Christa Skov - a Journey of Honoring and Moving Through

During this episode of A Richer Life, host Rich Weingart speaks with Christa Skov about facing challenges and building resilience in grieving the loss of her husband. Christa shares her story in a generous way that will inspire and uplift those who may be facing similar trauma and loss.

Episode Highlights:

• The song “No Hard Feelings” by the Avett Brothers is meaningful to Christa because it reminds her of the way her late husband, Matt, lived his life.
• They got married and moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where they started a family.
• During their pregnancy they found out their child would likely have a defect involving her esophagus.
• It was a long process teaching their daughter how to eat.
• A year later Christa realized she was suffering from depression and sought help. Her goal was to get to a place where she would feel healthy enough to have another baby.
• Being outside feeds Christa’s soul.
• There is so much wonder and beauty in the world even though we all face challenges.
• Christa’s experience as a new mother helped her build resilience.
• Resilience is something you need to build and consciously think about.
• They had their second daughter and moved back to Marin where Matt grew up.
• Matt started having bad headaches and was eventually diagnosed with a very rare cancer.
• One of the last things Matt did was to design an owl party for his daughter.
• Richard describes a prayer circle Matt attended for a friend's daughter near the end of his life.
• Christa thanks her family and Matt's family as well as the entire community that has supported her as she has rebuilt her life.
• Grief does overwhelm you at times but sometimes you have to allow it.
• Christa's motivation is her children. She wants to create a life that resembles all the hopes and dreams she and Matt had talked about.
• Being open to help was very important to her.
• It's easy to get wrapped up in anxiety. What has helped Christa is to take things day by day.
• Be open to your community, allow grief, and seek help.
• Therapy gave Christa tools and resources for how to deal with building a new life.
• Grief can come and go in intense waves.
• Your heart can grow and love more.
• We can always continue to honor those that aren't with us anymore.

3 Key Points:

1. It’s critical to build up your resilience as you face life’s challenges.
2. Accept help and rely on your community through the grieving process.
3. Keep an open heart and allow your heart to grow.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “For me, being outside, whether it's taking a walk or going on a hike or doing whatever I can to kind of see the beauty of the world has always been something that has helped me.” – Christa Skov
• “Building resilience is something that, you know, it's not just given to you. It's something that you have to actively pursue.” – Christa Skov
• “One of the conversations that Matt and I did have was wanting to have our kids have the lives that we had always talked about, even though I would have to do it on my own." – Christa Skov
• “With loss...you can't get over it. But you can learn to live with it.” – Christa Skov
• “Your heart grows...it's about me opening up and growing and allowing that.” – Christa Skov

Resources Mentioned:

• “No Hard Feelings” by The Avett Brothers
• Dana Farber Institute