Growing up is all about change, which can sometimes be scary.

But what can make it less scary is having someone by your side to ride it out with you.

On this episode, we're going to hear conversations between kids and their parents who have been through a lot together

and how they'll deal with the next big change apart.

It's the StoryCore podcast from NPR. I'm your host, Camila Kashani.

When Sylvia Grossfalt was a little girl, her mom would always take her to school.

It was their special time together.

In 2019, Sylvia came to StoryCore with her dad, Joshua Weiner, to remember one morning when Sylvia was five years old.

I pretty clearly remember going to school and mom would always walk me inside to the classroom.

And this day, she walked me onto the playground and then she said I could go in by myself if I wanted.

And I felt so grown up.

And I didn't give her a hug that day and I didn't say goodbye. And I got into the classroom.

And I immediately started crying. And I ran back out, but by that time she was gone, I just felt so guilty that I hadn't given her one last hug.

Sylvia's mom, Carrie, died by suicide that day.

When Sylvia and Josh came to StoryCore, they talked about the weeks, months, and years that followed.

I remember getting the call from the office that she had not picked you up.

In those first year or two after your mom died, I just remember feeling helpless.

There's nothing I can do to fix this.

Do you remember when I apologized to you for throwing that away?

Yeah, because I learned that some people write suicide notes and I was like, where's mom's?

I really wanted to read that for a long time.

And I felt really bad, but I think I was just so angry when I read that.

...