Madison Rhodes - Grief Well Lived

Grief after suicide can feel isolating, messy, and impossible to name. Madison Rhodes shares the story of losing her younger brother Seth and the hard-won lessons she’s learned about healing, therapy, and talking openly about suicide without shame. Madison opens up about the guilt she carried after Seth died in 2017, why she threw herself into NAMI and suicide-prevention advocacy, and the moment she realized she had skipped over her own grief in the process. She also explains how storytelling became both a lifeline and a purpose, eventually inspiring the novel she’s writing now about a girl navigating sibling loss by suicide. You’ll hear honest, practical guidance for anyone supporting a loved one through mental health struggles or substance misuse—including why it matters to ask direct questions, how to talk without making someone shut down, and why language like “died by suicide” helps reduce stigma. Madison and Emma also dig into the unique burden carried by siblings, the pressure to be “the strong one,” and how community can make impossible grief feel a little less lonely. Emma and Madison cover what it means to keep someone’s memory alive in ordinary, human ways—birthdays, favorite foods, old friends, and the tiny rituals that make a loss feel less abstract. Madison also shares what changed after years of therapy, what grief looks like now, and the loudest lesson Seth left behind: live boldly, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to take up space.