Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom

About Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom

When pediatrician mom of three, Marcy Larson's 14 yo son, Andy, was killed in a car accident in 2018, she felt like her life was over. In many ways, that life was over, and a new one forced to begin in its place. Come alongside her as she works through this journey of healing. She discusses grief and child loss with other grieving parents and those who work to help them in their grief. This podcast is for grieving parents and well as those who support them.

Publisher

Marcy Larson, MD

Category

health & fitness · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 Aug 2019

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

59 of 576 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Episode 370: Ready - Matthew's Mom

   For six years, Deborah carried this alone. Not entirely by choice. Just by circumstance, by distance, by the particular kind of grief that comes when your child dies as an adult with his own family, his own home, his own life four hundred miles away. The grief that sometimes gets treated as secondary. The grief that nobody quite knows what to do with. Matthew was Deborah's only son, born with powder blue eyes so big and beautiful that the year E.T. came out, people started calling him that. He grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, became a tractor man through and through, and opened his own business, Cotton Tractor Repair, servicing three counties. He married Erin, had two boys, and was the kind of dad who made their breakfast, took them to school, and had them at the shop every day playing with toy tools. He waved to absolutely everyone when he drove through town. He called his mother Mommy well into adulthood and signed every card that way. He died on July 26th, 2020, three days before his 38th birthday, in an ATV accident on a country road. As he was being loaded into a helicopter, he said a few words. They were these: tell mom and dad I love them. What followed were six years of complicated grief. She was never told the full details of what happened to Matthew — people wanted to protect her, and she understood that, even as she ached to know. She was largely left out of his funeral arrangements, the particular pain of a mother who lived far away. She buried her ex-husband six months later. She flew back a year after Matthew's death to help care for her grandsons when Erin was seriously injured in a car accident. Through all of it, she put herself in the backseat. Through all of it, she kept going. And through all of it, she carried Bear. A stuffed Rottweiler dressed in Matthew's t-shirt and bandana, named for the big gentle dog Matthew kept at his shop. Bear has been to Ireland and Scotland. Wherever Deborah goes, Bear goes. Six years in, her grandsons are doing well. And for the first time, Deborah says she is giving herself permission to do her own grief work. She found this podcast two months ago, listened to over a hundred episodes, and found people who understood what she was carrying. She found her tribe. And she is finally ready to be in it.

2. 

   8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 369: Get Into the Pit - Max's Mom

   Erin Blechman shares her profound journey of grief and understanding, revealing how she learned to "get into the pit" with her son Max instead of trying to pull him out, offering a vital lesson for all grieving parents.

3. 

   1 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 368: You Are Doing a Good Job

   Gwen and the host explore how losing a child profoundly reshapes parenting, revealing the extraordinary strength of grieving parents who continue to love and care for their living children amidst immense sorrow.

Inside a recent episode

Episode 369: Get Into the Pit - Max's Mom

Published 8 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So then I started offering these periodic webinars and. So I would have somebody, some subject matter expert, come on and talk about grief from a different viewpoint. So the very first one I did, it was by a thanatologist. You mentioned your friend who's a thanatologist. I didn't even know what that word meant. I didn't know anything about that field prior to losing Max. And she came on and talked about the neurobiology of our grieving brain. And it was absolutely fascinating because, again, we think we're going crazy. We think we're losing our minds when we're grieving because we do kind of odd things and think odd thoughts. […]

Who has been a guest on Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Erin
• Wendy
• Celeste
• Hannes
• Danielle

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

145 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

44 ratings

Questions about Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom