Sometimes when I walk along the river, I like to listen to a podcast. The topic varies, but this week I wanted to try something new. A brief search of trending podcasts led to Anderson Cooper’s inaugural episode of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper.” First, a few words about my “relationship” with Anderson Cooper.

Whenever an important news story breaks, especially one that feels like a punch to the gut, I turn to Anderson Cooper. Something about him comforts me, helps me believe that no matter how devastating the news, somehow we’ll get through it together. Over the years, we’ve shared any number of school shootings, a pandemic, an insurrection.

Anderson is a journalist, yes, but he strikes me as exceptionally human. He has known tragedy and loss in his own life, the death of his dad while he was a young adolescent, the suicide of his brother Carter, and most recently, the passing of his infamous mom, Gloria Vanderbilt.

The content of the podcast’s only episode is this, “Alone in his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt’s apartment, Anderson begins recording his thoughts and memories as he packs up her things.”

Have you ever lost someone you love? Loss is universal, and as we age into this season of life, it sadly becomes more frequent. Anderson Cooper so poignantly sheds light on his personal journey of loss, which touched my heart in my own spaces of love and loss. If you have 33 minutes, you may want to listen here.

May we hold each other’s hearts tenderly through times of love and loss…

Until next time,

~Rosemary