An absolute MUST for surviving siblings and anyone who knows someone who has lost a sibling

Maya’s podcast is a game changer for people, like myself, who have lost a sibling. There are so many resources (books, articles, conversations, podcasts, information of any kind really) about so many types of loss: child loss, spousal loss, parent loss, pet loss…but sibling loss? It’s sparse at best. There’s a good reason surviving siblings are called the forgotten mourners. When someone loses their life, the focus immediately shifts to the parents or the spouse or the child(ren) who have just lost that person. But that person often has siblings who also left behind when they pass. Sibling loss is brutal. Siblings are the only people we know from basically day 1 who we expect to know, and have in our lives, all the way to the end, and when we lose one- we lose a piece of our identity. Who are we without our older/younger/twin brother or sister? We don’t just lose our sibling; in that moment, we lose our family as each surviving family member is fractured, grieving, and processing differently- nobody is ever the same.
There just isn’t enough out there in the world to support and validate the surviving siblings, our loss, and our experience. A giant thank you to Maya for bringing light to this loss, for sharing so much of herself so openly and vulnerably, and for reminding all of us that we aren’t in this journey alone. Cannot wait for the rest of season 2 to hear from more of my fellow sibling losers/surviving siblings!
Oh and Happy Birthday to Maya and to her little brother, Andreas ❤️