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The Truth About How Men Grieve And Why It Needs to Be Heard with Jason Tuttle | 023
Manage episode 499993215 series 3617107
He spent years saving his kids’ lives. Then he lost his son – and found his voice.
Jason Tuttle was in the trenches of parenting in a way most of us can’t imagine. His two children were born with rare, complex medical needs – non-verbal, seizure-prone, and in need of constant care.
Jason became their full-time caregiver, learning to read every cue, every silence, and navigating hospital stays with the precision of a NASCAR pit crew.
Then, in 2022, Jason faced the unimaginable – the sudden loss of his 15-year-old son, Zachary. What happened next? Instead of retreating, Jason sat down, wrote a letter, and hit “send.” That letter became Letters to Zachary, now a global grief community helping men (and anyone who grieves) find a voice for their pain.
In this powerful conversation, Jason talks about fatherhood, identity, grief, and the raw, unedited truth of what it means to love and lose – and to find purpose on the other side.
Quote:
“I didn’t want to sugarcoat grief. I wanted people to see it – sharp edges and all.”
Guest Links:
👉 Website: letterstozachary.com
👉 Instagram & TikTok: @letterstozachary2022
👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Letters-to-Zachary
👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-tuttle-4264112a7/
👉 Grief Coloring Book: available via his website
Chapters
1. Becoming a full-time caregiver – raising two children with complex medical needs (00:00:00)
2. Therapy, grief, and the journaling suggestion that changed everything (00:03:24)
3. Ugly crying, Facebook reels, and writing the first letter to Zachary (00:05:00)
4. Sharing the letter – a risky click and a life-changing response (00:07:16)
5. Raw grief, F-bombs, and writing without apology (00:08:54)
6. Non-verbal parenting – learning to read his kids like a language (00:12:30)
7. When both kids have seizures – the hidden curveballs of rare conditions (00:14:31)
8. Losing Zachary – the shock, the silence, and the identity crisis that followed (00:20:42)
9. Letters to Zachary – from personal outlet to global grief community (00:22:57)
10. Why men grieve differently – and what most people get wrong (00:25:06)
11. Happy wife, happy life” – and how men feel unseen in grief (00:28:09)
12. Compartmentalizing pain – what happens when men don’t have outlets (00:32:58)
13. How grief shows up – physically, emotionally, and in risky behavior (00:35:30)
14. The grief train analogy – and learning to walk through the tunnels (00:37:08)
15. Advice for the grieving – journaling, speaking, and letting it out (00:40:11)
16. How to connect with Jason and Letters to Zachary (00:43:14)
28 episodes
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