Getting Back Up Podcast: Finding Life After Death
Two fathers. Two stories of loss. One mission to get back up.Real conversations with two men learning to navigate life, raise children, and find love again…after loss.Hosted by Jamal Jones and David McClain, Getting Back Up: Life after Death is a real, raw, and often humorous podcast about what comes after the unthinkable—losing a partner, facing grief, and finding your way through it. As two widowers, now devoted girl dads (and one remarried man), Jamal and David create space for honest conversations around healing, identity, and starting over. Getting knocked down is part of life. Getting back...
50: What Happened When We Put Widowers in a Room Together | Widower Reset
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Episode 50: What Happened When We Put Widowers in a Room Together | Widower Reset
What happens when you put a group of widowers in a room and give them permission to stop being strong for a weekend?
Jamal and David created the Widower Reset because 49 episodes of conversations about grief and life after loss had made one thing clear: men needed more than a podcast. They needed a place to be honest, vulnerable, understood, and connected without having to explain what it means to lose a wife.
<...49: Dad, I Need to Talk to Mom
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Episode 49: Dad, I Need to Talk to Mom
Sometimes there are moments in raising children when you can almost hear the words: “I really wish Mom was here for this.” For a widowed father, those moments can be especially difficult—because sometimes your child needs the parent who isn't there, and you have to figure out how to show up anyway.
In this deeply personal episode, Jamal and David talk about the conversations that can leave a father feeling completely out of his depth. From pubert...
48: Nobody Knows What to Do With the Empty Chair
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Episode 48: Nobody Knows What to Do With the Empty Chair
When your spouse dies, your family doesn't simply become the same family minus one person. The entire family changes.
In this episode, Jamal and David explore the roles their wives occupied that became even more visible after they were gone. Mother. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Family connector. Tradition keeper. The person who remembered the birthdays, managed certain conversations with the kids, maintained relationships, or simply brought a presence to the family that no one else could replicate.<...
47: The Signs You’re Healing (Even If It Doesn’t Feel Like It)
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Episode 47: The Signs You’re Healing (Even If It Doesn’t Feel Like It)
Healing after loss rarely announces itself. There’s usually no big breakthrough or morning when you wake up and suddenly feel “better.” More often, it shows up quietly—in the first laugh that doesn’t bring guilt, making plans months into the future, sleeping a little better, enjoying time with your kids, or realizing grief wasn’t the first thing on your mind that morning.
In this episode, Jamal and David reflect on the small, somet...
46: The Man I Never Expected to Become
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Episode 46: The Man I Never Expected to Become
Loss changes us. That's unavoidable. But every so often, if we're paying attention, we realize grief hasn't only taken something away—it has quietly shaped us into someone we never expected to become.
In this episode, Jamal and David reflect on how life after loss has transformed them as fathers, husbands, leaders, friends, and men. From becoming more emotionally available and intentional, to discovering new purpose through Getting Back Up, therapy, service, and supporting other widowers, they explore the un...
45: The Lasts We Never Saw Coming
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Episode 45: The Lasts We Never Saw Coming
Some of the hardest moments after losing a spouse aren't the anniversaries we prepare for. They're the milestones we never realized would become "lasts."
In this episode, Jamal and David reflect on the quiet grief that can surface as children grow up and life keeps moving forward. An eighth-grade graduation. A final middle school concert. A birthday. A driver's license. A family vacation. Moments filled with pride and celebration that are suddenly accompanied by the realization that someone who should have been...
44: Grieving a Future After Loss
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Episode 44: Grieving a Future After Loss
Grief isn't only about losing the person you loved. Sometimes it's about losing the future you spent years imagining together.
In this episode, Jamal and David explore one of the least talked about dimensions of grief: mourning the life that never got the chance to happen. Retirement together. Watching your children become adults. College acceptance letters. Weddings. Grandchildren. Growing old side by side. They reflect on how each new milestone can quietly remind you that someone who was supposed to be there is...
43: What If I Forget Her? The Fear of Letting Go
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Episode 43: What If I Forget Her?
One of the fears many widowers carry isn't losing a memory—it's losing the connection behind it.
In this episode, Jamal and David tackle a question that often goes unspoken: What if I forget her? They share the moments that stop you in your tracks—the conversation you can't quite place, the sound of her voice that's harder to recall, the story whose details have become fuzzy with time. They discuss the pressure many grieving spouses feel to preserve every memory, ever...
42: I’m Tired of Being Strong (Holding it together after loss)
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Episode 42: I’m Tired of Being Strong (What everyone sees after loss)
For many widowers, strength becomes a role they never asked to play. You keep showing up. You take care of the kids. You pay the bills. You go to work. You handle the responsibilities. And somewhere along the way, people start telling you how strong you are. But what happens when you're exhausted?
In this episode, Jamal and David talk openly about strength fatigue—the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that can come from carrying grief...
41 - I Don't Feel Like Myself Anymore | Identity After Loss
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Episode 41: When you don't feel like yourself
After loss, there comes a moment many widowers quietly experience: you look in the mirror, go to work, attend a family event, or scroll through old photos and think... I don’t even recognize myself anymore.
In this episode, Jamal and David explore the identity disruption that often follows the death of a spouse. They discuss how grief changes more than your emotions—it changes your routines, your priorities, your relationships, your confidence, and sometimes even your personality. From feeling disco...
40: Why Am I Still Angry?
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Episode 40: Why Am I Still Angry?
For many widowers and grieving spouses, anger doesn’t always show up in the beginning. Sometimes it arrives later—after the funeral, after the shock, after life gets quiet again. And when it does, it can feel confusing, constant, and directionless.
In this episode, Jamal and David have an honest conversation about the anger that lingers after loss. The short patience. The irritability. The frustration that shows up in parenting, work, relationships, and everyday life. They talk about survivor’s remorse, emotio...
39: I Felt Guilty for Laughing Again, After Loss
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Episode 39: I Felt Guilty for Laughing Again After Loss
There’s a moment many widowers and grieving spouses experience—but rarely say out loud: the first time you genuinely laugh again… and immediately feel guilty afterward.
In this episode, Jamal and David unpack the emotional confusion that comes when life starts feeling okay again. The normal moments. The unexpected joy. The dinners, trips, conversations, and laughter that briefly make you forget what you’ve lost—until guilt rushes in to remind you. They reflect on the emotional whiplash of...
38: When Your Child Has an Emergency — Why It Hits Different After Loss
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Episode 38: When Your Child Has an Emergency — Why It Hits Different After Loss
There’s a moment every parent dreads—the call you weren’t expecting… the one that makes your heart drop before you even have the full story.
In this episode, Jamal and David open up about their first real “emergency” moments with their daughters—times when they weren’t there, couldn’t get there fast enough, and had to sit in the space between fear and truth. From a kitchen fire scare to a child passing out in public, they u...
37. When Life Hits Again - Unemployed after loss
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Episode 37: When Life Hits Again - Unemployed after loss
What happens when life knocks you down… again?
In this episode, Jamal and David step into something raw and unfiltered. Just weeks after being laid off, Jamal shares what it feels like to take another hit—after already navigating the loss of a spouse and rebuilding life once before. This isn’t a reflection episode. This is real time.
There are no polished answers here—just honest conversation about identity, pressure, fatherhood, and the quiet weight of starting over whe...
36: Finding Passion & Purpose Again
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Episode 36: Finding Passion & Purpose Again
There comes a moment in the journey where survival isn’t the question anymore… it’s now what?
In this episode, Jamal and David dive into one of the hardest transitions after loss—moving from just getting through the day to actually building a life again. They explore what it means to rediscover purpose when the life you once knew no longer exists, and why so many widowers and widows feel stuck between honoring the past and wanting more from the future.
Through...
35: In-Laws or Out-Laws? — Dealing with Their Family After You Move On
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Episode 35: In-Laws or Out-Laws? — Dealing with Their Family After You Move On
Moving forward after loss isn’t just about you—it can shift every relationship connected to your past. In this episode, Jamal and David tackle one of the most complicated dynamics widowers face: navigating relationships with in-laws while building a new life.
They share their personal experiences—from deep bonds that continue to grow, to relationships that have changed or become more distant—and unpack the emotional reality behind it all. Why does moving forward sometimes feel like betra...
34: Bitter Sweet Sixteens - Navigating Fatherhood Through Milestones
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Episode 34: Bitter Sweet Sixteens — Navigating Fatherhood Through Milestones
Turning sixteen is supposed to be a celebration — a moment where parents look at their daughters and realize childhood is slowly giving way to adulthood. But for widower fathers, milestones like a Sweet Sixteen can carry a different emotional weight.
In this episode, Jamal and David reflect on their daughters’ sixteenth birthdays and the bittersweet mix of pride, preparation, and grief that comes with it. They share how they planned the celebrations, who helped make those moments special, and the quiet questio...
33: Am I Depressed… or Am I Grieving?
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Episode 33: Am I Depressed… or Am I Grieving?
In this episode, Jamal and David take on a question many widowers wrestle with quietly: Am I depressed… or am I grieving? It’s a question that usually shows up late at night, in the quiet moments when the distractions fade and the weight of loss feels hardest to understand.
Together, they unpack what grief often looks like in men — exhaustion, irritability, numbness, brain fog, and the pressure to keep functioning even when something inside feels off. They also explore the importan...
32: Telling the Story With Heart — A Conversation with Dr. Nicole Clark
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Episode 32: Telling the Story With Heart — A Conversation with Dr. Nicole Clark
In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with Dr. Nicole Clark, Emmy award-winning anchor and reporter for Spectrum News Texas — but before the newsroom, before the camera, there was nearly two decades in psychology.
Nicole opens up about how her background as a Ph.D.-level psychotherapist shapes the way she tells stories today — especially the hard ones. From covering families in crisis to interviewing individuals turning pain into purpose, she shares how emp...
31: Grief Beyond Death — A Conversation with Jocelyn Barrera of The Christi Center
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Episode 31: Grief Beyond Death — A Conversation with Jocelyn Barrera of The Christi Center
In this on-location episode in Austin, Jamal and David sit down with Jocelyn Barrera, Executive and Clinical Director of The Christi Center, to explore grief in all its forms — not just death, but displacement, illness, violence, and the quiet losses that reshape families.
Jocelyn shares her journey from bilingual services coordinator to leading one of Austin’s most impactful grief support organizations. The conversation moves beyond textbook definitions of grief and into lived realities — supporti...
30: “If Only I Had…” — Living With the Loop of Regret (Part 2)
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Episode 30: “If Only I Had…” — Living With the Loop of Regret (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our conversation on regret, Jamal and David move from awareness to release. Many widowers quietly believe that suffering proves love — that carrying guilt forever somehow honors their wife. But what if that belief is the very thing keeping you stuck? In this episode, we challenge the idea that love requires lifelong punishment and offer a different frame: love asks for remembrance, integrity, and living forward well — not endless self-inflicted pain.
We also share practi...
29: “If Only I Had…” — Living With the Loop of Regret (Part 1)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 29: “If Only I Had…” — Living With the Loop of Regret (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this raw and reflective conversation, Jamal and David open up about one of the hardest truths many widowers face: regret. The kind that creeps in with the silence — “If only I had noticed sooner… said more… done it differently…” The kind that loops in your mind at night and whispers that you failed.
They explore why regret feels so personal, how grief distorts me...
28: What Must Be Carried (Pt. 2 ) w/ Whitney Lyn Allen
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 28: What Must Be Carried (Pt. 2 ) w/ Whitney Lyn Allen
In this second half of our conversation with grief coach and author Whitney Lyn Allen, we explore the deep complexities of what it means to truly move forward. Whitney opens up about the delicate balance she now lives — raising two young boys, coaching others through loss, writing, speaking publicly, and creating space for her own healing… all while building a new life after remarrying.
We...
27: What Must Be Carried (Pt. 1 ) w/ Whitney Lyn Allen
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 27: What Must Be Carried (Pt. 1 ) w/ Whitney Lyn Allen
In this deeply personal conversation, we sit down with Whitney Lyn Allen—grief coach, attorney, author, and widow—to talk about the life she built with her late husband Ryan, and how she’s navigated life after his sudden passing from a rare reaction to a bee sting. In Part 1 of our two-part series, Whitney shares her early life influences, her path into law, and the lov...
26: The Cost of the Craft with Russell Hornsby (Part 2)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 26: The Cost of the Craft with Russell Hornsby
In Part 2 of our powerful conversation with actor Russell Hornsby, we move from personal loss to professional sacrifice—and how they’re more connected than people think. Fresh off filming two back-to-back movies in Atlanta, Russell talks with Jamal and Dave about what it means to be away from your family for weeks at a time, over and over again, in the name of art, legacy, and l...
25: Black Men, Cancer, and the Fight for Our Lives @ Clark Atlanta University
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 25: Black Men, Cancer, and the Fight for Our Lives
In this special episode, Jamal and David head to Clark Atlanta University to sit down with researchers, doctors, and survivors at the frontlines of cancer care and advocacy. From pioneering lab discoveries to deeply personal stories of survival, this episode connects science with the soul.
We talked to Dr. Jaideep Chaudhary and his team of faculty experts about why Black men face a higher risk f...
24: A New Year. A New You.
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 24: A New Year. A New You.
It’s 2026—and for those of us navigating life after loss, the new year can feel less like a reset and more like a reckoning. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on entering a fresh calendar year while still carrying the weight of grief, change, and growth. Together, they talk about what it really means to move forward, not move on.
They share what’s worked for them: creating small ri...
23: When the Job Is Gone, Who Are You? with Degion Craddock
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 23: When the Job Is Gone, Who Are You? with Degion Craddock
In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with marketing pro and former Dell colleague Degion Craddock—a talented, driven brother who found himself suddenly laid off and in unfamiliar territory. Degion opens up about what it’s been like to face rejection after rejection, redefine his value outside of a job title, and fight through the quiet mental toll of long-term unemployment.
This isn’t just...
22: For the People - A Conversation with our Community
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 22: For the People - A Conversation with our Community
In this episode, Jamal and Dave step back from the mic to reflect on the journey so far—and to respond to you, the Getting Back Up community. Since launching, we’ve received love, critique, DMs, and real talk from people across the country. And today, we’re talking about it all.
What’s landed. What we missed. What surprised us. And why your feedback—every bit o...
21: A Son’s Reflection on Love, Loss, and Legacy with Russell Hornsby (Part 1)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 21: A Son’s Reflection on Love, Loss, & Legacy with Russell Hornsby (Part 1)
In this deeply personal conversation, Jamal and David sit down with acclaimed actor Russell Hornsby to talk about the kind of loss that doesn’t always make headlines—but leaves a lifelong imprint. Known for his roles in Fences, Grimm, The Hate U Give, BMF, and many more plays, movies, and tv shows, Russell opens up about him and his brother, Jonevan, losing their mother...
A Thanksgiving Break
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Going into Thanksgiving and somewhat taking a break.
We are thankful to our fans and listeners and grateful for this community.
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over mu...
20. Children and Grief with Kelly Medvin (LPC)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 20: Children and Grief with Kelly Medvin (LPC)
In this episode, Jamal and Dave sit down with Kelly Medvin, a licensed professional counselor from New Jersey whose work with grieving families began with her own story—losing her sister suddenly and stepping in to support her young nieces and nephews through unimaginable pain. That personal loss became the foundation for a career dedicated to helping children process grief in ways that are honest, age-appropriate, and rooted in emo...
19: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 2)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 19: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 2)
In Part 2 of thier powerful conversation, Melody opens up about the final chapter of her husband’s life—the caregiving, the chaos, the clarity, and the quiet moments in between.
This episode goes deeper into how they managed their marriage, family, and friendships while facing the unimaginable. David and Jamal accompany Melody as she shares what it meant to love him through his final days, how they...
18: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 1)
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 18: Life After Loss w/ Melody Rollins Downes (Part 1)
In this episode, Jamal and David sit down with Melody Rollins Downes, a close friend, mother, and widow, to explore the full story—not just the moment of loss, but the life that came before it. Melody opens up about her childhood, her marriage, and what it meant to love deeply—and then lose suddenly.
She reflects on how grief shaped her—but didn’t define her—and w...
17: The Holidays After Loss
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 17: The Holidays After Loss
For anyone grieving, the holiday season doesn’t just bring lights and cheer—it brings shadows, silence, and reminders of what (and who) is missing. In this episode, Jamal and Dave get real about what it’s like to face your first holiday after losing someone you love—and every holiday after that.
Through personal stories of their first holidays post-loss, from potlucks that kept grief company to traditions that found new...
16.5: Time Out - Still Getting Back Up
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 16.5: Time Out - Still Getting Back Up
Ten episodes later, we’ve gone from the first morning alone to parenting through pain, rediscovering purpose, and opening our hearts to what comes next.
In this reflection episode, Jamal and Dave look back at where they’ve been—from telling the kids, facing funerals, and handling solo parenting, to navigating new love. They share the lessons that stuck, the moments that surprised them, and how they’re contin...
16. New Love on the Horizon
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 16: New Love On the Horizon
Falling in love again after loss is layered. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on what it means to move forward while still honoring the past. Jamal shares how his connection with Jordan grew organically—through friendship, life experiences, and timing—and how stepping into a new relationship challenged him to lead with honesty, emotional clarity, and self-awareness. Dave offers a different but equally real perspective—on choosing not to move fo...
15. The DadMom - Taking Over the Solos
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 15: The DadMom - Taking Over the Solos
Being a solo parent after loss isn’t just about logistics—it’s about stepping into the spotlight when the lead singer of the band is gone. In this episode, Jamal and Dave reflect on what it means to go from backup to front man when raising kids in the aftermath of losing their mothers.
Then, in classic GBU fashion, they flip the script with the funny—and unexpe...
14. Dating again: What we learned. What you should know.
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 14: Dating again: What we learned. What you should know.
Dating after loss is a different kind of game—and the playbook isn’t exactly handed to you. You’ve changed. The world has changed. And when it comes to love after grief… nobody teaches you how to try again.
In this episode, Jamal and David lay out the dating truths they learned the hard way, and the tips they wish someone had told them before stepping back into the world...
13. We were ready to date. Or were we?
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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 13: We were ready to date...Or were we?
In this episode, Jamal and Dave talk about what it was like to start dating after months of loneliness. After all, they were single fathers trying to focus on their kids, also realizing that there was something missing. Besides the pressure to meet everyone else’s expectations, they had their own.
Episode 13 covers some of the dating experiences, what they were looking for (so they thought), and how the he...
