Making Lemonade with Whit + Kels

Tara is our last guest for season 3, and her story is an incredible one to end on.  Tara speaks with us about losing her daughter, Taylor in a skiing accident.  Tara and her family were able to give the gift of life through donating Taylor's organs.  They then decided to help form a support group for families who grieve the death of a loved one and also educate about the importance of organ donation.  Tara and her husband founded their organization, Taylor's Gift.  Their slogan is - Outlive Yourself.  We found Tara to be inspiring and uplifting.  To go through the loss of a child and to continue to build from that loss is extraordinary.  We hope you love her episode!

Make sure to check out Taylor's Gift to find out ways to support their organization. 

Click this link to register to be an organ donor 

Georgie, a widow who tragically lost her husband Steve to cancer, shares her heartfelt life journey with us. She recounts the beautiful story of how they met and the extraordinary life they built together. When Steve received his diagnosis, he urged them to "live life", and they truly embraced that mantra. Georgie reflects on their determination to live life to the fullest, and she continues to do so in loving memory of Steve. This episode is a touching tribute, radiating hope and inspiration. Georgie's warmth and wisdom shine through, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to record with her. We are eagerly looking forward to sharing her remarkable story with all of you. 

Steve's Obituary 
 https://www.ruddfuneralhome.com/obituaries/johnsteven-batis 

Facebook Group: Northern Utah Widower & Widow Warriors.
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1372683523526125/?ref=share&mibextid=K8Wfd2

Anne and her spouse faced the challenges of miscarriages and infertility, which ultimately steered them towards the paths of adoption and foster care. Anne's story is truly remarkable, highlighting the importance of divine timing and the significance of persevering even when all seems lost.

Anne has a genuine uplifting presence about her.  We sincerely believe that this beautiful episode will touch the hearts of all who listen to it, and we hope that you too will find it captivating and inspiring.

Anne's Instagram
Utah Foster Care
The Christmas Box
Christmas box house in Ogden Utah is a shelter for foster children that do not have a home to go to.  Christmas time is an important time for people to donate and help make Christmas magical for the kids in that shelter.  The Bowers have taken in two kiddos from the Christmas box house and they truly need all the love and support they can get. 

Listen to Mike's personal account of his experience with Montelukast, a medication he had been taking since he was 14 years old. He vividly describes the physical and mental struggles he endured until one day he discovered a black box warning associated with this drug. Being forced to abruptly stop taking it, Mike gradually realized that many of his ongoing physical issues were linked to his use of Montelukast.

It's crucial to hear Mike's story and be aware of the potential side effects of this medication, including its ability to permeate the blood-brain barrier. In a previous episode, we also discussed the drug's impact on a guest's daughter. Remember, knowledge is power, and this is an episode you do not want to miss!

Montelukast Facebook Group

AnneMoss shares with us how she tragically lost her 20 year old son to suicide and what her grief journey was like trying to move forward from that loss.  

AnneMoss did such an amazing job at articulating her thoughts and feelings about what life has been like after going through such a tragedy.  She takes you a long on her journey as she describes the pain that she has felt and the questions that arose with losing her son.   

AnneMoss is an incredible woman who has a story to tell so that she can help others, and we are honored to have her share her story on our platform. 

We hope you all enjoy this weeks episode.

Connect with AnneMoss:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/EmotionallyNaked
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemossrogers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnneMossRogers
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/AnneMossRogers/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emotionallynaked/

December 5th webinar:
http://copingwithchildloss.com/

Links & Resources:
AnneMoss’ website: https://mentalhealthawarenesseducation.com/
AnneMoss’ Emotionally Naked © blog: http://emotionallynaked.com
AnneMoss’ TEDx – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Xm7-MAwZ4

AnneMoss’ books:
Diary of a Broken Mind: A Mother's Story, A Son's Suicide, and The Haunting Lyrics He Left Behind
Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk

Index cards for visuals (related to grief)

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2227640140718356&set=pcb.2227641330718237 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2227640277385009&set=pcb.2227641330718237 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2227640747384962&set=pcb.2227641330718237 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2227640550718315&set=pcb.2227641330718237

https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipP3KMz84ka4jWb8HOZgpf3DQzZjl2bYCmQ08uONfErQxO_1MLkNNyJyLh8v001R6Q/photo/AF1QipMTJdnAZ3VVXs9IvgWzw6xCehNO87dljMrwRCA?key=TEtDT2JlNGJzZ1hrTEo3SHRLdmpLRzF0WEQ0cVpR 

 Suicide Prevention Speaker for Colleges at Vincennes University in Indiana

20 years ago Heidi lost her 5 year old daughter Alison, to a brain tumor.  She walks us through what life was like before Alison's diagnosis, and what happened throughout her life after Alison passed away.  Heidi is definitely making lemonade with her lemons.  She chose to keep moving forward and to honor Alison through living her own life and fulfilling what matters most to her. 

Heidi has made some big changes in her career and location.  She worked in public affairs advising on health care policy in a variety of positions including the Idaho Director of Government Affairs for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.  8 years after losing her daughter and realizing she had some good tools & resources to share with others she founded 'Ohana Oasis' in hopes to help others work through their grief & loss through retreats.   

Talking with Heidi was so uplifting.  We are so happy that she shared her story and wisdom on our podcast.  We hope that you guys love this episode as much as we did.

Instagram: @heidichristinalow
 http://heidilow.com
http://ohanaoasis.org

A knock at Janica's door late one night in November 2016, changed her life forever. Her husband, Eric was a Utah State Trooper and was on duty when he was struck by a vehicle. She was a mom to 3 little boys, and suddenly faced life alone to raise them, as a young widow. She told us her story in today's podcast, and what life looked like as she navigated this sudden loss. The support she had from her community and from her law enforcement family, and what life looks like now for her. Thank you Janica for sharing your story with us!

Leah chats with us today about how going through her divorce really drove her into this path of financial freedom.  Leah became a parent of three overnight, went through a divorce, and then built her business from the ground up.

Leah Hadley is the Founder and CEO of Great Lakes Divorce Financial Solutions, where she is on a mission to provide women financial guidance before, during, and after a divorce, to help them secure financial confidence and independence. 

This episode is so informative and we loved having Leah come on to share her knowledge with all of our listeners.

Leah has a free Facebook group where you can ask her financial questions.  https://www.facebook.com/watchherthrive

You can find more about Leah and her business at : http://www.greatlakesdfs.com

She is also on Instagram, Facebook, & LinkedIn

Alexandra Wyman is our guest on this week's episode.  She tells us her story about losing her husband to suicide and walking that journey as a single mom with a young child. 

One of our favorite things about this episode is that Alexandra is trying to change the stigma that is placed around suicide.  She was so willing to come on our podcast and share with you all, what she has come to learn through the aftermath of losing her husband.

Alexandra wrote a book called, The Suicide Club.   If you are going through something similar that may be a great resource for you. 

You can also find Alexandra & many more amazing resources through her website at: http://www.forwardtojoy.com/

We hope that you enjoy this week's episode.

We're thrilled to be back, and we have an absolutely amazing story to share with all of you!

Dan Davis is an extraordinary individual who has faced significant challenges in his life. We were incredibly honored when he graciously accepted our invitation to join us on our podcast to share his inspiring journey. What sets him apart as a guest is that he is involved in a very similar line of work as us here at Making Lemonade, yet in a video format. Dan is the proud owner of Stiry, and during our conversation, he opens up about the origin of Stiry and also shares his own health struggles.

As Dan takes us through his story, you'll hear him talk about the small hints and clues that guided him towards his next steps. He shares how he battled health issues for years and how a fortunate encounter led him to a doctor who could finally shed light on his mysterious symptoms.

Dan is the creator of, Breaking Into Beautiful, the documentary about Kim White and her journey through her battle with cancer.  He also has worked with Imagine Dragons, The Emily Effect, Tia Stokes, and another beautiful guest of ours, Tessie Freidli. 

Recording this episode was an incredible experience, and we genuinely hope that you enjoy it just as much. We kindly ask you to leave a comment for Dan. Your feedback means the world to our guests, and it also helps boost our visibility in the algorithm, enabling us to reach more listeners.

Once again, we want to express our gratitude for your presence here - we truly appreciate you all. We adore our audience!

Resources
If you want help in discovering your story,  Dan & the Stiry team have created a book that you can buy here

If anyone would like to produce their own story with Stiry, or their business/nonprofit story, here is where they can go to get in contact with Stiry: https://www.stiry.com/contact

Brooke talks with us today about her daughter Korrie who was diagnosed with a rare disease, Rett Syndrome. 

Rett Syndrome is a rare genetic mutation affecting the development of the brain.  Rett Syndrome is rarely inherited.  

Brooke tells us about the ups and downs of getting Korrie's diagnosis.  She gives us a little insight into their family dynamic and how special Korrie is.  

This is such an informative and beautiful episode.  We hope you enjoy it. 

This week's guest, Mandi tells us about her son, Tate who passed away a couple of years ago.  Tate was a talented, smart, brave, and very busy boy who seemed to excel at many things in life.  Tate unfortunately left this world too soon, and Mandi does a beautiful job at sharing her experiences through the grief and mourning of her son.   

We love when you guys leave comments for our guests.  Thank you for listening to our episodes.  We love you guys! 

This episode was such a great one to record because we learned so much from Aubrey.  Talk about a person who persevered through her set backs in life and continues to thrive.  

Aubrey has memories from back in Kindergarten where she experienced being kept in her classroom while the other kids went out for recess.  Her teacher was trying to get her to write her A's correctly, and Aubrey was trying so hard to do it "the right way".  Neither her nor her teacher realized that the reason Aubrey was struggling was because she was showing signs of dyslexia.  Now, Aubrey is a teacher who has so much empathy for her students.  She knows what it is like to struggle and shows her students so much love and compassion through teaching.  

This episode was so informative and Aubrey did such an amazing job at describing her life while living with dyslexia.  We loved recording with Aubrey and know that you'll enjoy this episode!

Summer is our guest for this week's episode.  Summer's husband was snowmobiling, which he had been doing his whole life, when he was caught in an avalanche that took his life.  Summer walks us through that horrific day while describing her thoughts and feelings when she found out what had happened.

Summer lost her husband, and her 3 young children lost their father that day.  Because of the circumstances, Summer turned something horrific into helping others with education, resources and the correct gear to use and wear while snowmobiling.  She started a non-profit called the Adam Anderson Avalanche Project, where all proceeds will be used to provide free rentals of avalanche preparedness kits to snowmobilers in Island Park, Idaho.  You can find out more information here: https://www.adamandersen.org/?fbclid=PAAabSaUeewfykrTUIEoaljxJJaKPxCBpLVp1fQejTbs5B8xbUd8PYNgKizEg

Most recently Summer has started a podcast called, Find Me in the Daisies.  It is a podcast about finding joy in the journey.  We love that we get to share a small part of Summer and her story with all of you.  She is an incredible woman who is doing amazing things in spite of what lemons life has thrown her.  Make sure to check out her podcast and leave a sweet comment for Summer!

You guys, we have such an amazing guest to share with you this week.  Karen tells us her story about her son Kyle passing away.  She walks us through what he was like growing up.  The trials he had gone through in life and what he had to overcome.  His love for football, and how much the game meant to him.  Karen tells us about the days leading up to Kyle's passing, and what life was like after.  

We loved hearing Karen talk about the amazing person that Kyle was and how he loved big, and lived big.  As Karen spoke about Kyle, you could feel the love that she had for him.  She was meant to tell his story, and we love that we get to share it with all of you.  

In honor of Kyle,
LOVE BIG
LIVE BIG
🤍 51

This week we are dropping another episode from season 1.   We feel that we have so many important and amazing episodes, and we hope to bring in traffic through these re-releases.  So help us out and share Jordin'  episode, it is a powerful one!

XOXO - Whit + Kels

December 2018 changed Jordin's life forever. She was traveling with her daughter Lyla and her husband, Devin, to see some Christmas lights when a drowsy driver hit them. Unfortunately, Devin didn't make it, and Jordin has been living with grief ever since. Becoming a widow and a single mom at such a young age hasn't been easy, but Jordin has done an incredible job. She is strong, resilient, and has done everything she can to make sure Lyla will always know how much her daddy loves her. Thank you, Jordin, for telling us your story!

Hey friends!  We have been talking about how we have so many good episodes from amazingly brave people and we have decided it is time to re-release a few!  

For this week's episode we are dropping Tessie's story from season 1!  If you missed her episode, or are new to this podcast, make sure to listen to this one!

Tessie is an incredible woman who tells us about the trials she has been through since becoming a wife and mom. Her husband, Zach went blind shortly after having their first child, and just as they were learning to navigate a new normal..the unthinkable happened.  At two years old, their son, Dakota, was in an accident and received a traumatic brain injury. Tessie tells us about the whole experience, and how their new normal, changed again. Tessie is the perfect example of someone that has endured everything life has thrown at her, and has made some pretty awesome lemonade out of her lemons. We are so glad we get to share her story, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

We are so lucky to have Andrea come and talk to us about her liver transplant because April is Organ Donation Awareness month.  

Andrea tells her story so gracefully while sharing the highs and lows of needing an organ, and living with a transplant.  

Andrea works closely with Donor Connect in Utah.  Andrea and Whitney go speak with schools to teach children about the importance if being an Organ Donor. 

We loved having Andrea on this week's podcast and we hope you enjoy her episode!  

Suzanne's episode is such a beautiful story.  You can feel the love that she has for her parents and she tells us about losing both of them within a few years of each other.  Suzanne's relationship that she had with her parents is one that many people dream of.  We love that we get to have her tell her story through our podcast.

Suzanne's father had a heart attack and while he was in the hospital recovering, her mother wasn't feeling very well and went into the doctor to see what was going on.  Her mother was then diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and passed away shortly after.  Her father went on to live a few more years before he passed away as well.  

Suzanne also went through more trauma while miscarrying her youngest baby and almost losing her life in the process.  From everything that she has endured she has also battled deep depression which led her to getting professional help.  She has been working very hard throughout the years to help heal herself through all of life's lemons.  

We loved speaking with Suzanne and really loved what she had to offer while telling her story.  We know that her story will resonate with others and be healing for people to hear.  Thank you for listening and make sure to leave a comment for Suzanne.

Our guest on this weeks episode is Syna.  Syna tells us about her and her husbands journey through infertility and what eventually led them to the adoption of their son Mika.  She talks about the dead ends that they had to push through for Mika.  After adopting Mika and feeling like life couldn't get any better, Mika contracted botulism.  Syna does such a great job at telling her story and we are excited to share it with all of you.

Syna, her husband Joel, and Mika are looking to grow their family.  They are hoping to adopt again.  You can find out more about their journey through the links below.

Adoption Page
https://adoption.com/profiles/SynaHarris 

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/hoping.to.adopt.again/
https://www.instagram.com/synaharris/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Joel.Syna.Mika/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@SynaHarris