When We Start Laughing, We Start Healing

This week, I'm sitting down with Erica Richmond, a writer, grief guide, and founder of Open Sky Stories. Erica lost her ex-husband to suicide when their kids were just seven and ten. Eleven years later, she lost her dad. She's been living in grief for over a decade and has learned that the only way through it is to let it be as messy as it needs to be.

What stands out about Erica is how she's held space for her kids to grieve in their own ways. They made a Lego figurine of their dad and called him Lego Dad. Her youngest drew pictures with his dad in a coffin or as a floating head in the sky. And when her ten year old asked if cremation was done with a laser beam or a flamethrower, she just went with it. Because sometimes that's all you can do.

We talk about the exhaustion and blur that comes with grief, how she grew to resent being called resilient, and why dark humor became her family's way of surviving. Erica also shares how writing and creating art helped her process what words alone couldn't touch, and how that eventually became Open Sky Stories, a space for others to do the same.

This conversation is honest, funny, and full of the kind of realness that only comes from someone who's been in the thick of it. If you've ever felt like you weren't grieving the right way, this one's for you.

We get into:

• what surprised her most about losing her dad at 49
• how her kids expressed grief through play and art
• the question her son asked about cremation that caught her off guard
• why she grew to resent being called resilient
• the blur that comes with grief and what it actually feels like
• how dark humor became a lifeline for her family
• the grief group that helped more than she expected
• why writing and art give her something talking can't
• what she built with Open Sky Stories
• what healing means when you're never really over it

Erica's story is a reminder that grief doesn't have to look a certain way. Sometimes it looks like Lego Dad. Sometimes it looks like laughing at a meet and greet for dead grandpa. And that's okay.

If this episode resonated with you, Robert works one-on-one with people navigating loss. Find out more at robertdelfave.com.

🌐 Learn more about Erica's work: https://openskystories.com
📸 Follow Erica on Instagram: @openskystories
🌐 Visit the podcast website: https://unparented.me
✍️ Read more on Substack: https://substack.com/@robertdelfave
📩 Want to share your story on Unparented? Email me: hello@unparented.me
📸 Follow the podcast on Instagram: @theunparentedpodcast