Sheila and Kelsey Jae interview Jessica Fein, author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes. The conversation delves into Jessica's journey of parenting her daughter, Dalia, who suffered from MERRF syndrome—a rare and degenerative mitochondrial disorder—and the impact of losing her to the disease in 2022. Jessica discusses how her profound experiences of grief and resilience, including the losses of her parents and two sisters, shaped her understanding of family and advocacy.

Together, they explore themes of ambiguous grief, the challenges of caregiving, and finding hope amid loss. Jessica also shares insights into the support systems and relationships that sustained her during difficult times. Through these reflections, she brings forward the complex emotional journey of losing loved ones while keeping their memories alive and allowing herself to feel her humanity fully.

Breath Taking is available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Bookshop, and you can find it on Spotify Audiobooks and wherever you get your books. 

To learn more and keep in touch with Jessica, please visit www.jessicafeinstories.com and connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and of course through her podcast “I Don’t Know How You Do It.” 

Please consider leaving us a review on iTunes and Spotify and following us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠! Email your stories, questions, and musings to ⁠talkdeathytome@gmail.com⁠.  

This episode was produced, audio-engineered, and edited by ⁠Chris DiCola⁠.

The original version of this episode was posted on 11/3/24.