Ep. 91: Ashley Jones - What The Loss of My Daughter Taught Me About Love

Dear Life with Christina Rasmussen

On today’s episode, I’m happy to introduce you to Ashley Jones, the founder of the Love Not Lost Foundation. Ashley shares with us her incredible story of what it was like to lose a very young child to a terminal illness, and how that experience changed her forever, in ways that she did not expect. The way that she describes how her love for her daughter Skylar now has no boundaries and has expanded out into the world is so beautiful and inspiring.

What she experienced personally, and also as she began to support others, is that the old definition of grief and the language we use to talk about death and loss are not actually very helpful. In an effort to revolutionize grief and how we support those that are grieving, she created the Love Not Lost Foundation.

During this conversation, Ashley shares her own experience of grief and how she has reentered this new life. She realized that no one had taught her how to grieve or given her any realistic expectation of what it would actually feel like. She felt that there are no clearly defined stages of grief, but that it is a fluid and ever changing experience that shifts with us throughout our lives.

We speak about how the old model of grief shows up in the workplace and with our family and friends. Things like getting creative with how managers support employees who are experiencing loss, the importance of language and the words we say and things we do trying to support people but often creating more pain or a feeling of dismissal. If you are a manager or CEO in a company, I encourage you to listen to this episode, or share it with someone that is.

“So often we see death as the enemy, but the enemy is actually disconnection. We want to disconnect from ourselves and each other in our grief, but really that’s the opposite of what we should be doing.” ~ Ashley Jones

Ashley also speaks about what led her to begin offering portrait sessions to families experiencing a terminal diagnosis, and how that evolved into creating an entire non-profit organization that now supports both families that are grieving and also those that want to offer help and love but may not know how.

In this last year, we have all experienced various levels of loss and trauma and it’s important for us to support each other where we’re able and to ensure that the ways in which we attempt to provide support actually has the impact we are hoping for. There is a bigger need than ever for workplaces and organizations to remember the humanness of their employees and to acknowledge what people are going through.

Ashley wants everyone to know that grief is a very unique and specific experience for each of us. I’d love to hear what you take away from this conversation and what you think about how Ashley is redefining how we grieve and support those in grief as well. Comment below or share with me on social media! Please share it with your friends and family, and be sure to tag me if you share it on social media so that I can say thank you. I’m @christinarasmussen7 on Instagram and @ChristinaRasmussen2014 on Facebook.

More About Ashley Jones

Ashley Jones is a friend of grief and an ambassador of love. Her experience losing her only daughter to a terminal illness led her to create Love Not Lost: a nonprofit on a mission to revolutionize the way we heal in grief. Ashley has dedicated the rest of her life to helping people heal and become whole, healthy humans.

You can connect with her via her website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Things We Mention In This Episode

• Website: Love Not Lost Foundation
• Grief and Empathy Tools: Support Toolbox
• Website: How can I love you better?
• The Heart Beat: Monthly giving program
• Ashley’s TEDx Talk: How to Heal In Grief
• Dear Life Podcast: Episode 87 with Jamie Butler
• Book: Where Did You Go? by Christina Rasmussen
• Book: Second Firsts by Christina Rasmussen

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