Content note: This episode includes candid discussion of traumatic loss, suicide, and grief.
In this final Hope Comes to Visit episode of 2025, I sit down with award-winning Texas author, grief educator, and podcaster Theo Boyd.
Every story has a turning point and she joins me to talk about hers…including her new USA TODAY bestselling book Hope All the Way—and the life behind it. Theo shares the day everything changed: her mother’s tragic death in a farm accident, the unraveling of her marriage, the sudden loss of her counselor, and—three years later—her father’s suicide. Through it all, Theo kept writing, first in private journals, then in two books: My Grief Is Not Like Yours and now Hope All the Way.
We talk about the “black paint” of early grief and the tiny chips of light that follow. Theo opens up about the signs that kept showing up (from song lyrics to butterflies), the in-depth grief study she commissioned to ground the conversation in data, and why so many grievers simply want to be heard. She offers gentle practices—honor where you are, open your eyes to what helps, permit yourself to do less, and remember to enjoy what’s still here.
If you’re on the tar-side of grief or walking with someone who is, this conversation is both a steady hand and a soft place to land.
Guest: thinktheo.com
You can connect with Theo at info@thinktheo.com
Books: Hope All the Way; My Grief Is Not Like Yours (both also on Audible, narrated by Theo)
Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this conversation helps, follow the show, share it with someone who needs hope today, and leave a review – it helps others find their way to these conversations.
New episodes drop every Monday, so you can begin your week with a little light and a lot of hope.
For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit
xo, Danielle
