The Million Stages Of Grief - Michael Reed On Finding His Way After Catastrophic Loss

1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 The Million Stages Of Grief - Michael Reed On Finding His Way After Catastrophic Loss What does grief look like when you lose your wife, two daughters, your home, and&nbsp;nearly everything you own - all in a single night? In this episode&nbsp;we talk&nbsp;with Michael Reed, a&nbsp;husband,&nbsp;father,&nbsp;and author whose life was forever changed when a wildfire swept through his community, taking&nbsp;the lives of his wife&nbsp;Constance, his older daughter Chloe, his youngest,&nbsp;Lily, their pets, and reducing their home to ashes.&nbsp;Nearly a&nbsp;decade later, Michael&nbsp;shares about the darkness he fell into, who was there to hold him and his son up,&nbsp;the ways he stays connected to his wife and daughters,&nbsp;and&nbsp;how he's re-engaged with&nbsp;life through writing and helping others.&nbsp;&nbsp; Michael Reed is the author of&nbsp;The Million Stages of Grief, a self-published book born from years of middle-of-the-night writing as he tried to make sense of catastrophic loss. He also became an unexpected public face of his community’s tragedy - a role he has since transformed into a mission of&nbsp;talking&nbsp;openly about grief, faith, and&nbsp;learning to live again.&nbsp; In this episode: Michael shares vivid memories of his daughters: Chloe’s extraordinary compassion and Lily’s unforgettable sass and spirit.&nbsp; What it’s&nbsp;like to lose not only the people you love but every physical trace of them&nbsp;-&nbsp;and how Michael keeps&nbsp;their memory close without tangible reminders.&nbsp; How his son Nicholas became a teacher for Michael in how to grieve. &nbsp; His experience with EMDR therapy and what acceptance&nbsp;means to him.&nbsp;&nbsp; The origin of The Million Stages of Grief: how raw, unedited Facebook posts led to a blog, then to a&nbsp;self-published&nbsp;book.&nbsp; Why the five stages of grief didn’t&nbsp;work for Michael&nbsp;-&nbsp;and how he came to understand that grief can move through a million stages in a single day.&nbsp; A raw, honest account of his anger at&nbsp;God after the fire.&nbsp; What it was like to become the unwilling public spokesperson for a community’s tragedy, and how he has reclaimed that platform on his own terms.&nbsp; His core message: loss is loss, no matter who or what you’ve&nbsp;lost — and using your own hurt to help others is how we change the world.&nbsp; Connect with Michael:&nbsp; Website -&nbsp;https://themillionstages.com/&nbsp;Books -&nbsp;https://themillionstages.com/books&nbsp; IG -&nbsp;https://www.instagram.com/reedstrong2020&nbsp; Transcript Want to learn more about supporting children and teens who are grieving? Sign up for our online courses here: https://classes.dougy.org/&nbsp; Grief Out Loud https://www.dougy.org/news-media/podcasts <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/40315060/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/199286420