Sam Was Here: Losing My Son to Addiction

About Sam Was Here: Losing My Son to Addiction

In 2022, more that 107,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses, my son Sam was one of them. I am Angie and too many of us parents are suffering alone. This podcast is about processing Sam’s life, addiction, and death. To share what I have experienced, learned, and my attempt to keep living with courage and joy.

Publisher

Angie Kennedy

Category

health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

24 Mar 2023

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

66 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   #65 Sam's Death is Always the Main Thing: It Never Gets Easy But it Can Become More Manageable

   Sam's death has changed my perspective on every other aspect of my life.    With the exception of any significant problems my 3 living children may be dealing with, issues that used to seem big to me now seem almost meaningless. Things I used to care about barely make me flinch anymore.  And, if I find myself getting too immersed in something, I often realize that when it comes down to it, I just don't care as much as I thought I did. I have evolved in my grief to find happiness and a new richness in my life but in truth, my grief hasn't softened or lightened.   Not in the least.   In reality, it has only become more manageable.

2. 

   27 Apr 2026

   #64 The Trauma of a Child's Death: You Can Never Unsee Another Parent's Pain

   Watching other Parent's grieve a lost child is even more painful after losing my own.  This episode is a reflection of the beginning and also a discussion of what helped me in the beginning and an acknowledgement of how my own life has changed. Unfortunately, I had some recording errors and had to republish this episode, no intro on this one!  Thank you for listening.

3. 

   9 Feb 2026

   #63: New Window, New Light: Being Willing to Let Parts of My Story Take Up Less Space in My Life

   I have found that I haven't known what is going to help me move forward in my grief until it does.   Much of my healing comes in retrospect:  This worked, that didn't, and so on. Six months before Sam died, he broke into my home by smashing out one of my windows and crawling through.    I put a piece of styrofoam in that window and kept it that way for nearly 4 years.   Something held me back from fixing it.   I chided myself for being lazy and procrastinating, but I just wasn't ready. This past week, I finally had it replaced and I learned more about what was holding me back and how fixing it is helping me move forward. I don't intend to let go of any part of Sam's story, every single moment was part of his experience.  However,  I now understand how I am able let some of my darkest moments become smaller by taking steps forward in my own life.💕

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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