186: Travis had a son with asthma

What Was That Like - a storytelling podcast with amazing stories from real people

There’s a phrase that’s very common in certain situations.

“Sorry for your loss”

We hear it at funerals, we see it in sympathy cards, we might even read it in an email or a text message.

It’s kind of just the standard line that people say to those who are grieving after a close friend or a loved one passes away. It doesn’t really take away any of the pain, but it let’s them know that they’re supported and loved.

But when it’s a parent mourning the loss of a child, saying “sorry for your loss” seems terribly inadequate. The pain and the heartache is just too big. It’s overwhelming. Suffocating. That commonly used phrase just falls way short, when the pain of the parent is so massive.

That’s how Travis felt when his teenage son, Brandon, passed away after having an asthma attack.

We’ve had multiple episodes with a parent talking about the loss of a child, but Travis was the first one. This is a Flashback episode. And in the update conversation after the story, Travis told me that now they aren’t completely convinced that it was asthma that took Brandon.

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/186

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

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