Hello, my dears. Before we begin, I want to let you know that today's episode talks about

sensitive topics like suicide and the death of an infant. It may not be what you need for today.

So here's a little permission to be gentle with yourself.

My name is Kate Boehler and this is Everything Happens.

We need people. No, really. When life comes undone, one of the best and sometimes

only medicine we have is one another. Our people can help to stave off the creeping loneliness

that comes when we face the unthinkable. They remind us that we are loved, loved, loved,

and not forgotten, even when all evidence seems to point otherwise.

They help carry parts of ourselves and our chores when even getting out of bed seems to be the

most we can manage in a day. Sometimes love comes in the form of fresh sheets or a home-cooked meal

left on your doorstep or a marathon of the show community, even though we know we've both seen

each episode a dozen times. When we are sick, when we are deep in grief, when we are wondering which

way is up, our people can come alongside and shoulder the burden. They may not be able to fix the

situation. It might be absolutely unsolvable, but there is something about that kind of love,

the kind that opts in when it would be easier and less messy to opt out. That, I don't know,

heals something in us. Me. Today's episode is for the ones who opt in, who let their hearts break

alongside ours. Bless you. The Reverend Liz Titchner is an Episcopal Brace in California. Liz is

no stranger to grief. In a single year, Liz lost both her mom and her baby. She writes beautifully

about that grief and hope in her memoir The Night Lake. A young priest maps the topography of grief.

Liz, hello. Thanks so much for doing this with me. Thank you. We are maybe the only two people

just who want to talk about being on team theological education more than anyone we know.

Just shortly. So it makes me want to ask you what first drew you toward becoming a priest,

...