In 1990, during a severe asthma attack, I drove my three little girls through a whiteout to the hospital, with my five-year-old holding my hand and coaching my breathing the whole way. Then I died. In this episode I share what I saw, the voice that told me my job wasn't done, and the promise about two little boys who hadn't been born yet. If you're struggling right now, this one is for you. Your job isn't done either.

If you need someone to talk to, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

For years, chronic asthma kept me in and out of the hospital, so sure I'd die that I started writing a book for my kids. This is the story of the doctor who finally listened, the clinical trial that could have killed me, and ten years of breathing free.

Life doesn't warn you before it changes. Penny shares the day she broke her arm outside the courthouse, a customer facing a terminal diagnosis who needed peace of mind for her dog, and a friend struggling to speak up about something hard. Stories about perspective, grace, and getting through it.

Five real stories of pet owners who walked out of the vet's office feeling unheard — a cat matted into a painful shell, a misdiagnosed allergy, a year-long mystery, and a family not ready to say goodbye. This episode is about more than pets — it's about what to do when you're not being met where you are, and how to ask for what you actually need.

Plus: what you can actually do about it.

A Podcast segment on relationship endings and why they get so ugly

We've gotten used to calling everything "anxiety" that we've stopped noticing what's actually exhaustion. This episode pulls those two apart, what real burnout feels in the body, why it gets mislabeled, and what actually helps. (not another coping strategy.) If you've been white knuckling through your days and calling it stress, this one is for you.

Adults ask kids “are you okay?” all the time. But that question only measures the room a kid is standing in in right now, not the life they go home to.

In this episode, I walk through the people who tried to reach me as a kid, and none of them ever got the real answer, because I wasn’t asked the right question. This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about the kids out there right now, waiting for someone to ask them the right one.

if this episode brings up anything for you, as a kid who experienced this, or as an adult who’s worried about about a child in your life, you don’t have to sit with it alone:

childhelp national child abuse hotline 1-800-422-4453

988 suicide & crisis lifeline at any age

As always, I’dlove to hear from you. Not what happened to you, it’s hard to relive it through talking sometimes, but how you got through it and continue to get through it. What small steps helped. What’s still helping. Write to me anytime: “nomorewallpaperpodcast@gmail.com

There was a time I couldn't look in the mirror without hating who I saw. Not because of how I looked but because of who I convinced myself who I was .I talk about the years I spent believing my pain defined me. The small unglamorous moments that helped me claw my way back out. This isn't a story about staying in pain- it's about what came after.

If you're struggling the 988 suicide & crisis lifeline is free and available 24/7- call, text or call 988. And if this episode meant something to you, I'd love to hear your story at "nomorewallpaperpodcast@gmail.com."

Introduction