of three amazing boys, massage therapist, wellness coach, and I've spent the last 25 years holding space for people through life, from the cradle to the grave and every step in between. Today's conversation is one that sits with something many people experience.
but often don't know how to talk about it. The grief that doesn't follow a timeline. Grief that doesn't end when the casseroles stop coming and the messages slow down. Grief that lingers quietly long after the rest of the world has moved on. And joining me for this conversation is Kelly Edmondson. Kelly is a trauma nurse and the founder of Timely Presence, a service born from her own experience of loss and the realization that support often fades.
just when we need it the most. What stood out to me most about Kelly's story isn't just what she's created, but what led her there. The experience of grief as a mother and what she came to understand about how we show up for each other in the long term. Kelly, welcome. I am so glad to have you here.
Kelly Edmondson (01:20)
Sarah, thank you for the opportunity to engage with you and your audience.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (01:26)
So when you look back on your own experience of loss, what's something about grief that people really don't see, but you wish they understood?
Kelly Edmondson (01:37)
Yeah, you know, I think what I would say is particularly past the acute phase, you don't wear grief, right? You don't wear it. And yet it really is a constant companion. ⁓ It doesn't, that doesn't mean you can't have joy, right? It just means that it's also something that you carry with you. ⁓
Sarah Jordan-Ross (01:52)
Yeah, it doesn't go away.
Kelly Edmondson (02:05)
People say all the time that they don't want to remind someone of their loss or remind them that their loved one's gone. And it's the one thing I can't forget.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (02:18)
It's not something that you need reminding of. And mentioning it isn't a bad thing. Sometimes we need to actually be able to talk about what we've lost, who we've lost, so that then we can find that joy in remembering them.
Kelly Edmondson (02:20)
That's right.
That's right.
That's great. I say memories are the most healing thing I have. It's what I have left of my son. ⁓ And so his name is the sweetest sound. It's like a harp to me. And so I love to hear his name. I love to hear stories about him. ⁓ What would make grief worse for me?
would be the absence of the remembrance of his memory. That would be like wiping his existence out, which is intolerable.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (03:13)
I I read once that the dead are never really gone until those they've left behind have forgotten them. keeping their memories alive is that way of keeping them alive with us as well.
Kelly Edmondson (03:29)
Exactly right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (03:30)
So can you take us back to that time when you did lose your son? What were those early days of grief like? And then what changed as you moved on from that?
Kelly Edmondson (03:43)
Yeah, so when he passed away, he had a seizure in his sleep. ⁓ And my husband and I were actually on a cruise ship. So we were literally across the world from my other two children when it happened. ⁓ Surrounded by people on holiday, which was just incredibly... ⁓
That paradigm is indescribable, really. So you spend the initial days in shock. And then you're preparing for the services, and there's so much busyness around that. Yeah, the rituals, the clothes, the site, the program, right? All of those things keep you very focused on tasks.
⁓ so.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (04:40)
So many decisions to be made in such a
short period of time, you don't get a chance to even breathe in those. Yeah.
Kelly Edmondson (04:47)
And during
that time you're surrounded by people, right? People are helping you write the obituary. People are there. And then you have the services, the end of life celebration, the funeral, and very quickly people go back to living. And in about a week I realized
that this was the starting line. ⁓ Too often we think the funeral's the finish, ⁓ but it's really just the beginning. And the silence was deafening. The silence when people went back was deafening.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (05:37)
because it's such a contrast.
Kelly Edmondson (05:39)
Yeah, it really is. And you begin to think day 10, day 12, forever is a pretty long time. Right, right. Inconceivable, really.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (05:53)
So very long. Yeah.
Yeah. And around about then too, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, that's when the, what do I do now? There's this huge gaping hole in my life that's, that their presence used to fill. And now it's like, what do I do? Where do I go?
Kelly Edmondson (06:12)
That's right.
today.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (06:22)
And how do you continue to process that?
Kelly Edmondson (06:26)
That's right. Week two or three is also when I really began waking up going, ⁓ that was such a terrible dream. Certainly this isn't my life. Certainly this isn't real, right? And it was literally a revisiting of the reality every day. Every day. Your brain, the brain is fascinating.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (06:41)
Bye.
Kelly Edmondson (06:54)
It tries its best to protect you. ⁓ And so we know that. People go to all kinds of places for protective mechanisms. For me, what that showed up as overnight was a resetting of reality. Could this be real? And so every morning I woke up and I revisited the fact that he indeed was gone, which probably let me sleep through the night. ⁓
but I always made a painful morning probably for a month or so a few weeks in.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (07:36)
when that support that you'd had in those initial stages starting to fade, everyone else is getting on with their life and you're still in that. So what did that experience look like for you when you started to shift and move into what you're doing now, which is supporting lots of other people as well?
Kelly Edmondson (07:58)
You know, Sarah, one of the things I'm so grateful for is somehow my network knew that to heal properly, you had to sit in the pain for a little while. You had to integrate with the pain and that's part of the process. So my husband, some of my dearest friends said things like,
You don't have to respond to text messages.
It's okay for you to tap out of events. You do what you need to and don't you dare feel guilty about it.
And that time and space really allowed me to process the fact that life was going to be different from here on out. And so I am eternally grateful because shortly after the funeral, I began what felt like a monumental task of preparing thank you notes for all the things, all the... And my dear friend called and said,
Are you serious? And I said, she said, your son's dead. No one is expecting a thank you note from you right now. That's exhausting. I'm exhausted thinking about that for you. Take that energy and put it into self care. Get up, take a shower, go have some fresh air.
That's what you spend your time doing. The people who care about you understand that thank you notes are not a priority week three.
And that's right. That's right. Which is in reality what did happen, right? I never did get around to saying thank you notes. Of course, all of the people who cared for me know how much I appreciated their presence when I needed it most. ⁓ But people who really care don't care with expectation, right? ⁓
Sarah Jordan-Ross (09:53)
And if they never happen, that's okay too.
That's it.
Kelly Edmondson (10:19)
They care with intention not expectation. And so having people who freed me of that allowed me the time to do what I needed to do. But I'll tell you the turning point for me. My mother's day here in the States is in May. And I always say it the same. Oh, well then we're on the same calendar.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (10:38)
here. It's actually next week for us.
Kelly Edmondson (10:46)
And so my son died in January. So Mother's Day was the first significant kind of holiday.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (10:55)
That would have been hard.
Kelly Edmondson (10:56)
hard and and then in the days leading up to it there's so much commercialism around it there's right there's banners there's and so there's all these reminders for this day that I am actually fearful of and so ⁓ as it got closer I became more more tense about the day
And that weekend I decided I was doing nothing. I was nothing. Anything that weekend. And my two other children would just, I love you, but I can't participate. And my mother and sister and niece all live ⁓ a plane ride away. And they flew in.
to see me that weekend. And my daughter and my son's girlfriend came over and they came with memories and mementos, tokens of my son Darius. And what we did that weekend was acknowledged that the week that the loss, right? That Mother's Day will never be the same.
but we also acknowledge that he was such a wonderful person and how much we all loved him and the impact. So I say we recognize his life, our love, and the loss that weekend. And that made what I was dreading for weeks such a beautiful weekend for me.
And I decided right then, that's what people need. People need you to show up when it's going to be tough. They need you to let them know, we know that this is a challenge for you. We remember your person and it all still matters. so ⁓ for me, that was the turning point when I realized there's something we can do to help people that are in this situation.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (13:10)
Next, that's the tricky thing with grief. No one really knows how it's going to tip, but it is those significant days that sometimes are a bit harder.
Kelly Edmondson (13:25)
That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (13:26)
So,
and I'm my first Mother's Day without my mum. lost her 12, no, 13 years ago. Now, in that first Mother's Day was tough from that. can only imagine how much harder it would be when it's your child that you've lost on that day.
Kelly Edmondson (13:46)
My sister recalls this I don't remember because I was just too in Embedded and grieve but my sister says a couple of weeks in that I said to her I Will make room for purpose in this pain. This is
Darius will not die in vain right something good Something meaningful will come from this and I think my brain was searching for ways to do that and and and the line that I The phrase I continue to say to people because we all agree right. We're all grieving all kinds of things all the time is that Grief will certainly reshape you
⁓ It's right. ⁓ You cannot have a significant loss and remain the same. So grief will reshape you, but it doesn't have to limit you. It doesn't need to define you. And so ⁓ that kind of became my mantra. Let's put this pain into purpose. Let's activate.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (14:37)
Yeah, there's no getting around that.
So tell us about that purpose that you found.
Kelly Edmondson (15:07)
Yeah, So, ⁓ timely presence is really a way. You know, the research tells us that although pain, grief is cyclical, it's nonlinear, it shows up when it's, when it shows up. It's aggravated and in the grocery store by a song, ⁓ driving down the street, seeing someone with a shirt on that reminds you, right? There's all kinds of triggers.
But what we know for sure are that there are certain days certain events that are more likely to cause ⁓ some exacerbation of pain and so we have built a system that shows up on those days that are predicted to be more difficult so birthdays The holiday season Mother and Father's Day, which we've mentioned ⁓
a wedding anniversary, right? Those are days where the longing can be intensified and often you're left alone. No one remembers your wedding day when you're a widow. But you can't forget, right? And so...
We allow people who want to show up for their loved ones, who want to show up for their employees or people that they care about to provide a year's worth of tender moments of care with one transaction. It's logistically difficult for a person who is living their own life to remember to call Sarah on her mom's birthday.
and to call Sarah on Mother's Day, right? It's difficult to do that. Not that people don't care, but people are living. ⁓
Sarah Jordan-Ross (17:04)
and life
gets busy and you may mean to do those things but it just slips through the cracks.
Kelly Edmondson (17:07)
That's right.
Right.
And so we've built a system that allows you to show up with mess with air quality gifts of remembrance that are full of light and love. They're not sad. They don't look morose. They
They're wonderful reminders of the love that exists with a message that says, know that today's a challenge for you. I'm thinking of you and you are not alone in this journey. ⁓ Yeah, it's like a hug that is delivered on the days that you need it the most. And so we're just delighted with the opportunity to make a difference in the way.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (17:43)
love that.
Kelly Edmondson (17:58)
people can show up for the grieving.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (18:02)
And those little things make such a big difference because grief is one of those things that some days you're absolutely fine and the next day it hits you like a ton of bricks and you have trouble getting out from under it. And Lani Almenzo was on a little while ago and she talked about how our grief doesn't get smaller over time, it's that we grow
around it. So it's always there. It doesn't disappear. It's just our container that holds it gets bigger and the times that it bumps up against the edges are less. I think having, particularly in that really difficult first period, having a reminder that you're not alone in it, that somebody is
thinking about you and sending you something that reminds you of your person as well is a beautiful thing. So thank you for doing that.
Kelly Edmondson (19:07)
Yeah, and it's so, it's helpful for the gift giver, right? Who doesn't know what to say, who may not be comfortable with addressing the elephant in the room.
it gives them a way to show up when they don't have the words, which ⁓ is a gift.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (19:31)
Yeah, it's helpful because
yeah, sometimes those words are really hard to find.
Kelly Edmondson (19:37)
That's right. That's right. That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (19:40)
And if you haven't been through a similar experience, sometimes that makes it harder as well as the, have no idea how that would feel.
Kelly Edmondson (19:51)
⁓ One of the things I'm proudest about with Timely Presence is that we have collections based on relationships to the departed, right? So that gifts show up on the correct days. But the package that I am the most proud of is our angel collection. And it is for women who have experienced pregnancy loss and stillbirth. And as a nurse,
I know that the silent pain, the silent grief that these women often live through. No one remembers a baby. It is. No one remembers a baby they never met. But she does. That's right. And so...
Sarah Jordan-Ross (20:32)
because it is different. Yeah.
Yeah, the mum does. Yeah.
And even to the,
will they be this old? Or I wonder if they'd be doing this or yeah. Do they have, whose smile do they have? All those sorts of things. it's, you can't help but wonder. Yeah.
Kelly Edmondson (20:50)
That's right. That's right.
That's right.
And the first timely presents collection that was ever purchased was for a woman who had had a baby that lived 48 hours. And her employer, when we launched, her employer knew that the year anniversary of the loss was coming up. So typically we are
⁓ purchased in the acute phase of grief, but this employer knew that the one-year anniversary was coming up and she wanted to do something for this person she cared about. So she purchased and the first gift that comes in that collection is a crystal sun catcher.
So the woman who received this gift said it was like the darkest day, right? She stayed home that day, so dark, she went out to her mailbox just to get some fresh air, opened it and saw a package with a dove on it. What is this package? She goes in the house, she opens it in her kitchen by a window, and on the darkest day of the year,
she had prisms dancing on her kitchen walls. And her quote was, that's right, that's right, her quote was, God was in the details that day. This just brought her a sense of peace and a sense of belonging and not being alone.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (22:21)
Yeah. If that can't bring a smile.
Kelly Edmondson (22:43)
that she didn't know was possible. And so that was the first sense of feedback that I, was the first election, first sense of feedback that we received. And I said to my son Darius, I said, thanks for the inspiration son. Job well done. We are going to positively impact the way people experience this pain. And so that is such a gift back to me.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (23:13)
That must have felt so good getting that back, knowing that you put that little bit of sunshine into someone's darkest day.
Kelly Edmondson (23:21)
That's
That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (23:27)
So somebody who's listening, if they're sitting in that grief and in that... So they're not in that initial stage, they're... And the rest of the world has moved on and there's not the support around them that normally would. What would you want them to know?
Kelly Edmondson (23:49)
Yeah. So there's a couple of things that I think are really important. The first is painful days are going to come. So prepare, prepare. One of the best things that we can do is create rituals. ⁓ My son's, Darius's birthday actually is Christmas Day. And so ⁓ I love to say that he was the greatest gift I ever had.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (24:15)
to do it.
Kelly Edmondson (24:20)
But it's a day that I'm always preparing for, right? Everyone else is celebrating and it's a day of pain for us. And so what we've decided to do is we now take his ashes on a vacation with us at Christmas. That's what we do. And we have refrained Christmas into a celebration.
⁓ where we recognize Darius' life and help spread his, like a little piece of Darius all over the world. And so every Christmas we go somewhere new where we can take him. ⁓ It's still the anniversary. We call it an angel-versary. It's still the day that we lost him.
But as a family, we have found a way to put meaning into the day. And it has helped us to reframe it. People do all kinds of things. They release balloons. They light candles. ⁓ They go to their house of worship. That's right. Plant trees, house of worship. Whatever it is that helps center you.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (25:32)
trace.
Kelly Edmondson (25:40)
and brings you a sense of peace and remembrance, plan ahead for the days that we can predict will be difficult. I'll say that. The second thing that I would say is that sometimes you have to make people comfortable in the conversation. They can't bring it up, but when you bring it up and say, it brings me joy to talk about him, you free them to be able to engage with that.
We have to sometimes teach people how to help us along the journey. And that's okay. That's okay. This is hard for all. ⁓
Sarah Jordan-Ross (26:21)
And we all have to help each other learn the best way to get through. Because what works for one person isn't necessarily going to work for another. But yeah, I love how you're putting joy and meaning back into those days that would otherwise or could otherwise be.
Kelly Edmondson (26:26)
That's right.
That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (26:42)
a sad, difficult day and not being able to see that light.
Kelly Edmondson (26:48)
And then the last thing I would say is that my grief counselor, from the moment I started meeting with her, the last thing she would say to me every session was take good care. Take good care, take good care. ⁓ And sometimes you just had to, I had to intentionally do that, right? I had to say, I have to eat something balanced today.
I have to, that's right, I have to get out of the bed and get in the shower. Even if I get in the shower and get back in the bed, that action is a sense of accomplishment, right? We don't have to go run marathons. We have to do small acts of self care. And each one gives you a little more strength and confidence that you can do another.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (27:18)
or even just ate something at all.
Kelly Edmondson (27:45)
and you piece your life back together. There is a horizon of hope if you intentionally position yourself to say, I'm gonna do a little bit more for me today than I did two days ago. Small steps, giving yourself grace and recognizing that the old you and the new you won't be the same.
but that you can find joy in the things that brought you happiness before. It may look different, but your ultimate goal should be back to finding joy in the things that uniquely made you you. It's the best way to honor the love that you lost.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (28:34)
Yeah. Remembering who you are and who you were with them then honours them. Yeah. Because it's not like we ever forget them, even though it may look like in the everyday, because we're not. And you don't want to be stuck in that. You want to move on with your life and find the joy.
Kelly Edmondson (28:40)
That's right. That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (29:01)
those early stages it is really hard and you need to celebrate those little wins. The fact that you did get out of bed that day or that you hey you cleaned your teeth. Sometimes it's a celebrate the yeah celebrate the little win and they add up.
Kelly Edmondson (29:08)
Sorry.
That's right. That's right.
answering.
And the reality is the cost of loving is losing.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (29:28)
It's ⁓
this.
Kelly Edmondson (29:35)
And so great loves are great losses. ⁓ But I choose to remember how great the love is. The loss comes with it. But the love is the gift. The love is the gift.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (29:48)
Yes, and once you get past the pain of the loss, it's the remembrance of the love that stays. It's something that never dims, never diminishes. It's the thing that's always with you is the love that you had.
Kelly Edmondson (30:08)
That's right. ⁓
Sarah Jordan-Ross (30:12)
And
we should share that with the others that we love as well.
Kelly Edmondson (30:16)
That's right. And so I will continue to say his name is like a harp to me. ⁓ And I've made the people around me comfortable with it. Right. Initially people are like, my goodness, she said it. They look straight. You can see the discomfort on them. And then they begin to see that I'm not uncomfortable. Right. I'm not. ⁓ When I mentioned him, I am talking about love.
I am laughing about something ornery that he did. I am.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (30:53)
you
Kelly Edmondson (30:55)
I am recalling his life, his legacy, and that brings me great joy and it has helped others get comfortable in it and ⁓ so now we can all enjoy his memory.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (31:13)
And when I think of legacy, that's what I think. It's not the material things that you leave behind. It's how you live and how you love that outlives you. That's the thing that stays with people after loss is all of the good things.
Kelly Edmondson (31:34)
That's right. That's right. How do you celebrate your mom? you're 12 years out. What do you do now to keep her?
close.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (31:48)
very first episode of my podcast.
Kelly Edmondson (31:51)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (31:53)
on her birthday.
Yeah, you'll see the dragon behind me. Well, I was the one who collected dragons and that sort of thing. My mum actually collected swans. But one of the things that each of us would do, anytime I went traveling without her, I'd bring her home a swan. Anytime she went traveling without me, a new dragon would appear in my house. So.
Kelly Edmondson (32:03)
Mm-hmm.
I you.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (32:29)
And ⁓ just recently, my middle son has started playing piano.
which for me is a gift because my mum played the piano and my older son plays the bass guitar. discovered music this year too.
Kelly Edmondson (32:56)
I love that.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (32:56)
My mum
always had music playing or she was playing, so now my house being filled with music again, she's still here. ⁓ while only one of my boys got to meet my mum, my mum passed two weeks before my second son was born. But I used to joke that they crossed paths.
because my middle boy has my mother's eyes.
Kelly Edmondson (33:31)
you
Sarah Jordan-Ross (33:33)
And my mum had this look, my sisters and I called it the stern mother look. You know the one, you're in trouble, you're not even sure what you did, but you will say, I'm sorry. Watch that coming out of an eight year old.
Kelly Edmondson (33:38)
Hahaha
Sarah Jordan-Ross (33:52)
So, like the first time I saw him do it, it's like, I bet she told him if your mother ever gets out of line, just shoot her this look and...
Kelly Edmondson (34:02)
So now!
Sarah Jordan-Ross (34:04)
She'll know. Yeah, or it's in the little things like...
Kelly Edmondson (34:08)
I love that.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (34:13)
Yeah, I still have photos of her around or things that were hers. And I remember she had this silver tea set that my oldest boy loved to play with. the rule was, yeah, you can sit and play with it. You're not allowed to run around with it and don't pretend it's a truck. That kind of thing. And I didn't think he'd remember. I thought he was too little. But then...
younger brother spotted it one day and like he wanted to play and said well you gotta ask mum and then you gotta sit down and and we play with it nicely we can't run around and we can't and she's like okay he remembers that he's supposed to sit down to play with that so and yeah it'll be little things that that pop up and I think even the song that was playing because
Part of why I started the podcast was a song came on the radio called Whiskey Lullaby. And it's a song about suicide, but one of the lines in it was, nobody ever knew. And my thought was, yeah, nobody ever knew because you didn't talk about it.
And that was actually a song that I heard for the first time with my mum.
And I came home, I was dropping the boys off somewhere, I came home and said to my husband, I want to start a podcast because there is so much stuff that so many of us go through, but we don't talk about and we need to talk about it.
Kelly Edmondson (35:46)
Mm-hmm.
That's right. That's right. So all that you've all you've talked about are memories, rituals, things that you've done to keep her alive. That's the magic. That's the magic, right? Finding small ways to stay connected to the memory.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (35:53)
Yeah, think she's alive in lots of little ways.
Yeah, and even for me, it's for my kids to know things about her that they wouldn't otherwise know if I didn't tell them those stories.
Yeah, I think stories are important and we need to share them.
Kelly Edmondson (36:30)
Me too.
Me too. Me too. Yeah, it's beautiful. I love your dragon.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (36:34)
Yeah.
It's
pretty cool, isn't it?
Kelly Edmondson (36:42)
It is.
is. Now I know.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (36:45)
I have
dragons of all sorts. My big thing was dragons are not big and scary and mean. They're just not. They're wise and cheeky and joyful.
Kelly Edmondson (36:55)
Hahaha!
Sarah Jordan-Ross (37:08)
Yes. Yeah, I keep my dragon close.
Kelly Edmondson (37:08)
That's great.
I love that. I love that. It's got meaning.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (37:15)
got one of her
swans sitting in my kitchen so I see it every day as well. ⁓
Kelly Edmondson (37:22)
Yeah, see? Yeah,
tokens of memory. Tokens of memory. It matters.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (37:30)
it does because it's sharing those memories and those stories that also help us get through our grief because once the sadness fades, once they're not here anymore but once that feeling that I'm going to turn a corner and they'll be there once you get past that, well the, you said,
Kelly Edmondson (37:35)
That's right.
Good job,
Sarah Jordan-Ross (38:00)
new reality waking up every day and the the realization that they're not there and once that that hole that they'd left once that's sort of filled up with with other things then you just get to focus on the good stuff and the memories and then that gets to be what brings you joy as well.
Kelly Edmondson (38:01)
Yeah.
And you have to address it, right? Unaddressed grief can literally kill you, right? And so it's so important. You have to face it. You have to face it. It can be dangerous to not do so. so this is a...
Sarah Jordan-Ross (38:32)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, deface it.
Kelly Edmondson (38:50)
public service announcement. Sit in it. Process it. Face it. ⁓ So that you can heal. Mentally, spiritually, and physically.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (38:53)
Yes.
What she said.
Kelly Edmondson (39:15)
Those are truths. I'm a nurse. Trust me.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (39:18)
Yeah.
Yes, you will have seen it and you've lived it too.
So many different things we could continue to talk about, but I'd love to leave it on that little wisdom bomb that you just dropped. Let yourself feel it, sit in that grief and then move past it. Because the only way to heal it is to let yourself experience it and let it be what it will be. Kelly, thank you so much for being here and for sharing your wisdom.
Kelly Edmondson (39:57)
See you tomorrow.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (40:04)
with us.
Kelly Edmondson (40:07)
Thanks for facing the tough topics.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (40:07)
think it's one of those.
think Exana is tough when we face them together is what I found. I think these conversations, they're the ones that we need to be having because they help us to find the language to express what we're feeling because sometimes that's the thing. We don't know how to say things. We don't know how to express what we're feeling.
and that's okay. Or we get the, you should be over it by now, but grief doesn't do that. Grief doesn't disappear. It changes shape, it changes us, but it stays with us. It never goes away. We just get better at not being completely derailed by it.
Kelly Edmondson (41:14)
That's right.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (41:17)
So for everyone listening, if this conversation has resonated with you or if you're in that navigating grief and not knowing what to do, know that not knowing is okay and you're not alone. And if you'd like to connect more with Kelly or learn more details about her work, you'll find details in the show notes or
Reach out to me and I will happily connect you.
And as always, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Until next time, take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and remember, your story matters. So share it.
Kelly Edmondson (42:11)
Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah Jordan-Ross (42:13)
Thank you.