Don't Forget To Breathe: Where grieving parents find voice, hope, and connection.
Don’t Forget To Breathe is a podcast for parents who have lost a child.
Hosted by a grieving father, this show offers honest, compassionate conversations about life after child loss, long-term grief, healing, and learning how to keep living while carrying loss.
Originally launched in 2020, this podcast began as a form of soul-cleansing and healing, as I shared my journey as a father who suddenly lost his 20-year-old daughter in 2006, a tragedy no parent should ever have to endure.
After a three year hiatus filled with personal transformation, including divorce, closing my business, intensive therapy, and continued healing, I return with a renewed heart and deeper understanding.
In future seasons, I’ll be sharing conversations with other parents who have bravely offered to speak about living with the unimaginable. Together, we’ll explore what grief looks like over time, and how hope, love, and even laughter can coexist with loss.
You’ll hear the shift in my voice from where I was then, to where I am now. I trust you’ll find common ground in our stories, and perhaps a glimmer of hope as you continue on your own path.
Episodes
19 episodes
S3/E32- Child Loss, Grief, and Healing: Season 3 Recap
This episode of Don’t Forget To Breathe reflects on Season 3, a season focused on parents who have lost a child, life after child loss, long-term grief, and healing. Hosted by a grieving father, this recap honors t...
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7:30
S3/E31- Kristin's Story (part 2): Loss, Compassion, and Showing Up for Others
In this first half of a two-part conversation, host Bruce Barker talks with Kristin—one of the founders and former Executive Director of a Colorado nonprofit that supports grieving parents.Kristin opens up about her child, her loss, and ...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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24:35
S3/E30- Kristin's Story (part 1): Loss, Compassion, and Showing Up for Others
In this first part of a two-episode conversation, host Bruce Barker sits down with Kristin, one of the founders and former Executive Director of a Colorado-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting families who have experienced child loss....
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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27:10
S3/E29- The Holidays After Child Loss: Grief, Memory, and Survival
The holidays can be one of the hardest times for grieving parents. Between memories of what once was and the silence of what’s missing, emotions can feel overwhelming. In this heartfelt episode of Don’t Forget To Breathe, host Bruce...
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Season 3
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Episode 29
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17:59
S3/E28- Loss, Grief, and Healing: A Conversation with Sheila Johnson Wilson
My guest, Sheila Johnson Wilson, a writer, musician, and professional coordinator, has endured the loss of more than 20 loved ones, including 17 in just five years. Through deep personal work, she’s found healing and now shares her story to ins...
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Season 3
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Episode 28
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46:53
S3/E27- Marnie's Story: Child Loss, Love, and Life After Loss (Part 3)
In part three of my conversation with Marnie, she shares life after Joey’s death in 2022; the weight of grief, the struggles, and the ways she continues forward while holding onto her daughter’s memory. Unlike the first two episodes, we recorde...
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Season 3
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Episode 27
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41:45
S3/E26- Marnie's Story: Child Loss, Love, and Life After Loss (Part 2)
In the second of three conversations, Marnie continues sharing the story of her daughter, Joey, this time moving into the heartbreaking account of her final days and the moment of her death. Alongside the deep pain, Marnie reflects with tendern...
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Season 3
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Episode 26
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34:25
S3/E25- Marnie's Story: Child Loss, Love, and Life After Loss (Part 1)
In the first of three conversations, Marnie from Colorado opens her heart to share memories of her daughter, Joey and the devastating medical diagnosis, countless hospital visits, and the daily fight to keep her alive, as well as the laughter, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 25
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39:41
S3/E24- Did You Really Just Say That?-Revisited
In this episode, I revisit one of the most talked-about topics from Season 2, Episode 9: Did You Really Just Say That?We’ll reflect on some of the surprising, hurtful, or well-meaning-but-wrong things people say to gr...
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Season 3
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Episode 24
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20:46
S3/E23- A Father's Reflection on Child Loss: 7,595 Days with Kristen
Nineteen years ago today, Kristen died. In this short episode, I reflect on the weight of this day, what it brings up, how I’ve coped, and the ways I’ve honored her memory through the years. Grief changes, but it never disappears. This is a qui...
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Season 3
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Episode 23
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13:04
S3/E21- Coming Back to the Mic to Talk Grief and Loss
Where Has Bruce Been?After a three-year pause, Don’t Forget To Breathe returns with a raw and transparent look at the life-changing events that kept Bruce away from the mic. In this powerful relaunch, Bruce shares his journe...
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Season 3
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Episode 21
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31:12
S3/E20- Season 3 Preview: Parent Stories of Child Loss, Grief, and Life After Loss
After more than three years away from the mic, I’m back with Season 3—bringing heartfelt, healing conversations around life after child loss. This season features solo reflections, revisits to powerful past topics, and honest stories from fello...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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3:24
S1/ E6- Entering a New Year While Grieving a Child
This will be a really short chat; I didn’t plan on doing an episode for a couple of weeks, but this thought popped up and I wanted to share it. This will be short, but hopefully, you will find something in it that might help. The big theme of m...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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8:23
S1/ E5- The Firsts After Child Loss: Facing Life Without Your Child
In the midst of the Holidays, The First Time Since talks about those events, favorite places and special occasions that we experience for the first time since losing a child, or anyone close to us. Simply living life day by day will reveal mome...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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21:15
S1/ E4- Grief Is Not Linear: Making Sense of Life After Child Loss
I believe that during the course of our lives, both individually and collectively, our daily activities, experiences and relationships are woven together to eventually form an amazing and complex tapestry; our very own life’s tapestry. A tapest...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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30:30
S1/ E3- Don't Forget To Breathe: Surviving the Early Days of Grief
It was time to go back to Denver; time to get out of Louisiana; time to leave behind the horrible experience of burying my daughter. There was nothing to live for any longer. I was cloaked in despair; a walking death-wish. But someone had anoth...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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40:22
S1/ E2- Planning a Child's Funeral: The Funeral Home Experience
From the moment I entered the Funeral Home until the time I exited, I was left with a lasting impression of the "business" of funerals. On top of being there because my child had died, the experience was one that I hope no parent will need to g...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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16:56
S1/ E1- The Moment Everything Changed: Shock After Losing a Child
So on a day like any other, I got the call no parent ever wants to get, or ever really imagines they will, and one they never should. My daughter was dead. This episode covers the moment my life changed forever, and the living nightmare that be...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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22:08
Introduction: A Father's Journey Through Child Loss and Grief
Don’t Forget to Breathe is a podcast that follows the journey of a father who suddenly lost his 20-year-old daughter, and the life that followed a tragedy no parent should ever have to endure.In these episodes, I’ll talk openly ab...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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2:41
