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Grief doesn’t arrive with instructions, and it rarely follows a neat timeline. We sit down with Liam, 14, and Toan, 22, to explore how losing a father at the age of eight years old, reshapes identity, school, friendships, and the rhythm of home. Their losses are different—motor neurone disease in one family, alcoholism in the other—but their insights echo: funerals make reality land, support matters most when it’s quiet and consistent, and rituals help turn pain into presence.

Liam opens up about watching his dad’s health fade, he shares unexpected good, too: a mentor who shows up for homework, steadies the house, and models how to grow. Toan reflects on consequence and choice, he draws strength from Catholic faith, gratitude for his mother’s sacrifices, and a firm principle for single mums and kids navigating grief: support, don’t smother; step up, don’t self-destruct.

If you’re a parent, teacher, or friend seeking better ways to help, you’ll find practical wisdom you can use today: offer space without disappearing, invite conversation without pressing, and build small routines that make healing possible. If you’re grieving, you’ll hear two voices that won’t rush you, reminding you that hope and adaptation can live alongside sorrow.

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Have questions about death, dying or the funeral industry? Email ask@ladyofdeath.com.au to have them answered in a future episode.