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A split-second of ordinary life can become the moment you measure everything else against. Melissa Hall joins us to share the day she lost her four-year-old son, Drew, in an irrigation canal near their rural home and what came after: the panic, the seven-hour search, and the crushing guilt of believing one exhausted mistake defined her worth as a mother. We don’t soften the hard parts, including how grief can hijack your body, your breathing, and your ability to imagine a future.

What changes the trajectory isn’t a miracle cure, it’s connection. Melissa opens up about a letter from another bereaved mother that met her with honesty instead of platitudes, and how that simple act of being seen helped her step back from the edge. We talk about complicated grief, survivor’s guilt, suicidal thoughts after loss, and the slow work of choosing life one day at a time. Her perspective is both tender and practical: grief is not the absence of love, it can be the presence of love demanding a place to go.

We also dig into how Melissa turned pain into purpose through water safety education and child drowning prevention, especially for families living near open canals and waterways. She shares what she’s learned through journaling, coaching, and writing Dear Drew: Creating a Life Bigger Than Grief, plus why community support matters when people you expected to show up don’t. If you’re searching for grief support, bereavement resources, or a way to honor someone while still moving forward, this conversation offers language, tools, and hope without pretending healing is tidy.

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To Reach Melissa Hull:

Website: www.melissahull.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/greaterthangrief

Facebook: www.facebook.com/greaterthangrief

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