The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss
On this podcast, surviving sibling, psychologist, and thanatologist, Dr. Angela Dean, helps other grieving siblings share their sibling loss stories. This podcast aims to provide an authentic space for surviving siblings to express their grief and help others navigate the complex emotions associated with this profound, often misunderstood loss. The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss delves into the profound and often overlooked topic of sibling loss, offering a platform for surviving siblings to share their personal grief stories. In each episode, listeners are immersed in the real-life experiences of those who have endured the unimaginable loss of a sibling. Through inspiring narratives, honest accounts, and stories of resilience, surviving siblings recount their journeys and share how they are learning to live with such profound grief. By connecting through shared experiences, listeners will find solace and support, discovering a community that understands the unique challenges of sibling loss. The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss is a podcast focused on giving bereaved survivors of sibling loss a platform to share their stories and be heard, something many sibling loss survivors state they never or rarely have had. This podcast is sponsored by the organization, The Broken Pack, an organization supporting and educating others on sibling loss and grief as well as connecting survivors in community. If you would like more information or to share your own sibling loss story, please contact Dr. Angela Dean at dr.dean@thebrokenpack.com or go to our website, thebrokenpack.com. Please like, subscribe, and share! Please follow us on social media: Facebook: @BrokenPack Instagram: @thebrokenpack TikTok: @the_broken_pack YouTube: @thebrokenpack Sign-up for Wild Grief, our newsletter: https://substack.thebrokenpack.com/ Thank you! Angela M. Dean, PsyD, FT, GTMR Credits: The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss is produced by 27 Elephants Media "If Tomorrow Starts Without Me" © ℗ 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Written by Joe Mylward and Brian Dean Performed by Joe Mylward Licensed for use by The Broken Pack
Episodes
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Angela Dean talks with surviving sibling Dr. Ken Doka, the grief scholar who coined the term disenfranchised grief. Ken is Frank and Dot's kid brother. His brother Frank, thirteen years older, died a few years ago after an illness. He spoke about the relationship of his living sister Dot, who helped raise him.
Together Dr. Doka and Dr. Dean talk about why the sibling b...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with surviving sibling Anne Pinkerton, author of Were You Close? A Sister's Quest to Know the Brother She Lost. Anne's brother David, twelve years her senior and an elite athlete and radiologist, died suddenly in 2008 after falling while hiking a 14er in the Colorado mountains. More than seventeen years later, Anne shares how losing the big brother she wors...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Angela Dean talks with surviving sibling Dr. Heidi Horsley. Heidi is Scott's big sister. Scott died about 40 years ago in a car accident at 17, alongside their 17-year-old cousin Matthew. Heidi is a licensed psychologist, an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and the co-founder, with her mother, of the Open to Hope Foundation.
Together they talk about th...
Amanda Miller is Shawna's big sister and one of her surviving siblings. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and shares about losing Shawna in a sudden car crash on January 19, 2024. Shawna was 30 years old, pregnant, and the mother of an eight-year-old son. Amanda speaks as a surviving sibling and describes their relationship as close, with both care and conflict. The same crash also killed Shawna's partner, Jett's father. In a singl...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Dr. Valerie Lentine, a surviving sibling and physical therapist. Valerie's only sibling, her younger brother, Andy, died suddenly in 2022 at 22 years old. Three years in, Valerie opens up about what it has meant to walk through sudden loss, the identity shift she captures in her own words when she describes feeling like "half of myself," and what it ta...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Earla Legault, a surviving sibling, grief advocate, and co-author of Living with Sibling Grief: Imagining a Way Forward. Earla lost her younger sister, Leigh-Ann, to pancreatic cancer after serving as her caregiver for three months at home. This episode explores what sibling loss looks like when you're also the caregiver, how a surviving sibling naviga...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Susan Kellam, journalist, surviving sibling, and author of Brilliant Disguise. Susan lost her brother Robert to suicide and has spent decades untangling the shared childhood trauma that shaped them both in very different ways.
Hear Susan's story of growing up as Little K to Robert's Big K, and how being his sister defined her before she ever defined her...
In this episode of The Broken Pack™: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Nina Rodriguez, creator and host of the Grief and Light podcast and online grief support platform. Nina lost her only sibling, Yosef, to fentanyl poisoning in 2019. This episode explores the unique layers of sibling loss, the shame and secrecy that can surround addiction, and what it means to continue being a sister after your brother is gone.
In...
In this episode of The Broken Pack™: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Dr. Christina Zampitella, a licensed psychologist, thanatologist, and founder of the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy in Delaware. Dr. Z lost her brother Damien to a drug overdose on Christmas Day when he was just 22 years old. This episode explores the lifelong impact of sibling loss, the complicated grief that comes with loving someone through ad...
After more than 18 months of silence, The Broken Pack™ podcast is back, and Dr. Angela Dean is sharing everything.
In this return episode, Dr. Angela Dean, psychologist, thanatologist, bereaved sibling, and host of The Broken Pack™, opens up about why she went quiet, what grief looked and felt like from the inside, and what is coming next for this community of surviving siblings and sibling loss survivors.
Where Dr. D...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Kate Chertik, a Pittsburgh woman navigating the devastating grief of losing her brother, Larry, to a fatal scooter accident caused by a city pothole. As a surviving sibling, Kate shares her raw emotions, the impact on her family, and how she turned her grief into advocacy for scooter safety. This episode explores the complexities of sibling loss, the i...
On this episode of The Broken Pack™: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Beth Hoffman, a surviving sibling, joins Dr. Dean to discuss the loss of her sister, Emily. Emily was tragically killed in a pedestrian accident. Dr. Hoffman shares how she navigates life as a sibling loss survivor following Emily's sudden death, including her experience in the ICU and honoring Emily's wish to be an organ donor. They discuss the complexities of...
In this raw and heartfelt episode of The Broken Pack™:Stories of Sibling Loss, Taylor bravely shares her experience as a surviving sibling after losing her brother Ben to Adderall addiction. Through tears and laughter, she explores the depths of sibling grief, the unexpected signs that Ben is still with her, and the ongoing journey of navigating life after loss. Taylor's story offers solace and hope to others facing the complexitie...
In this episode, of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean speaks with Randye, a surviving sibling, who shares her deeply personal story of losing her brother Mitch to cancer over 45 years ago. Her experience challenges the notion that grief fades with time, highlighting the enduring nature of sibling loss and its profound lifelong impact on surviving siblings.
Randye speaks to the ways loss transfor...
This episode of The Broken Pack™: Stories of Sibling Loss explores the enduring impact of sibling loss with guest Dawn Rodgers. Together, Dawn and Dr. Dean delve into Dawn's experience decades after losing her brother, offering support and strategies for navigating this complex and persistent grief.
Dawn Rodgers is a surviving sibling who found solace in photography after the loss of her brother. Her book, a photo essay, "So...
Life Interrupted: Finding Purpose Through Grief
In a deeply moving episode of "The Broken Pack™", Dentist Dr. Parul Dua Makkar shares her sibling loss story of losing her younger brother, Dentist Dr. Manu Dua, to oral cancer. With Dr. Dean, she explores her special sibling special bond, the harrowing experience of Manu's illness, and how this profound loss has transformed her life.
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with journalist, author, and surviving sibling Steven Petrow. Steven is Julie Petrow-Cohen's brother. Julie was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer in 2017 and died on June 30, 2023, after choosing to use New Jersey's Medical Aid in Dying law. Steven promised her he would write about her decision. He has been doing so ever since.
In this conversation, Ste...
In this episode of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with surviving sibling, Heather Mercer. Heather is Melissa's big sister. Melissa was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age eight, a walking miracle her whole life, who became a nurse, a single mother of two, and a drummer in high school. On September 25, 2021, eight weeks after moving into Heather's home for the independence she had been waiting for, Meliss...
Surviving Sibling Loss & Stigma: Sara / Dan
In this episode ofThe Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, Dr. Dean talks with Sara McCann, Dan's little sister. Dan died from an overdose after years of living with substance use disorder and several years of recovery.
Sara and Dr. Dean talk about what it means to grieve a sibling whose death is stigmatized, the difference between who Dan was and how he died, and the work of keepi...
An Oncology Nurse's Journey of Grief and Loss: Navigating Sibling Loss , Knowledge, and Devastation
In this episode, of The Broken Pack: Stories of Sibling Loss, surviving sibling Cally Marzolf-Adams, an oncology nurse shares her difficult sibling loss story of losing her sister, Sarah, to metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Through her conversation with Dr. Dean, Cally shares her profound story of love, loss, and he...
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