The Stacks of Life began as long‑distance conversations between three friends after the suicide of one of their spouses. What started as a way to stay connected became a space to unpack the emotional stacks women carry—loss, reinvention, love, identity, and the messy middle of life.
Blending honest storytelling, lived experience, compassionate support, and plenty of giggles, Allie, Jessica, and Allison invite listeners to find themselves in these conversations, explore their own stacks, and embrace how our stacks become our stories.
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Allison from Georgia with her besties, Jessica and Allie from Colorado
This week, we're unpacking some of life's heavier stacks: therapy, divorce, co-parenting, and the work of figuring out who we are on the other side of hard things. Allie talks candidly about acceptance, resentment, healing old wounds, and the challenge of letting our children have their own feelings and experiences without trying to carry them for them.
As the conversation unfolds, we share what we've learned, what we're still learning, and why therapy can be one of the greatest gifts we give ourselves. Along the way, we revisit our own younger years, laugh about the things we were doing in our 20's instead of hanging out with our parents!
Of course, it wouldn't be Stacks of Life without a few unexpected detours. Jessica shares her health updates and travel mishaps and her hilarious SEC football trip to Athens to see Allison and the UGA Dawgs play Oklahoma! We poke fun at Jessica and her husband for their entertaining relationships with AI, with stories that will have you nodding in agreement and laughing right along with us.
At its heart, this episode is about showing up for yourself and the people you love, finding humor in the chaos, and remembering that none of us has life completely figured out. We're all just carrying our stacks the best we can, one story at a time.
23 Oct 2026
S2/Ep1-Back with the Stacks!
We're back for Season 2, and before diving into what's ahead, we're taking a look back at a summer that brought plenty of surprises, challenges, and stories worth sharing.
Jessica catches us up on her recovery journey after a double mastectomy in July and the lessons she's learned along the way. Meanwhile, Allie somehow got an entirely new puppy this summer, and despite discussing it multiple times, we're still shocked every time she mentions it. Honestly, we're starting to wonder if the dog is real.
Allison shares the story behind a recent blog post about the house painter who showed up after her husband's death and ended up sharing his own experience with suicide loss. What started as a conversation about paint colors turned into an unexpected moment of connection and perspective. Thankfully, he also talked her out of painting every wall a different color and convinced her to embrace the calming powers of Agreeable Gray.Allison's Blog-Agreeable Gray (https://comfortfoodandthedyingpart.blog/2026/09/12/agreeable-gray/)
If you're new here, welcome. If you've been with us from the beginning, thanks for hanging in there through all the twists, turns, midlife plot twists, and our very amateur podcasting skills. Grab your walking shoes or jump in the car and join us for a Summer Rewind.
29 Sept 2026
S1/Ep10-Bonus Stack-Launching Kidults These Days
In this bonus episode, Allison and her Besties from the Westies dive into the wild world of launching kidults — those freshly minted young adults who are technically grown but still calling home to ask how insurance works. Inspired by a podcast and book they all passed around during graduation season, the girls talk through what it really takes to start a career today.
Their reflections send them straight into their own humble beginnings: Allison's summer camp hustle, Jessica's days selling flip phones like it was high‑tech wizardry, and Allie's unforgettable stint as a cross‑eyed local news anchor. Each story is a reminder that careers rarely start glamorous — but they always start somewhere.
Anyone helping a kidult step into the workforce will laugh, nod, and maybe even cringe along with this relatable, nostalgic stack. It’s a perfect bonus track to close out Season 1 with humor, heart, and a whole lot of “we survived it, so they will too.”
29 Sept 2026
S1/Ep10-Bonus Stack-Launching the Kidults these Days
In this bonus episode, Allison and her Besties from the Westies dive into the wild world of launching kidults — those freshly minted young adults who are technically grown but still calling home to ask how insurance works. Inspired by a podcast and book they all passed around during graduation season, the girls talk through what it really takes to start a career today.
Their reflections send them straight into their own humble beginnings: Allison's summer camp hustle, Jessica's days selling flip phones like it was high‑tech wizardry, and Allie's unforgettable stint as a cross‑eyed local news anchor. Each story is a reminder that careers rarely start glamorous — but they always start somewhere.
Anyone helping a kidult step into the workforce will laugh, nod, and maybe even cringe along with this relatable, nostalgic stack. It’s a perfect bonus track to close out Season 1 with humor, heart, and a whole lot of “we survived it, so they will too.”
23 Sept 2026
S1/Ep9- Obviously it's a Worm
In this season‑ending episode, Allison, Jessica, and Allie show up exactly as they are — messy, honest, exhausted, hopeful, and still laughing through the hard parts. Jessica shares a raw update on her mastectomy setbacks and the impossible juggle of healing while still being the emotional center of her household. Allie admits she’s finally seeing a therapist and talks through the resistance she felt about opening up to her. She also kicks off the episode with a dramatic declaration that she might have a worm because she keeps getting sick — which, naturally, sounds about right. And Allison opens up about the deep loneliness of widowhood, including the cringe‑but‑relatable moments of reaching for connection in ways she wishes she didn’t. It’s vulnerable, it’s human, and it’s the kind of conversation only decades‑long friendship can hold. As the final full episode of Season 1, this one lands with heart, humor, and the reminder that reinvention in midlife is never tidy — but it’s always better when you don’t have to do it alone.
17 Sept 2026
S1/Ep8-Reinvention with a Plot Twist
This two‑part conversation explores Jessica’s reinvention — the kind that begins quietly, with a woman looking at her body after weight loss and wondering what it might feel like to finally see herself clearly. In this conversation from March, she opens up about the desire for a full body makeover, the deeper motivations beneath it, and the complicated relationship so many women have with their reflection. This episode concludes with a plot twist! Fast forward to July 2026 and everything changed with the results from her genetic testing for breast cancer.
14 Sept 2026
S1/Ep7-Surprises from the Easter Bunny
Today’s episode, Surprises from the Easter Bunny, brings together two stories that landed in our laps this past Easter — the kind you don’t see coming, but you feel all the way down. Jessica opens up about the parenting challenges of raising a gay young daughter and the delicate balance she tried to hold during an important Easter conversation with the couple. Allison throws in some free therapy breadcrumbs about setting boundaries around managing her kidult's sibling relationships. And Allie shares some eye‑opening moments of her own, navigating boundaries with an ex‑husband whose new dating life has gotten a little too close to home. It’s honest, tender, and full of the surprises for their Stacks of Life.
8 Sept 2026
S1/Ep6-Udderlessly Dating
Welcome back to the Stacks of Life! In this episode, Allison opens up about dating in widowhood — the nerves, the hope, and the awkward moments that come with starting again. She shares the story of showing up to a St. Patrick’s Day party dressed as Lucky the Leprechaun and unexpectedly running into the guy who bailed before their first date. Allie and Jessica offer empathy, humor, and grounded advice, reminding her that embarrassment fades and connection grows when you don’t walk the journey alone.
31 Aug 2026
S1/Ep 5- And Then the Dog Died
This episode brings together grief, boundaries, co‑parenting after divorce, Mother’s Day sweetness, and the midlife chaos that somehow becomes comedy when Jessica, Allie, and Allison are together!
Allie opens up about the heartbreaking decision to put her dog to sleep, the emotional ripple effects with her ex, and the moment she protected her peace by saying no to a family dinner she didn’t want to attend. What unfolds is a grounded, honest conversation about boundaries — why kindness doesn’t mean over‑giving, why adult kids struggle with changing family dynamics, and how grief and guilt show up in a post‑divorce system.
Then things lighten up with a funny detour into Allison’s birthday gift gone wrong: on steroids. The trio also shares a tender Mother’s Day chat, celebrating the small rituals — including Krispy Kreme donuts — that make the day feel special.
A relatable, heartfelt episode for anyone navigating divorce, shifting family roles, grief, or the slow, steady work of becoming a more boundaried version of yourself.
24 Aug 2026
S1/Ep4-February Blues and other Sweetheart Stories
on this episode 4, Allison and her Besties from the Westies — Jessica and Allie — sit down for a February 2026 conversation full of midlife humor, honesty, and some Valentines giggles. Jessica shares how a simple Sadie Hawkins dance invite in high school sparked a lifelong friendship with Allison, while Allison opens up about her single‑gal adventures and the widowhood overthinking that tends to follow her.
Allie talks through the anxiety of adjusting to life after divorce — especially the nerves that come with seeing her ex-husband at family events — and she gets a gentle pep talk about protecting her peace.
A funny blooper midway reminds everyone that the trio is still learning how podcasting works and laughing through it. A warm, real, relatable catch‑up from the women who make us feel at home in their Stacks of Life.
21 Aug 2026
S1/Ep3-Don't mess with Weeza
This episode is a Stacks chat from April 2026 where Allie opens up about the real-life juggle of coordinating care for her aging mom and navigating that with siblings. Allison brings in her big-picture blog post this month using a NASA‑meets‑wallpaper analogy to make sense of midlife’s zoom‑in/zoom‑out moments. And the three of you end up laughing about your Instagram feeds, now overflowing with beavers and otters having birthday parties. It’s honest, tender, and silly — classic Stacks of Life stuff.
20 Aug 2026
S1/Ep1-Our Stacks of Life Origin Story
In this origin‑story episode, Allison and her two Besties from the Westies — Jessica and Allie — talk about how their friendship carried them into podcasting after the loss of Allison’s parents and, soon after, her husband. This episode includes discussion of suicide.
Together, they explore how humor, connection, and honest storytelling became a path toward healing and reinvention. Each woman brings her own midlife story — marriage, divorce, parenting young adults, and widowhood — creating the foundation for The Stacks of Life.
19 Aug 2026
S1/Ep2-The Year of the Stacks
Recorded in January 2026, this Stacks episode dives into vision boards, midlife glow‑ups, and the thrill of rebuilding a wardrobe after weight loss. They get real about holidays after divorce — the good, the hard, and the unexpectedly funny — and share the stories that keep them laughing, including their dramatic fear of port‑a‑potties. It’s an episode about reinvention, humor, and claiming the New Year with intention. This is the YEAR OF THE STACKS for Allison, Jessica, and Allie!
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