Giving Grief Grace, a Grief Podcast for the Sandwich Generation
Loss changes everything. But it doesn't have to have the last word. Giving Grief Grace is a podcast dedicated to those in the throes of caregiving and loss with honest, compassionate conversations about grief, healing, and what it means to keep living after loss. Hosted by Lisa Hartung, a speaker, HR professional, and fellow griever, each episode creates space for the stories we don't always know how to tell.
From disenfranchised and hidden grief, to grieving while parenting, to the ways men experience loss differently, to the unexpected power of creativity and legacy, this show covers grief in all its forms. Featuring expert guests, real stories, and practical tools you can use right now.
If you've lost someone you love or are in the throes of caregiving, you belong here.
New episodes drop every Sunday. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Giving Grief Grace, a Grief Podcast for the Sandwich Generation
Episode 42 - Ash Rose Project (Week 4): Honoring Legacy, Finding Hope, and Looking Toward the Future
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In this bittersweet finale of the Ash Rose Project series, host Lisa Hartung and artist/Executive Director of the Ash Rose Foundation, Ian McCartor close out their 30-day grief journey with a conversation full of hope, whimsy, and renewal. The conversation was recorded, fittingly, on Ash Wednesday.
Week 4's theme is Looking Toward the Future: Continuing the Legacy and Embracing Hope. As Ian puts the finishing touches on a one-of-a-kind portrait made with Emily Hartung's ashes, Lisa reflects on what this project has meant for her healing and what she hopes it will mean for others.
Together Ian and Lisa explore the transformative power of curiosity in grief, why asking open-ended questions beats the usual platitudes, and how art becomes a talisman that keeps our loved ones present in everyday life. Lisa shares the legacy traditions she'll carry forward from "Emily's Planting & Blooming Day" at the Farmington Public Library in Maine to a memorial bench at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Maine and even hints at two books she hopes to write in her mother's honor.
The episode closes with a passage from Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, inscribed on a wind chime for Emily, and a reminder that there is always a path to spring again. A wonderful representation of the cycle of life.
A grand reveal episode is coming during the first week of spring — stay tuned!
Catch up on the full Ash Rose Project series:
- Intro Week - When The Artist Becomes the Art: Episode 38
- Week 1 – Honoring the Past: Episode 39
- Week 2 – Processing Grief Through Creation: Episode 40
- Week 3 – Finding Meaning in the Present: Episode 41
Visit the Ash Rose Foundation at TheAshRose.org for more information and to sign up for your own Ash Rose Project to celebrate a loved one who has passed.
Thanks for tuning in, your time is valuable and we are so grateful for you!
Please share this episode with a friend or someone who could use a hug. You are not alone.
Subscribe to the podcast and we'll see you next week!
Special thanks to:
Podcast Editor Jacqueline van Bierk of Pink Star Music
Podcast Music Good_B_Music
