Sometimes grief arrives before we are old enough to understand it. It lands in the middle of everything familiar and quietly rewrites the map of who we become. Years can pass before we realize how much of ourselves is still standing in that same frozen place.

In this conversation, Kristina Amelong shares what it means to finally face what she could not name as a teenager. After losing her younger brother in a sudden accident, she spent decades searching for ways to numb the ache. What began as survival slowly became a lifelong practice of returning to herself — through healing, sobriety, and the simple act of telling the truth.

This is a story about finding connection after silence. About discovering that grief can open doors as easily as it closes them. And about the power of one question to bring the past back into the light.

What You’ll Hear:

- The day everything changed and the silence that followed
- How addiction became both a shield and a signal for help
- The stranger’s question that opened the path to healing
- What it means to reconnect with people frozen in the same grief
- The sacredness of tears and the wisdom they hold
- Finding peace through storytelling and self-acceptance

About Kristina Amelong:

Kristina Amelong is the author of Ten Days to Optimal Health: A Guide to Nutritional Therapy and Colon Cleansing and the memoir What My Brother Knew (She Writes Press, May 27). She is the founder and owner of Optimal Health Network, a holistic health business, and a senior board member for the Center for World Philosophy and Religion, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reweaving the human story through compassion, spirituality, and purpose. Kristina lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her three dogs, her chickens, and a community that gathers often to sing, dance, and heal together.

Connect with Kristina:

Website (book): https://www.kristinaamelong.com

Website (healing work): https://www.optimalhealthnetwork.com

Book: What My Brother Knew available via Amazon and Goodreads

Timestamps:

00:00 When grief freezes time: Kristina’s story begins

05:00 Reconnecting with people who knew her brother

13:00 The green car, the prediction, and the loss that changed everything

24:00 Addiction and the search for meaning

29:00 Choosing recovery and starting over

33:00 The sacred power of tears and release

41:00 Writing *What My Brother Knew*

51:00 What she’d tell her 17-year-old self

54:00 Reflections on storytelling, grief, and human connection

Kristina Amelong, What My Brother Knew, grief healing, sibling loss, addiction recovery, writing through grief, healing journey, trauma and recovery, grief podcast, emotional storytelling

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