Hope Comes to Visit
Hope Comes to Visit is a soulful podcast that holds space for real stories, honest conversations, and the kind of moments that remind us we’re never alone.
Hosted by author, speaker, and former TV journalist-turned-storyteller Danielle Elliott Smith, the show explores the full spectrum of the human experience — from the tender to the triumphant. Through powerful interviews and reflective storytelling, each episode offers light, connection, and presence for anyone navigating the in-between.
Whether you’re grieving, growing, beginning again, or simply craving something real, Hope Comes to Visit will meet you right where you are — with warmth, grace, and the quiet belief that even in the dark, transformation can take root.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light, reflection, and hope.
Hope Comes to Visit
A Ray of Light Through the Clouds: Adria Ferrier on Creating Elayne and Honoring Her Mother
Grief doesn’t end with goodbye. For many, it’s followed by a quiet, exhausting weight no one talks about — the paperwork, the phone calls, the endless “to-do’s” that come when your heart has already been broken.
When Adria Ferrier lost her mother after a five-year battle with cancer, she not only faced the deep ache of missing her, but also the overwhelming burden of navigating the practical aftermath. From transferring accounts to hours on hold with companies that had no clear process, she found herself spending precious time and energy on logistics when all she wanted was space to grieve.
That tender, painful season became the seed for something extraordinary. Adria left her career in finance to create Elayne — a company reimagining how families walk through the days and months after loss. Named for its meaning, “a ray of light through the clouds,” (and the very way she sees her mother now) Elayne helps families handle the countless details of death with compassion, clarity, and care.
Her work is rooted in love — for her mother, for the families she serves, and for the belief that no one should carry both heartbreak and bureaucracy alone.
In this conversation on Hope Comes to Visit, Adria shares her story with honesty and gentleness. She reminds us that while death and grief touch everyone, there is also space for light, for dignity, and, with the right help - the possibility of making one of life’s hardest transitions just a little softer.
You can learn more about Elayne here.
And you can connect with Adria here on LinkedIn.
Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.
New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.
For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit
You're doing that while trying to process grief, and it stays with you for months when everyone else is like, okay, it's time to move on. A week after the death.
Speaker 2:When we speak the truth of what we live through, we offer others a way through. I'm Danielle Elliott Smith, and this is Hope Comes to Visit. As always, I'm really excited you're here. Today's guest is someone I am really excited to introduce you to.
Speaker 2:Adria Ferrier is the founder and CEO of Elaine, a company reimagining how families navigate the aftermath after loss. Inspired by her own experience caring for her mom through a five-year battle with cancer, adria left a career in finance to build a simpler, more compassionate path for families. She launched Elaine in 2024, joined Y Combinator's Summer Accelerator and has been growing the company ever since. What drives her is a deep conviction that this company simply has to exist. Death and grief impact everyone, yet most people look away. Her mission is to light the path forward so that families can face the hardest moments of life with clarity, dignity and care. Let's take a quick moment to thank the people that support and sponsor the podcast. When life takes an unexpected turn, you deserve someone who will stand beside you. St Louis attorney Chris Dulley offers experienced one-on-one legal defense. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP, or you can visit DulleyLawFirm that's d-u-l-l-e. Lawfirmcom for a free consultation. Adria, thank you so very much for being here and for joining me on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Danielle.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to have you and to have this conversation. I realize that it's a difficult topic that brings you here, but you have made something extraordinary out of your experience.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I really appreciate that and I feel like we have so much to do, but even pausing to take stock of what we've done so far is really nice.
Speaker 2:Let's start by talking about your mom. I mean, I think that she's the genesis of this right, so let's give her the place of honor in the conversation. Let's talk about her. Tell me about your mom.
Speaker 1:She was wonderful. Um, I think you know I've I've listened to some of your podcasts and um you talk about grief and that there's no timeline. She, she passed away um three and a half, almost four years ago, and I'm just starting to talk about her. So I guess my point is if there are some tears, please forgive me.
Speaker 2:But, um, if you have tears now or in 15 minutes or in 15 years, that's, that's okay. I mean, I, if you've listened to the podcast and you know that I firmly believe that we grieve in direct correlation to how we love, right? So it's, it's okay to honor her that way, right? I think, even knowing small bits and pieces about the work you're doing, I can only imagine how proud she is.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Well, she, she grew up in Hungary, so Eastern European. She's from a small village near the Ukrainian border and she always wanted to be a doctor and I think everything she did was really about paying it forward and helping people. And she told me the story that she found a dead rat in the basement once she was three and she decided to dissect it and try and save it. Um it. I don't think she realized that dissecting it wouldn't save it but, um, she thought she could put it back together and um and yeah and, and she was like ever since then I've wanted to be a doctor. Um, in Hungary it was a little bit hard for her to be a doctor. You got to have certain like connections and the government and all of that. So she came out to the US and became a nephrologist.
Speaker 2:So wow, yeah, at what age did she come to the US, she?
Speaker 1:was 29. So she didn't speak any English and she came and she like insisted that she could go to her residency. So she just showed up on day one.
Speaker 2:She was like I'm here, I'm here, I'd like to be a doctor, so I I am on this path. Don't even think about stopping me.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, and, and they were in shock, but they said, okay, we'll, we'll let you stay for a couple of days. And she was, um, yeah, she, she became one of the top of her class and, um, the rest is history. So she, she really taught me early on that it doesn't matter how crazy the dream is or um, what you have to do in the moment that you can. If you have a goal, you can just like, really try and get there and and it's possible.
Speaker 2:So she mixed her brain and her compassion to succeed something she has very clearly passed on to you. She's given a diagnosis and it sounds like you did a lot to take care of her through that process.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That is not easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it was, um, it was a really and and that too, I'm still, I think I'm still processing the weight of it. But in my, in my early 20s, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, which which we didn't, and I think most people don't even consider that when they're, if they're not feeling well, they think, oh, it must be something else. Like I've never smoked, how could it be lung cancer, right, um, but it's, it's really common actually, um, it's the number one cancer killer of women. And I didn't know any of that when she was diagnosed. I just, in my mind, I was like, oh, she's, she's going to be fine, she's always, she always makes it through. And then, um, yeah, it was, it was a hard five and a half year battle.
Speaker 2:So I'm actually going to go to something you just said. So lung cancer is the number one cancer of lung killer of women. Ok, so that's not something I'd heard before.
Speaker 1:No, it's. It's the number one cancer killer of women, more than breast, ovarian and uterine combined. Each year.
Speaker 2:Is it really? Is there an origin for that? Because I know that we do always associate lung cancer and smoking right, and since I wouldn't automatically assume that all women or most women smoke, therefore I wouldn't correlate that. Is there a correlation? Is there a correlation? Is there a reason? Is there?
Speaker 1:You're asking the million dollar question. I mean, I think there's a number of reasons why it's so deadly, and one is this stigma that if you get lung cancer, it means you caused it to yourself because you were smoking, which has been really detrimental to finding new therapies in this type of cancer. And so that's the first one.
Speaker 1:And then second, they don't know why, but cancer in younger so like under 60, younger so like under 60, um non-smoking women is on the rise and um, they, yeah, they think it could be hormonal, environmental, but it's. It's really, um, if you look at the charts, they're pretty alarming. So so, yeah, any any chance I get to just kind of tell people about it, um, yeah, Love to talk about it.
Speaker 2:No, I mean if there's, if there are questions that I don't ask you, that you want to share about that particular piece of it, please do I mean. I know I think I'd love to be a platform for that. So how old was your mom? She was 52.
Speaker 1:So I am 52.
Speaker 2:So she was 52 when she was diagnosed. Okay, yeah, all right, so this is. And so she fought for five and a half years.
Speaker 1:You said yes, yes so she was 52, um I think, and I'll just illustrate where the of the journey here. Um, since she was a doctor, she ate really healthy and ran every day.
Speaker 1:So she noticed, um, that she was getting shortness of breath while she was on her daily runs and she thought it was stress like women often think that it must be stress. And then we're kind of told like you're just just being crazy, and um, so she like self ordered and a chest x-ray and and diagnosed it. Because she went to a couple of doctors and they were all like you're just, you're just stressed out, you need to maybe sleep more, um, so, yeah, I, um, and and then I I remember the day she was diagnosed formally because kind of plays like a movie in my head, I'll bet, yeah, the doctor. The doctor said you know, you have this type, it's called EGFR, you have, you know, typically people survive eight months from now. You know, typically people survive eight months um from now. But, um, you know, we're going to do our best to help you and it's it's stage four and terminal.
Speaker 2:And so I, I still remember the scripts, um and uh, and yeah, so she survived five and a half years, which is amazing, Extraordinary. Yeah, so I have I. I am insatiably curious at all times, especially people's stories, and so there were a couple of thoughts that that came to mind as as you were talking, and one of them was what have you learned from her about advocating for yourself? Because I I know that we know when something's wrong. Right, so she knew, but as women, we are frequently told it's stress, you're fine, it's just a little pain. I spoke to a previous guest about saying that she was in pain and being told that's normal and given a Tylenol at something that clearly wasn't normal, and and so she knew that something was wrong. What have you learned from her about advocating for yourself?
Speaker 1:That's such a wonderful question. I've never, I've never thought about that. I've never, I've never thought about that. Um, and it's funny because I I journal and as I was like reflecting on um the company's trajectory and and learnings um, my takeaway this past week was trust your gut and I think I think sometimes you you do get disconnected from that and the time after my mom passed away was really stressful too.
Speaker 1:But I think there's this beautiful like art, where, like, just trusting your gut and not accepting what people are telling you yeah, I'll have to examine that more, but but I think I think she really demonstrated that her whole life.
Speaker 2:Yes, I would. I have learned over the years that trusting my gut is truly one of the most powerful things I could do, whether it is in advocating for myself and doctors or in conversations with people. The more I trust my gut, the more I know whether a conversation is going well or not going well, whether someone is being honest with me or dishonest with me. And I will even even if I know someone is being dishonest with me and I try to push it and I give them an opportunity to clear the air, sometimes I'll let it go, but I will still allow myself permission to say you know like it's going to come back around somehow, but I'll still allow myself to trust that inner knowing, still allow myself to trust that inner knowing. I do believe that the more you trust that inner knowing, the stronger it gets, Because you're telling yourself to take, you're giving yourself that permission.
Speaker 2:Yeah so what was it about your mom's journey that that did allow her to stay with you for as long as she did? I mean being given such a short period of time and such a terminal diagnosis. I mean for it to play like a movie. Clearly she wasn't given very much time, and then you did get her for quite a bit longer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, exactly as you said, just advocating going to the best center that we had in our area. So, dana Farber, it's an amazing um cancer center and um being really involved with her own journey, like she didn't sit back and just let the doctors tell her what to do. She she started a? Um a patient advocacy group. She started a? Um a patient advocacy group. I helped her a lot with it. Um, and and yeah, and pull together like thousands of um lung cancer patients who are dealing with the same thing and they would exchange notes and um, they had a newsletter or they still exist and they've grown significantly, um, so I think it was being really hands-on.
Speaker 1:and then also, she, she wanted to stay with us. Like, she always told me, um, and no tears, but um, she always told me that she, she knew I would be okay. Um, my little sister, I think, struggled. She was younger so she did struggle with, you know, understanding what was happening. And then, um, I don't think it really hit her that that my mom was actually going to die until she did pass away. And so you know, there's all these dynamics and um, and I know she, she did stay as long as she could for us.
Speaker 2:Adria, I feel as though part of this process for you has part of the, the weight and the grief that that you're carrying not that you were caring, but that you are caring is the desire to be stronger for other people, for your mom, then for your sister. What do you do for you, to take care of you, to allow yourself to feel?
Speaker 1:You're asking all these questions.
Speaker 1:I um, I, um, don't get asked very often.
Speaker 1:I, I, I think, hmm, I think that's something I'm starting to work on and I'm starting to figure out and, um, kind of going to a point that I think you, that you had in one of your past episodes, was that grief, it doesn't really have an end date and it kind of flows, um, and I've been kind of running so fast and so hard to to stay ahead of it and maybe maybe not fully embrace it quite yet. And so you know, this is um, this is one of one of the first conversations I've had, this in depth about that time, um, but but yeah, I, I think it's starting to be more open with. It is step one, um, and it's not that I've necessarily hidden it, it's always been part of my story. But of course sometimes you share and people are like, oh, my God, I feel so sorry for you, and then they try and go on with their day, and so you know you don't want to disturb other people, but but yeah, I'm figuring it out, speak it out.
Speaker 2:I think that. So I think grief waits for us, right? I think it sits there and it's ready to be released, when we're ready to release it, but it it'll wait for you, and one of the biggest keys is having the right people to talk to, because if you feel as though you don't have safe people or you feel as though sharing with people who can't receive it, then we keep it in. I'm an empath, so there were people I couldn't share around, because if I broke down, I was too worried about their reaction and they were uncomfortable with my level of grief. So I had to be careful about that piece of it, right? Because their discomfort made me more uncomfortable and then I turned more inward and that almost took me back in my progress.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I mean even more overt stuff happened to me. You know, after my mom passed away, I was, I was really busy and even before she passed away, I was taking care of her. And then, after she passed away, I was taking care of my sister and unwinding my mom's life in a way, and, um, I actually lost friends that said that I wasn't around enough and I'm not fun anymore. And, um, you know, I I it really really hurt because because I thought that they were close friends, and um, you know, I look at life, like there's chapters in life and maybe I'm not fun now, or maybe I wasn't fun then, but I will be fun again. Um, so, so, yeah, it was just, it was really hurtful.
Speaker 2:I will be fun again. So so, yeah, it was just, it was really hurtful. So that's not a you problem. I will tell you what my grief therapist told me and I don't know if you've heard me say this at a different episode, but she said that when you go through grief, your life is being rearranged and everyone in your life gets broken up into three categories Okay, people who disappear.
Speaker 2:People who show up readily, like all of a sudden they are there. And people who try. And the people who try are the ones who try to say something, and sometimes they do it right and sometimes they do it wrong, but they kind of flow in and out. The challenge with those that ABC category of people, is that the people who you were positive, were going to be your core people, many of them fall into the disappear category, and that is especially challenging because many of them are disappearing because it was too hard for them to know what to say or to know what to do, or because you weren't fun, or because your sadness was uncomfortable, or they didn't like it. I experienced the same thing, or they didn't like it. I experienced the same thing, and I will tell you that my life is better for not having that category of people in my life, and a number of the people who showed up were such a beautiful surprise.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say it. It was really, um, it was really surprising who did call and and become. We've become so much closer, um and I. It didn't even occur to me that they would be there, um and so so, yeah, I, I I'm just um, there's there's like light sides and, and you know, dark sides of this, but I've I had exactly the same experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I. There was something very, very hard about what you were going through that could be changed, and you thought how can I make this better? So will you please explain, elaine and the work that you're doing, and then I will continue to ask you questions so that everyone can understand.
Speaker 1:Well, so Elaine is a. It's like a platform, digital platform that helps you settle and unwind someone's life. And so, um, you know, when my mom passed away I thought it was, you know it was there was acute grief and then, and then you kind of want to go on with your life because it had already been five and a half years, um, but there was so much, so much admin to do, right, like I had to figure out the bank accounts and passwords and call random people, um to tell them what happened and ask, like what, what do I do now?
Speaker 1:And um, and I was and I was thinking the whole time that there needs to be, there needs to be something that guides you through this, like someone or something, and just nothing existed. And I know I mean it goes back to the fact that most people want to look away and are uncomfortable, and so it just blew my mind that that no one had started a company like this or anything in the space.
Speaker 2:Where does this fall in terms of power of attorney? Or because it's interesting to me that you, that you have started this and you actually had time with your mom, in essence, to prepare some right in in a couple of of situations, like with the, the loss that that I experienced. I mean, he and I were not married, so there wasn't anything, it was more that his kids had to take that on, but there was no power of attorney. There was no, it was a lot of missing pieces. And then I have another friend who passed away and something similar. He has a business right, so his daughter is taking over the business and but there's there are no passwords for the bank accounts. There was where is the business license? Where is the you know? And there's so many unknowns right. And so I, after going through that with Marty, I thought I need to get all of my, all of my everything in order so that, good heavens, my kids aren't left with this, and I will tell you that I started but have not completed that process for them.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean, I, um, I think you realize how bad it is when you go through it.
Speaker 1:So when I'm I'm talking to people, if they kind of stare at me with a, with a blank stare, I'm like don't, don't worry, we'll be here, you know, if you ever need us. But but, yeah, I, you know it's funny because actually lawyers use us too, cause they're, yeah, there's the, there's the legal, like you know, formal legal process of submitting documents to the court and going through probate. But there's so much in between that people don't have help with Right that, like, lawyers wouldn't do or a wealth manager wouldn't do, like, for example, knowing, knowing how to transfer car titles, like the, the deeds, and, um, what do you do with the Facebook page? And did you know that your parent had a life insurance that you know you might not have known about right away? Like, there's been times where we've found insurances for people and help them through submitting to get it that I don't know if they would have found, and so, yeah, it's just everything in between of the formal legal process and, yeah, settling everything?
Speaker 2:What is your educational background? So where did your idea for this come from it and your the wherewithal to do it? So you first say, gosh, there's gotta be a process. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I I don't have. I don't have a background in this Um, and I actually I consider myself almost a chameleon. During my career I I started in finance, um, and then I covered different industries and ended up in in rare disease investing, which. I don't have a background in medicine, um, but I just I think you, you challenge yourself to keep learning Um and the same way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, and then, uh, went to get my MBA and and, yeah, I just saw this problem and I was like I, you know, how do you? You, I love this quote like how do you eat an elephant? One, one bite at a time, right, and so it's. You know, we're still figuring so much out and automating so much. But I think now, I think I know our users, they, they appreciate any help. You know, I've, I've had grown men on zooms crying and I've had them, you know, a couple months later, be like we don't, like I wouldn't have known what to do because my wife passed away and she did everything. And so, you know, it's just, um, yeah, they're, they're so grateful for any help and I'm, I have really high standards, so I keep trying to make it better.
Speaker 1:And then that goes back to iCombinator. It's a accelerator for tech companies and yeah, I was like if I'm going to do this, we're going to do it right and have the best tech to make it the best experience. And yeah, it's a one percent acceptance rate. And they let me in because they were like we, we hear 20,000 ideas pitches a year and we've never heard this pitch, so why don't you try it and so. So yeah, it's kind of like pulling in different ideas, trying to put one foot in front of the other, but usually I don't know like I'm just making it up.
Speaker 2:See, I don't think you're making it up, I think you're being guided.
Speaker 1:That is another thing I had not ever considered before.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it. Yeah, I feel as though this is very much heartwork for you, right? I feel as though this is what you were talking about, how you haven't quite dealt with your grief yet. I think that you are in bits and pieces, and I and I recognize that you feel as though you haven't had your full, full breakdown maybe, uh, but I think that in bits and pieces, you are channeling some of your mom's heart and you are, you're doing the work that is allowing you to alleviate some of the pain that other people are experiencing. Would you say that any of this feels even slightly healing for you?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I would. And I again, I've only kind of recently started opening this book, their chapter, you know, of healing and looking backwards, and it is something I always tell my team is like we, we will not cause any more stress. Like we're here, I want people to come to us and feel comfort and I do not want anyone to experience what I experienced. And so you know, as as I see people going through this and having a better experience, it is really, it's so rewarding more than anything I've done before and that's what keeps me going every day Adria.
Speaker 2:what piece are you trying to take away of the experience that you had? What piece are you trying to take away of the experience that you had? What piece are you trying to alleviate?
Speaker 1:for people it's so I always say that we're not. We're not a mental health company, but we allow you to focus on your mental health instead of stressing over all of the to do's. Like, you don't have to call the insurance company, we can do it for you. Or you don't have to, you know, call the utility company, because I'll tell you. I'm telling you a little story, and this is I hear these stories all the time.
Speaker 1:I was trying to transfer, about four months after my mom passed away, the utility account gas and electric over to my name, and, um, the guy on the phone did not care what was going on and it was like you know, our policy is that, um, your mom would have had to write us a letter to allow you to, um, you know, take over the accounts. Um, she no longer lives in the house and so we're just going to shut the whole thing down, like we're not going to give you gas and electric. And um, it was just that was one of my breakdowns on the phone with with this guy, and I was just like I don't understand, um, how you can be so cold and heartless, and it's just callous yeah, and it's just re-traumatizing Like you have interactions like that all the time and do they not normally have a policy for that?
Speaker 2:I mean, how does everyone not have a policy? Because, honest to God, this happens every day. This is not an anomaly. No right Like this is it is. Unfortunately, we lose people.
Speaker 1:So they don't. They don't a lot of, so a lot of the processes and like SOPs that we've gathered. We have had to call the companies and work through it and kind of insist that they tell us what they would want someone to do and then we kind of build it into our product. But, um, but yeah, I mean, a lot of banks don't even have it on their website. Companies don't work. You know, you have online accounts. They don't say what to do.
Speaker 1:Two months ago I went to Facebook just to check it and the link to memorialize a page was was down and I mean, if you think of how many people are on Facebook, it's just, it's crazy that they wouldn't even maintain it. It's crazy, um, that they wouldn't even maintain it. So, so, yeah, I, I again. It's just like this whole um culture of of looking away when you're going through a really hard time and and the thing with this is that you know you experienced the death. That's traumatic, but this process lasts 18 months on average and it takes 400 hours on average and it's not like, so you're, you're doing that while trying to process grief and it stays with you for months when everyone else is like okay, it's time to move on. A week after the death.
Speaker 2:I know it is. I learned so much during that process. We have continued as a society to shorten the amount of time that we gift people to mourn, to grieve, to move on. It used to be, historically, women wore black for upwards of a year or two, when, when someone passed away, and now we give someone three days off of work, we give someone three days off of work, and there were times I mean, I read so many books and there were times that I wanted to be wearing a sign. I just wanted to wear something.
Speaker 2:I wanted there to be a universal sign of some kind that just told people outwardly and I wish there was, I wish there was something we could all wear, uh, an emblem, a pin, a something that just so people could give us a wide berth, that they could pat us on the shoulder, that they could rub our head, that they could you know, they could put a blanket on our shoulder, something that just that people who had the capacity to have compassion could do so and the people who needed to walk on the other side of the street could.
Speaker 2:Because the people who need to walk on the other side of the street, I needed them to stay far away from me? Yeah, because I, I. It was extraordinary to me that there are that many people who have no capacity for kindness, and what you are doing is you've raised your hand and said let me take a piece of your burden and try to pave a path for you that hasn't been paved, and you are. Additionally, you're not just changing the conversation, you're changing the industry, and that's powerful. I don't know if you recognize how valuable what you're doing is, because there is a compassionate side to it, but you're also forcing industries, you're forcing organizations to create processes that weren't there before. Yes, and that's that's why Combinator said you deserve to be in the same category as Airbnb and because, no, I don't know why no one has thought of this, but no one has thought of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I think I think it was. It was so dramatic that the last thing you want to do is turn around and go back into it. So I feel like that's something I have to explore about um, why I did Uh, but I, I, um, I just felt like I, I just couldn't not, I think, is what it came down to.
Speaker 2:You're being guided? Yeah, I it's, but see, I think that, like so, that that's interesting, because you said yeah, but see, I think that, like so. That's interesting because you said why would I like most people? But I think that some of the most brilliant and life changing Things that happen are the ones born from us being cracked wide open. Right, it's. There are only a fraction of people who are truly cracked wide open from something and completely transform Things that are hard, change us, but only a percentage of people do something extraordinary with it, and those are the people that you read about. Those are where. Those are where quotes are created and companies are born, and and that's what you're doing- Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. I um, yeah, no, I was very aware of this actually when I was going through, you know, taking care of my mom, um cause I I took time off work to care for her through hospice, and then, um cause she did it at home and then, you know, she passed away, and then there was all this estate, admin, or even just life, um to unwind. While taking care of my sister and and I um I had seen from my involvement in the cancer community that a lot of people struggle um after it's done, and I just really did like. I knew I had more to give and so I did not want to, I didn't want to settle.
Speaker 2:So well, you have done the opposite of that. You've given yourself a purpose to. How is your sister doing?
Speaker 1:She is doing better. Um, you know, I think she was dealing with her mental health. Um, sobriety was also, you know, something that she struggled with. Um I. It's a tough relationship, you know. I think when, when someone goes through that um, but she's, you know, know, it's one one day, one week at a time and she's better. She's better now. How are you doing? I'm OK. I wake up every day excited, and so I'm. I'm really glad that, that I'm building this and I have a husband now and he's wonderful. Congratulations, thank you. And um and I have amazing friends. I think that that is the beautiful thing that came out of a lot of this. I lost a lot of friends, but, um, the ones that came out of the woodwork that I did not expect um have it have, just like, made my world so much richer because oftentimes they've also had experiences.
Speaker 2:Um, so, yeah, so it has created a bit of a community for you too. It really has. Yeah, what can we do to support you and where can people find you?
Speaker 1:Well, you can find us at Elainecom E-L-A-Y-N-Ecom. And yeah, we're here, so you can email us anytime. It's careteam at Elainecom. You can email us anytime. It's care team at elainecom. Um, and we just released a new feature where, if you just stick your obituary link into our, our platform, we'll make you a roadmap and we'll start like helping you through the process so yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I I asked you this before and I want to ask you again because my my first thought when I saw Elainecom was that it might be your mom's name. Yes, and it's not, but there is significance to the name Elaine, so will you share that?
Speaker 1:Yes, well, my mom's name was Ildiko. It's Hungarian, and I did think of naming the company after her, but it's a little bit hard to pronounce. So I was like what's what's something? That means something beautiful, and, and Elaine means a ray of light through the clouds, and and that's that's what I wanted the ethos of the company to be that when it's storming and you know you don't see the sun at all, we'll be there.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. Do you get signs from your mom?
Speaker 1:I think so. I think so. I carry her jewelry with me all the time and I do think that she nudges me in the right direction and maybe has been guiding me, so I will definitely journal about this after I am.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure she's guiding you and I, uh, I have no doubt she is incredibly proud of you. I mean, I just I'm incredibly proud of you. I mean I just it's. It's interesting because, just in that that sense feel, when we were talking about your mom I don't know if you had any idea how old I was, but I knew you were going to tell me before you did that she was 52 when she was diagnosed. The second we started to talk about lung cancer being the number one for women I all of a sudden thought she's going to tell me she was 52 when she was diagnosed. And so those just little, those little moments are just little guides for me.
Speaker 2:So I think you're doing something really extraordinary and I'm so grateful that you spent time here with me and sharing your story, and thank you. I think that you're doing your grief journey exactly as you're supposed to You're. You're taking the nudges when you get them and what I have found is that it comes as it's supposed to right it really is. You're listening to yourself. So you cry when you need to and you power through when you feel like you can, and it sounds like you've been doing just that. Just make sure you continue to take time for you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you, and this was, this was such a wonderful conversation. I I have so much to think about now to go and I'm still learning and processing, and that's also something I did want people to know, because it's been almost four years now and I still cry.
Speaker 2:And that's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Every time you cry, you're remembering her, you're thinking about her, you're honoring her and you really are doing such beautiful justice for her and helping so many people. So thank you for the work you're doing.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you for being here and friends, thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Hope Comes to Visit. It is always such a joy to be here with you and to share this level of hope and light, and we hope that this hope that was visiting you today is some that hits you in the very right place in your heart and that adriastoryandalanecom is a place that you'll be able to visit, and I hope that you'll be able to share the podcast. And until we see you and visit with you again next time, please take very good care of you. Thank you again for being here. Naturally, it's important to thank the people who support and sponsor the podcast.
Speaker 2:This episode is supported by Chris Dulley, a trusted criminal defense attorney and friend of mine here in St Louis, who believes in second chances and solid representation. Whether you're facing a DWI, felony or traffic issue, chris handles your case personally with clarity, compassion and over 15 years of experience. When things feel uncertain, it helps to have someone steady in your corner. Call 314-384-4000 or 314-DUI-HELP or you can visit dullylawfirmcom to schedule your free consultation.