When Life Breaks You Open: Grief, Survival & Finding Joy Again with Alexandra Wyman
I talk with Alexandra Wyman, a mom, author, podcast host, and pediatric occupational therapist who became a single mom after losing her husband to suicide just four days before their second wedding anniversary.
Alexandra shares how she spent years following the “checklist” for a perfect life—college, career, marriage, house, kids—and how it finally felt like everything had clicked when she met her husband and started a family. When he died by suicide, that entire vision disappeared overnight, and she was left grieving not only her husband, but the life, identity, and future she thought she was supposed to have.
We dig into what grief really looks like behind the scenes:
Feeling like a shell of a person and having almost no capacity.Letting the smallest things be enough—sometimes just getting out of bed or giving her one-year-old a bath. Finding an anchor (for her, it was her son) as a reason to keep going, even when nothing made sense.
Alexandra talks honestly about the social side of grief—how some people you expect to show up don’t, how others quietly check in with simple “thinking of you” messages that mean everything, and how little we’re taught about death, estates, and supporting someone through profound loss.
We also explore the inner work she’s done:
Untangling people-pleasing, outcome-controlling, and long-held feelings of abandonment and low self-worth.Learning she didn’t need a partner to “complete” her; her wholeness was already within her. Blending neuroscience (understanding what grief does to the brain) with spirituality (leaning on her “spirit team” and a bigger sense of purpose).
As a mom, Alexandra is now focused on raising her son to be grounded in who he is, instead of seeking validation from others. She’s shifted away from the idea that kids’ behavior defines a parent’s worth, and instead sees parenting as a mutual learning process where both parent and child are growing, regulating, and healing together.
Out of her experience, Alexandra created:
Her book, The Suicide Club: What to Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death, written as the handbook she wishes she’d had.Her podcast, Forward to Joy, where she shares tools and stories about grief, healing, and finding meaning after loss.
This conversation is for any mom whose life doesn’t look the way she thought it would, who feels like she’s rebuilding from the ground up. Alexandra reminds us that grief isn’t linear, joy isn’t off-limits, and it’s okay to move forward in baby steps—one small act of living and loving at a time.
Connect with Alexadra's podcast here.
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