Grieving Out Loud: A Mother Coping with Loss in the Opioid Epidemic

Lori Kellar is one of the more than 48 million Americans who have struggled with addiction. Like so many people, it began with something that didn’t seem dangerous at all: casual, social drinking. Over time, though, alcohol slowly took control, unraveling her life and putting strain on her relationships with her children, grandchildren and her husband, Dennis.

For years, Lori battled her disease in silence, doing everything she coul...

Patricia Roos was a sociology professor at Rutgers University when she lost her 25-year-old son, Alex, to a heroin overdose. In the aftermath of that loss, she redirected her life’s work by examining the systemic forces that fuel addiction and the shortcomings of how the nation responds to the overdose crisis, particularly the heavy reliance on the criminal justice system.

Her new book, Surviving Alex: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss...

You may know her as the voice of Sally Brown in Peanuts, but by the time she was just 11 years old, Hilary Momberger-Powers had already appeared in dozens of commercials. Behind that familiar voice, though, was a child quietly struggling — with the voices in her own head and the ones she couldn’t escape at home, where she endured emotional abuse from a mother battling alcohol addiction.

That early trauma set Hilary on a dangerous pa...

Sometimes the most meaningful change does not start in a boardroom or a big city. It starts when one person decides they cannot look away anymore. That is exactly what happened with today’s guest.

After seeing firsthand the urgent need for compassionate and accessible substance use disorder treatment in his New Mexico community, Trent Carter decided to take action.

Trent is a nurse practitioner with a master’s degree from the Univers...

Today’s marijuana is not the marijuana of the 1960s and ’70s. It’s far more potent, and a growing body of research is linking heavy use to serious mental health issues, including psychosis and schizophrenia.

Our guest on Grieving Out Loud, Kristen Gilliland, knows those dangers all too well. Her son experienced cannabis-induced psychosis and later died from an accidental drug overdose — a loss Kristen never imagined her own family w...

Substance use disorder is a devastating and complex disease, not only for the person experiencing it, but also for their families. Many people struggling with substance use carry deep shame, often asking themselves: Why can’t I stop? Why am I hurting the people I love? What’s wrong with me?

The disease can also span generations, shaping both family histories and futures. That’s the case for Jennifer Chase.

After the turmoil substance...

Marijuana is a word that can quickly spark debate. Should it be legal? Does it offer real medical benefits? Is it a gateway drug? These questions continue to fuel controversy, and strong opinions exist on all sides.

In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, we sit down with Crissy Groenewegen, director of the Parent Action Network. She works closely with parents and families impacted by marijuana, helping them share their stories in way...

When you think of a trailblazer, you think of someone who walks into the unknown and leaves a path behind for others to follow.

Dr. Sophie Two Hawk is one of those people.

She spent her childhood moving from place to place, living on and off reservations. And by 16, she had already graduated high school — not just early, but as valedictorian. Three years later, she’d finished her undergraduate degree. And in 1987, she became the firs...

In a special year-end edition of Grieving Out Loud, we take a look back at some of the emotional and meaningful conversations featured on the podcast this year. The show, produced by Emily’s Hope and hosted by Angela Kennecke, spotlights families affected by the opioid epidemic, as well as experts working to curb the growing mental health and substance-use crisis.

Throughout 2025, Kennecke interviewed lawmakers, law enforcement lead...

The holidays can be especially painful when you are carrying grief. While the world celebrates joy and togetherness, many people are quietly navigating loss, absence, and memories that feel heavier this time of year.

Dr. Ken Druck has spent decades helping others understand grief, but his work is deeply personal. After losing his 21 year old daughter in a tragic accident, he was forced to walk the same path as the people he now supp...

In American culture, men and women are often expected to grieve in very different ways, but those expectations can leave many men feeling pressured to stay silent, stoic, or emotionally closed off. Morgan Rich is working to challenge that pattern.

Rich, a writer and life coach, focuses on helping men navigate grief, change and pain in healthier, more authentic ways. His work also explores what healthy masculinity can look like beyon...

The teenage years are a crucial time to prevent addiction. The brain is still developing, making it more vulnerable to the lasting effects of drugs and alcohol. It’s also a time when peer pressure can lead to risky choices. So how do you help teens not only say no, but also inspire their friends and communities to make better decisions?

In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, meet Annabelle Lovell, a high school junior raising awarene...

Loss shows up in every part of life. We lose games, we lose jobs, and sometimes we lose the people we love most. This week on Grieving Out Loud, Marcia Earhart shares a story shaped by more heartbreak than most people could imagine. Before she reached adulthood, she had already faced 17 major losses.

She believes those early experiences may have prepared her, at least in some small way, for the unthinkable: losing two of her childre...

"Dopesick" — the Emmy Award-winning series that dives deep into one of the most devastating crises of our time: the opioid epidemic. The show pulls back the curtain on Purdue Pharma, the company that aggressively marketed OxyContin and helped fuel addiction across America. It’s gripping television based on real events—and real people.

Today on Grieving Out Loud, you'll hear from two of those real-life heroes. Rick Mou...

Terry Almanza knows a thing or two about gangs, drugs, and organized crime. She spent nearly three decades with the Chicago Police Department, following a long family tradition of public service. But after her teenage daughter died from an overdose, Almanza says she was devastated by how law enforcement handled the case.

Now, she’s traded her badge for advocacy. Terry believes too many drug dealers are getting away with murder — and...

Imagine going to a treatment center for addiction, only to be sent to work at a chicken processing plant for no pay. That’s one of the shocking realities investigative reporter Shoshana Walter uncovered in her national investigation into court-mandated addiction treatment. Her reporting exposed how a broken system turned thousands of people into an unpaid workforce for some of the country’s largest corporations—work that made her a...

Grief changes everything. It’s the kind of pain that steals your breath and reshapes your world, a weight that never fully lifts. For Stephanie Wiley, that pain runs deeper than words can express. She suddenly lost her teenage son, the boy who never missed a chance to say “I love you,” to fentanyl poisoning.

In the aftermath of unimaginable loss, Stephanie found healing in an unexpected place: her kitchen. What began as therapy, a w...

A 2012 documentary, The Queen of Versailles, introduced the world to David and Jackie Siegel, the powerhouse couple behind Westgate Resorts. The film showcased their booming business, lavish lifestyle, and bustling household of eight children. But behind the glamour, life took a devastating turn. The Siegels’ world came crashing down after the loss of their 18-year-old daughter, Victoria — a tragedy that reshaped not only their fam...

On any given day, paramedics are called into chaos—heart attacks, car crashes, overdoses, and everything in between. For Aaron Westfall, those emergencies too often involve the painful grip of addiction. But instead of only seeing tragedy, he chooses to see the person behind the struggle.

That’s because Aaron has been there himself. He not only battled his own addiction, but also survived brain cancer—twice—endured abuse, and mourne...