If you live long enough, you are bound to experience some level of grief. It’s inevitable. 

So, how can you deal with grief? Betsy Linnell is a clinical counselor who strives each day to come alongside people who are dealing with difficulties. But for Betsy, helping others at a time of immense grief for herself has been difficult. 

Betsy’s pain comes from the final month of walking with her mom (Mama Linnell) through hospice care, and, ultimately, her passing in late May. As painful as the situation was for Betsy and her family, she is thankful for the lessons her mom taught her throughout her life and for the opportunity to walk the final steps with her mom. 

One way Betsy chose to deal with her mom’s passing was to record today’s podcast and share the program with her mom, just a week or two before her passing. Betsy wanted her mom to hear the program and benefit from the conversation. At the end of her listening to the program, “Mama Linnell” gave two thumbs up in approval.    

And, some of these lessons will never leave Betsy — both figuratively and physically. You see, in the final month of life of “Mama Linnell,” Betsy made sure she would never forget her mom’s wisdom to “just breathe,” a statement taught decades ago. 

For it was during some difficult times for young Betsy that her mom encouraged her to keep on moving forward and “just breathe.” Today, Betsy has the phrase tattooed on her forearm in her mother’s handwriting. So, whenever Betsy finds herself in a difficult situation, or grief, she is reminded by her mom to “just breathe.” 

Today, Betsy is breathing comfortably knowing her mom is with Jesus.