In this episode, Rosie Moss speaks with Derek Tweedie about the kind of love that spans continents and decades, and the kind of loss that reshapes what it means to live well.

Derek shares the story of meeting his wife Judy in Edinburgh by chance, falling in love across cassette tapes and long distance phone calls, and building a full life between Scotland and Canada. Their partnership carried them through parenthood, careers and intimate quiet moments before a sudden glioblastoma diagnosis changed everything.

Derek speaks with quiet honesty about Judy’s decline, the eighteen weeks he cared for her at home, and why he sees those days as his greatest achievement. He recalls the community effort that completed Judy’s PhD in her name while she was still able to hear the news, and the beauty threaded through unbearable days.

This is not an episode that offers answers, but presence. Derek reflects on loneliness, the shock of grief, the tentative world of dating again, signs and symbolism, and how literature and landscape help him keep Judy close. Together, he and Rosie explore what it means to give someone a good death, and then to try to live fully afterwards.

Episode Highlights / Show Notes

• A chance meeting in Edinburgh becomes a life partnership

• Long distance love before technology made it easy

• Judy’s abrupt glioblastoma diagnosis and decline

• Derek’s caregiving journey at home

• Community effort to complete Judy’s PhD

• Parenting adult grief and navigating holidays

• Dating again and seeking connection

• Quiet reflections on death, memory and meaning

#widowhood #caregiving #glioblastoma #griefjourney #bereavementpodcast #widowedpartner #lovestory #endoflifecare #gooddeath #parentingthroughloss #lifeaftercaregiving #DerekTweedie #JudyTweedie #RosieMoss #WidowedAF #healingstories #meaningafterloss #findingconnectionagain

In this special episode, Rosie Moss sits down with entrepreneur, widow and community builder Nicky Wake to explore the power of widow led spaces. Nicky is best known for founding Chapter Two Dating and Widows Fire, two platforms that reshape how widows re enter intimacy and connection. Her newest venture, The Widow Collective, goes even deeper, creating a free, grassroots home for widowed people to meet, talk and feel understood.

Together, Rosie and Nicky unpack why widowhood needs its own spaces, how unmet needs sparked these projects, and what happens when grief meets humour, friendship and real world support. Nicky talks candidly about her own loss, parenting and recovery, and why she believes solidarity is life saving.

This episode is an invitation to join the conversation and a glimpse into what The Widow Collective is building next.

Episode Highlights / Talking Points

• Why Nicky created Chapter Two Dating and Widows Fire

• The launch of The Widow Collective and how it already serves thousands

• Peer led support through Zoom chats, forums and local meetups

• Tackling taboo topics openly

• Why grief literacy matters for society

• Nicky’s personal journey, motherhood and recovery

#widowhood #griefsupport #bereavementcommunity #widoweddating #ChapterTwoDating #WidowsFire #TheWidowCollective #RosieMoss #NickyWake #WidowedAF #peersupport #lifeafterloss #griefliteracy #widowsintheUK #healingincommunity

In this deeply honest episode, Rosie Moss sits down with author, coach and mental health advocate Tabby Kerwin to talk about the kind of love that shifts you, the kind of loss that breaks you, and the slow, unexpected freedom that can grow from grief.

Tabby takes us inside her story with Simon, her late husband. First they were musicians side by side, then partners wrapped in intimacy, humour and shared purpose. They weathered an untypical cancer journey together, marked by delayed diagnosis, brutal treatment, remission, and a devastating infection that cut their time short.

This is a conversation about love, but it is equally about survival. Tabby opens up about parenting through bereavement, allowing her son Ollie autonomy in his grief, and the hidden pain of carrying the truth alone until she finally let family in before goodbye.

We talk about mental health, inherited expectations, and the teenage grief that shaped her early adulthood. Tabby reflects on the moment widowhood became permission rather than punishment, letting her live truthfully, speak publicly, and refuse shame.

She shares the solace she found in tiny rituals, prawn dumplings, Grey’s Anatomy, community, and fierce honesty. And she names the bittersweet peace of being content in her own company post loss, no longer running but coming home to herself.

If you have ever loved deeply, lost painfully, or rebuilt quietly, this episode will meet you where you are.

Episode Highlights / Show Notes

• Love and connection through music

• A complex cancer journey and sudden loss

• Parenting and autonomy in grief

• Mental health, teenage bereavement and identity

• Choosing authenticity and advocacy over silence

• Widowhood as a turning point into selfhood

• Finding peace in singleness, community and purpose

#widowhood #griefsupport #bereavementpodcast #widowedparents #griefjourney #mentalhealth #cancerloss #lifeafterloss #singleparenting #identityaftergrief #TabbyKerwin #SimonKerwin #lovestory #resilience #healingafterloss #womensstories #RosieMoss #WidowedAF #griefcommunity