She Lost Her Parents, Her Brother, and Her Son — Then Found Another Way

Casey Mulligan Walsh was just 12 years old when she lost both of her parents within ten months of each other. Suddenly uprooted from the only life she knew, she was sent to live with relatives in upstate New York while her older brother remained behind. Eight years later, her brother died unexpectedly, leaving Casey as the last surviving member of her immediate family. She built a family of her own, determined to create the stability she had lost so young. Then, years later, she experienced the loss every parent fears when her 20-year-old son, Eric, was killed in a car accident.

In this conversation, Casey and Heather look beyond the losses themselves to the ways they shaped everything that followed. Casey reflects on learning as a child not to take up too much space, losing the people who were the “keepers” of her history, and her lifelong instinct to control what she could in a world that had repeatedly shown her how little control we actually have. She also shares who Eric was before his death—the funny, charismatic, adventure-seeking son who made her a mother—and how his spirit continues to influence the life she leads today. Together, Casey and Heather explore the difference between surviving tragedy and eventually finding meaning within it, the possibility of post-traumatic growth, and the belief that when we cannot change what has happened to us, we can still decide what we do with the life that remains. It’s a conversation about unimaginable loss, the people who stay with us, and believing, even in the darkest moments, that there can be another way.

Resources & Ways to Connect

• Casey Mulligan Walsh Website: https://caseymulliganwalsh.com/

• The Full Catastrophe: All I Ever Wanted, Everything I Feared: https://caseymulliganwalsh.com/the-full-catastrophe-all-i-ever-wanted-everything-i-feared/

• Jake’s Help from Heaven Website: http://jakeshelpfromheaven.org/

• Jake’s Help from Heaven Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakeshelp

• Jake’s Help from Heaven Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakeshelp

• APOY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aplaceofyespodcast

• Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersstraughter

• Our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aplaceofyespodcast

• For more of Heather’s writing and thoughts: https://ohheather.substack.com/

• Everything’s Jakey (Substack): https://everythingsjakey.substack.com/