Grief and Gratitude: Leslie Hooton on Love, Loss, and The Secret of Rainy Days

The other side of grief is love—and you have to love something a great deal in order to grieve it. That's the powerful message author Leslie Hooton shares in this raw, heartfelt conversation during Grief Awareness Week. A stroke survivor who has had to learn to walk multiple times throughout her life, Hooton brings her signature Southern charm and hard-won wisdom to a discussion about love, loss, and everything in between.

From her "bargain basement body" that she's learned to be grateful for to the unexpected tears that creep up at the most joyful moments, Leslie reminds us that grief is exhausting, unpredictable, and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She explores how her novels Before Anyone Else, The Secret of Rainy Days, and the upcoming After Everyone Else tackle the complicated terrain of friendship, family, and finding yourself. With honesty, humor, and a whole lot of heart, Leslie and host Dara Levan dig into why rainy days expect less of us, how to be gentle with yourself during the holidays, and why putting on airs is simply too much work. This is not a downer—it's a celebration of the love that makes grief possible.

0:00 - Intro and tech apologies
1:34 - Leslie joins upside down
3:54 - Grief and love are two sides of the same coin
6:24 - Grieving expectations and the bargain basement body
8:56 - Gratitude as a daily practice
10:24 - Funeral casseroles and lucky dust explained
12:35 - When grief creeps up unexpectedly
15:31 - Khalil Gibran on joy and sorrow
18:03 - Grief is exhausting (and not just a year)
20:02 - Marriage expiration dates and reframing failure
24:32 - Writing to figure yourself out
28:43 - Accepting life as it is and the holidays
30:22 - The secret of rainy days revealed
34:39 - Be gentle with yourself


• https://www.instagram.com/dara.levan/
• Website: daralevan.com
https://lesliehooton.com/


QUOTES:
"Being authentic—to thine own self be true—has been one of my life's velocities."
– Leslie Hooton

"No one's grief is lesser than something else's."
– Dara Levan