What We Carry, Even When We Don’t Talk About It

All About The Joy is a small network of four shows — Friday Night Live, Culture & Consequence, The Private Lounge, and Carmen Talk. This piece comes from Carmen Talk, my solo space where I sit down and share something real, something honest, and hopefully something useful.

There are certain weeks in life that arrive with their own weather system. You feel them before they get here. You brace for them without even realizing you’re bracing. And then suddenly you’re in it — the memories, the emotions, the things you thought you’d already worked through.

For me, that week is mid‑June.

It’s a stretch of days filled with birthdays of people I love — four of them, back‑to‑back — and then, at the end of that run, my mother’s birthday. She’s been gone for over forty years, and yet that day still finds me. Not Mother’s Day. Not Christmas. Not the anniversary of her passing. Her birthday. The day she arrived in the world.

Grief is strange like that. It doesn’t follow logic. It doesn’t care about the calendar. It shows up where it wants, when it wants, and it reminds you that you’re human.

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In this week’s Carmen Talk, I share a story I don’t usually talk about — the way grief first entered my life, how long it took me to understand it, and why it still moves through me in unexpected ways. I talk about childhood memories, the silence around loss, and the moment I finally realized what had happened all those years ago.

I also reflect on two conversations that have stayed with me — Anderson Cooper speaking about the weight of unspoken grief, and Stephen Colbert talking about finding grace in the things we wish had never happened. Their words helped me understand my own story in a deeper way, and I hope they offer something to you as well.

This isn’t an episode about sadness. It’s an episode about being human. About the things we carry quietly. About how letting grief move through us makes room for joy. And about how, even after decades, love still echoes.

If this resonates with you, or if you’re carrying something of your own, I hope this conversation brings a little light to your day.

As always, it really is All About The Joy.

Until next time,

Carmen