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August 5th, 2025

Is It Too Soon to Love Again? One Widower’s Raw Truth About Grief, Guilt, and Moving On

  1. Is It Too Soon to Love Again? One Widower’s Raw Truth About Grief, Guilt, and Moving On Emily Thiroux Threatt 37:54

If you’ve ever questioned loving again after loss—or felt judged for moving on—episode 358 is for you. Author Tony Stewart shares how he navigated grief after his wife Lynn’s death and the guilt that followed when he began a new relationship, even with her blessing. Through honest reflection, Tony shows how love and loss can coexist—and how healing doesn’t mean forgetting.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

(0:57) A shocking diagnosis that changed everything

(2:30) Living with terminal illness—and with intention

(4:50) Hospice and the beauty in goodbye

(6:30) Grief begins—and it’s not what he expected

(8:40) Finding love again—and the guilt that came with it

(10:40) Grief and love can coexist

(12:50) The power of talking about the person you lost

(20:30) Music, memory, and sudden waves of grief

(27:30) Turning journaling into a lifeline (and a book)

In today’s episode,  I’m joined by Tony Stewart—author, retired educator, and heartfelt storyteller—who shares his powerful journey through love, loss, and renewal. After his wife Lynn was diagnosed with terminal lung Cancer, Tony began chronicling their experience on CaringBridge, a practice that became the foundation for his memoir Carrying the Tiger: Living with Cancer, Dying with Grace, Finding Joy While Grieving. Through his writing and lived experience, Tony offers a moving reflection on Caregiving, grief, and the unexpected path to love again, reminding us that even in sorrow, there can be beauty.

Throughout this episode, Tony brings candid insight and emotional depth as he reflects on Lynn’s diagnosis, the tender challenges of caregiving, and the complexities of mourning while forming a new relationship. He shares how journaling helped him navigate his grief and how community support shaped his healing. With honesty and grace, Tony explores guilt, memory, and resilience, offering comfort and perspective to anyone facing loss.

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Emily Thiroux Threatt Podcast Host, Facilitator, Author

Having gone through the experience of the deaths of so many loved ones, I have learned to face life with love, optimism, and joy.

I have kept journals and written to express myself most of my life which led me to a career of teaching writing and writing books. I naturally turned to writing to help deal with my grief, then I discovered I could use writing to help friends deal with grief, too.

In contemplating how I could best help the grieving people I was working with, my Ignite moment came when realized the importance of helping people understand the importance of happiness and how they could grieve and be happy at the same time.

To share my message, I host the Grief and Happiness podcast, I wrote the book Loving and Living Your Way Though Grief, I facilitate weekly meetings of the Grief and Happiness Alliance, I founded the Grief and Happiness nonprofit foundation, I publish a weekly newsletter and blog, and my new book, The Grief and Happiness Handbook is coming out soon.