Life Happens with Barb & Michelle

Grief doesn't disappear, it changes form.
After losing her beloved cat Charlotte at nearly 20 years old, Michelle was surprised by just how deeply the loss affected her. While it didn't mirror the grief she experienced after losing her father, it brought its own unique heartbreak and reminded her that pet grief is real, profound, and often misunderstood.
In this deeply personal episode, Barb and Michelle explore the reality of pet loss, why grief can resurface in unexpected ways, and how every loss teaches us something new about love, attachment, and letting go. Michelle shares how Charlotte's passing brought waves of sadness she didn't anticipate and why trying to "prepare" for grief doesn't necessarily make it easier when the moment arrives.
This conversation is for anyone who has lost a beloved pet, a loved one, or is navigating the complicated emotions that come with loving deeply and saying goodbye.
What You'll Take Away:
Why pet grief is real grief and why comments like "it's just a pet" can be so hurtful
Michelle's experience losing Charlotte and why the loss affected her more than she expected
How grief can awaken memories of previous losses without being the same experience
Why anticipatory grief doesn't protect us from heartbreak
What acceptance actually looks like in real life
How to stop judging your grief and allow yourself to feel what you feel
Why grief isn't something we master, fix, or move beyond but something we learn to carry differently over time

Whether you've recently lost a pet, are supporting someone who has, or simply want a more compassionate understanding of grief, this episode offers comfort, validation, and a reminder that love and loss are always connected.
"Grief is the reminder that love was present, and that even if it's no longer in its original form, that love still exists." @Michelle Maros
Don't risk carrying grief alone or judging yourself for how you heal. Learn how to embrace loss with compassion and discover why love never truly leaves us.
Resources Mentioned:
Orthodox Teaching on Head and Heart
"It can take no time to get something into the head, but it can often take a lifetime to get it into the heart."
The Five Stages of Grief
The Five Stages of Grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—were developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and continue to provide a framework for understanding grief and loss.
Learn more: https://www.grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/
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Should you try to fix your parents? Most people spend years trying. Here's what actually works — and what's just making it worse.
In this candid Q&A episode, Barb and Michelle get into three questions that don't have easy answers:
— Should you try to fix your parents (or your adult kids)? — Does emotional connection get harder the bigger your family gets? — How do you apologize to your kids without losing your authority as a parent?
Barb — who's spent 40+ years in therapy and recovery — breaks down the fix/control/compare trap that keeps most families stuck, why apologizing to your kids is actually a power move when done right, and what it really means to "let go" of a parent who hurt you (hint: it's not what the internet tells you).
Michelle brings the adult-child perspective — including the quiet role reversal that happens when you start parenting your own parents, and why that's more common (and more complicated) than anyone admits.
In this episode:
The fix/control/compare framework Barb uses daily
Why big families often produce invisible kids — and what that costs them
How to apologize to your child without becoming a doormat
What "letting go" of a difficult parent actually looks like
Why your parents were "raised by cavemen" — and why that context changes everything
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If you've ever felt lighter in your life after removing someone from it — this episode explains why.
Barb & Michelle get real about the 5 signals that it might be time to cut someone out of your life — and why knowing the signals is only half the battle. This episode covers the guilt, the fantasy that people will change, the sunk cost of long relationships, and how to actually do it in a way that doesn't consume the next five years of your life.
Barb speaks from experience — including her own 33-year untangling — and Michelle brings the practical, modern perspective on why even empathetic, self-aware people stay in relationships that cost them everything. This is the episode for anyone who already knows what they need to do but can't seem to let themselves do it.
What You'll Learn:
The 5 specific signals that a relationship is costing you more than it's giving
Why the apology is often the manipulation — not the resolution
How to tell the difference between sunk cost and real love
Why being "the bigger person" is sometimes just being controlled
How to release someone from your life without needing to hate them first
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There are conversations every parent knows they should have — and most of them never do. In this episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, mother and daughter go deep on the exact things they wish someone had said to them before life had to teach them the hard way.
From family alcoholism surfacing after a 15-year-old's first drunken night, to growing up with two alcoholic parents and never once hearing 'I love you' — Barb and Michelle trace how silence passes down through generations, and what it actually takes to break that chain. This one is for every parent afraid to say the hard thing, and every adult child who's still waiting to hear it.

In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why 'protecting' your kids from hard truths usually means protecting yourself from discomfort
- How to create a safe space so your child actually comes to you — without fishing or manipulating
- The HALT tool (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) and how to make it a natural part of family life
- What to do when you've already said something that closed your child off — and how to repair it
- Why you don't need the perfect moment — and how to let hard conversations unfold naturally

From psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck's famous opening line in The Road Less Traveled: "Life is difficult." Rather than seeing this as pessimistic, Barb taught Michelle that accepting life's challenges is one of the greatest pathways to peace, resilience, and emotional freedom.
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult ―once we truly understand and accept it― then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”
- M. Scott Peck

Don't wait for the sit-down talk. The moment is already here.
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Comedian Jessi Cruickshank joins Barb and Michelle backstage at Lynn University for a raw, funny, and unexpectedly emotional conversation about motherhood, performance, anxiety, and becoming the women their mothers raised them to be.
From professional perfectionism to internet criticism, the conversation moves from hilarious behind-the-scenes moments into deeper reflections on identity, mindfulness, and the pressure women carry in public and private life. Jessi opens up about the comment she never forgot, while Barb and Michelle unpack what they inherited — and what they had to unlearn.
In this episode:
• Why perfectionism quietly controls so many women
• The emotional cost of always performing “fine”
• How humor and mindfulness actually serve the same purpose
• The parenting lessons they resisted most
• Why confidence is usually built through embarrassment

Learn how to stop performing perfection and start connecting honestly.

Connect with Jessi:
Follow her on Instagram & Facebook: @jessicruickshank
Follow her on TikTok: @jessicruickshanktok
Check out her Evening Club Tour: jessicruickshank.com/tour
Listen to her podcast: https://tr.ee/u6WMhIAnoi
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