"When a friend passes away, you often question—what was our relationship? Do I own this grief? Were we actually as close as I think? But grief doesn't work like that. The love was real, and so is the loss."

In this episode of Grief'd Up, host Rebecca Feinglos engages in a heartfelt conversation with Hannah Rumsey, a writer, performer, and podcaster based in Chicago. After the unexpected death of her close friend Lauren in 2015, Hannah has turned her grief into art, creating a one-woman show and hosting the podcast Friends Missing Friends, where she explores the often overlooked grief of losing a friend. Together, they delve into the complexities of friendship and grief, discussing how societal norms can invalidate the depth of platonic love and the unique challenges faced when mourning a friend.

When Hannah’s best friend died unexpectedly, she looked for help. Friends, family, mental health professionals could only go so far. She started an exhaustive search for friend loss support and found…nothing. Friend grief, like all grief, is a lifelong process yet there are scant resources for those who truly understand the impact of losing a trusted friend. Friend loss is neither family or romantic loss and thus isn’t always given the same level of attention and understand that blood or partner loss does. After getting repeated messages (from herself) to do something and raise awareness about friend loss Hannah started the Friends Missing Friends podcast. The community of grievers now has a home.