Updates from Tammy Faulds

You Have To Go First

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:33:41 CDT

Your kid already senses something's wrong, even if you haven't said a word. Here's why the conversation has to start with you being honest first, and exactly what to say instead of "how was your day?"

Not Quite A Kid, Not Quite An Adult

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:10:00 CDT

Somewhere between first heartbreak and figuring out who you even are, teens aren't quite kids and aren't quite adults. Add grief to that mix and everything gets more intense. Here's what makes teen grief different, and how to actually help.

Nobody Taught Us How To Put It Down

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 17:34:00 CDT

Kids are born knowing how to cry, rage, and reach for comfort. Then we teach them to swallow it instead. What childhood grief looks like at every age, and how to finally help kids set the emotional backpack down.

Destined To Be An Old Woman With No Regrets

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:45:40 CDT

I own a bumper sticker that says "destined to be an old woman with no regrets." I haven't earned it yet. This is about using death as a measuring stick, and letting your 85-year-old self show you exactly where you're still white-knuckling something you were meant to let go of.

Trigger Truths

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:57:54 CDT

Your boss says "can we chat later" and forty-five seconds later you've been fired, dumped, and unfriended, all in your head. Here's the pause that stops the spiral before it runs the whole show.

Secrets, Lies, and the Truth We Avoid

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:48:00 CDT

We all carry secrets, tell small lies, and buy into illusions that feel safer than the truth. This is about what happens when we finally stop, and what it costs us when we don't.

We Laughed Next to Her Open Casket. I Don't Regret It.

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:20:00 CDT

I'd never met my friend's mom. But standing next to her open casket, she made a joke, and we burst out laughing in front of a room full of horrified strangers. Thirty minutes later I was a weepy mess again. Both things happened. Neither one canceled the other out — and that's the part about grief nobody warns you about.

What Holding Space Really Means

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 20:36:00 CDT

"I've got you" is what we say. It's not always what we do. Holding space is a specific practice, not a passing comfort, and most of us were never actually taught how.

He Washed Her Feet Every Day.

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:46:00 CDT

Ed had severe osteoporosis. Edna's dementia had taken her ability to speak. Every day after lunch, he crouched down with warm water and a cloth to wash her feet anyway. I was their caregiver, and it taught me more about devotion, and its cost, than anything I'd learned before.

I burst into tears at work

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 16:26:00 CDT

Grief doesn't care that you have a presentation on Thursday or a deadline on Friday. It follows you to work whether you're ready or not, and most of us have never been taught how to navigate loss while still showing up professionally. Learn how to here.