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Some losses you never "get over." You just learn to carry them differently. My friend Michael Blackshire knows this better than most.

🎙️ IN THIS EPISODE:

Michael Blackshire is a special education teacher in Dallas, a Grambling State graduate, military veteran, and one of my longtime friends. We met back in 2011 at Grambling, went through the military together, and built a friendship that's lasted over a decade. In 2017, Michael lost his daughter Leighton to SIDS at 6 months old. His story isn't just about grief it's about the friendships that refused to let him face it alone, and what it looks like when brothers show up for each other in the darkest moments.

💭 WE EXPLORE:

The instant transformation of becoming a father and why Michael needed a daughter first. Waking up to every parent's nightmare: losing Leighton to SIDS. What it's like when investigators walk through your home asking if you're feeding your child while your baby is at the hospital. Why some family members held him to impossible standards while our friend group filled his apartment for months. The difference between coping (alcohol, partying, avoiding) and healing (therapy, sitting in the pain, community). How grief reshapes itself: from "I lost my child" to "What would she be doing now?" Why Black male educators are essential for young Black boys. Moving to New Orleans as a reset and why sometimes you have to leave home to heal. The guilt of living a full life after losing a child. Why therapy became non-negotiable four years after her death.

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