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Dena Betti

@denabetti

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🌿 Emotional Resilience & Inner Strength
🧠 Living forward with intention & Love
📖 When Grief & Loss Won’t Shut Up
🔗 Resources below...

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“The love you carry becomes the light that carries you.”

One of the things grief has taught me is that the people we love never really stop shaping our lives.

At first, grief can feel like darkness. It can feel heavy, lonely, and impossible to imagine carrying for the rest of your life. But over time, something beautiful begins to happen. The love you shared with that person starts showing up in unexpected ways. It becomes the wisdom you hear in your mind when you need guidance. It becomes the strength that helps you get through a difficult day. It becomes the compassion you offer someone else who is hurting.

The loss never disappears, but neither does the love.

If you’re navigating grief and looking for a companion on the journey, my book, When Grief & Loss Won’t Shut Up, was written for you.

📖 Get your copy on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/08UdmccP

#GriefSupport #LifeAfterLoss #GriefJourney #GriefAndLoss #Bereavement GriefAwareness HealingAfterLoss HopeAfterLoss WidowSupport ParentLoss ChildLoss GriefCommunity WhenGriefAndLossWontShutUp DenaBetti by @denabetti

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5 months ago

I wasn’t prepared for how uncomfortable this would make people.

My daughter has been gone for 12 years.

And still, when I see certain people around town, parents I knew through my daughters, I’m almost always the one who walks over to say hi.

I’m the one who breaks the awkward silence.
I’m the one who makes it easier.
I’m the one who acts normal so they don’t have to feel uncomfortable.

And sometimes I walk away thinking, how is this still on me?

But after 12 years, making other people feel comfortable around me shouldn’t still be a thing.

So, if you see someone carrying a loss like this, please don’t avoid them. Just say hello. That alone can mean more than you know.🩷

#childloss, #griefjourney, #griefsupport, #lifeafterloss, #griefandloss by @denabetti

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5 months ago

I used to think time would change this part of grief.

I remember the first year after Jenna died, another grieving mother told me something that completely caught me off guard. Her son had died 5 years earlier, and she said to me, “It only gets harder with time.”

I remember feeling crushed hearing that because I could not imagine anything worse than the pain I was already living in. The idea that grief could somehow deepen years later felt impossible to me then.

But there is something enduring about losing a child that I did not understand in the beginning.

At first, grief feels loud and obvious. People check in. The shock carries you through parts of it. But as the years pass, the loss quietly weaves itself into everything. Into the milestones. Into the ordinary moments. Into the life your child should have been here living beside you.

And over a decade later, I think I finally understand what she meant.

🎥 Video credit: @maia.visuals

#grief #griefsupport #childloss #grievingmother #lifeafterloss by @denabetti

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5 months ago

I still cannot believe her cousin said this after her son died.

Yesterday, during our conversation inside the Life After Loss with Dena community, one mother shared that her cousin told her she “needs to find a faster way to get over” the death of her 26 year old son.

And the part that hit me so hard is that it hasn’t even been a year.

I honestly cannot imagine hearing those words while trying to survive the loss of your child.

When someone is grieving, they are already carrying so much pain beneath the surface. They are trying to make it through birthdays, mornings, memories, holidays, her first Mother’s Day without her son, and all the little reminders that nobody else can see.

Then someone says something like this, and it cuts even deeper.

I think sometimes people say these things because grief makes them uncomfortable. They want it to be fixed. They want it to move faster because they do not understand what this kind of loss actually does to a person.

But losing a child is not something you “get over.”

This conversation came up during yesterday’s beautiful and honest talk with Joann Perahia inside our Skool community.

Joann is a standup comic, grieving mother, and grief educator.

And I know so many grieving parents will feel seen by this conversation.

If you have ever felt misunderstood in your grief, I would love for you to join our community.

And if you would like a little glimpse into Joann’s comedy and the way she brings light into hard places, you can watch one of her performances there too.

Grief does not need to move faster to make other people more comfortable.

Sometimes what grieving people need most is not advice.

They need compassion and patience.

They need someone willing to sit beside them without trying to rush their love away. ❤️

#griefjourney #healingjourney #whengriefandlosswontshutup #resilience #griefsupport by @denabetti

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5 months ago

I didn’t think much about this before my daughter died.

Grief wasn’t something I tried to understand. It was something that happened to other people… something you acknowledged, sent flowers for, and pretended it wouldn’t happen to me.

And then everything changed.

What I’ve come to understand is that grief isn’t just sadness. It’s not something you “get through” or “move on from.” It’s something that moves through you… physically, emotionally, and in ways you don’t always have words for.

It shows up always uninvited.

It’s all I blur when I look back. I remember trying my best and choosing to pursue joy. The crazy part…the part I do remember..is the love carried me and continues to carry me.

A love that doesn’t go away. A love that actually deepens, even as it hurts. A love that begins to guide you, if you allow it.

Understanding grief, for me, has been less about fixing it and more about learning how to walk with it. Learning how to honor what I feel without letting it take away everything that is still here.

If you’re in it right now… if it feels heavy or confusing or endless… you’re not doing it wrong.

Grief isn’t a problem to solve.
It’s an experience to move through, one moment at a time.

And somehow, in the middle of it all… there is still a path forward.

#griefjourney #grief #griefandloss by @denabetti

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6 months ago

I love the beauty and the darkness before dawn. 🌅

There’s a stillness in that space… and for me, that’s where creation happens.

What about you❓
Where does your creativity show up the most? by @denabetti

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6 months ago

Some days hit harder than others… and on those days, I remind myself this is love, not weakness. by @denabetti

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6 months ago

Holding it in may have protected you once…
but it’s not where your healing lives.

There was a time when you had to be strong.
When you had to keep going.

When feeling everything all at once simply wasn’t an option.

So you learned to hold it in and that made sense.

But what protected you then…
may be the very thing keeping you stuck now.

Your healing isn’t found in holding it together.
It’s found in gently allowing yourself to feel what’s been waiting.

You don’t have to do that alone 🩷

If this speaks to you, DM me “HEALING” and I’ll share more about my:
➡️. Life After Loss with Dena community on Skool
and my book 📕 When Grief and Loss Won’t Shut Up
available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. by @denabetti

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7 months ago

Losing a child isn’t something time takes away. It doesn’t fade or resolve. The love is still just as strong, and because of that, the ache is still there too. You carry them with you in every moment… in the way you think, the way you love, the way you move through the world.

If you feel open to sharing, I would truly love to hear about your child. What’s their name? 💛 by @denabetti

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7 months ago

I saw a video of Jenna today. It reminded me of people asking me how I kept going with purpose after losing Jenna, and the truth is… it’s because of her and my family.

There was a season when I felt completely untethered. Like the future I thought I was walking toward just disappeared. I wasn’t thinking about purpose back then. I was thinking about survival. About getting through the day without falling apart.

But as the years have passed, something shifted.

Jenna didn’t stop being my daughter when she left this earth. If anything, she became even more woven into who I am. She fuels me. The way she loved. The way she smiled. The way she showed up in the world with so, so much vibrance. I carry that.

When I choose to live fully, it’s not in spite of her being gone. It’s because she was here.

Every time I step into something meaningful, every time I write, speak, encourage another grieving parent, build something through #hersmile or my business, or simply love the people in front of me well… I feel like I’m honoring her life. I’m showing the world how much I treasure the fourteen years I had with her.

Living with purpose now feels different than it once did. It’s softer. It’s deeper. It’s less about proving anything and more about honoring something sacred.

Jenna will always be my why.

And as long as I’m here, I want my life to reflect how grateful I am that she was. ❤️ by @denabetti

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8 months ago

I often think about how the world only sees the spotlight. They see the wins, the applause, the celebrity. What they don’t see are the moments when you’re sitting on the edge of your bed wondering if you even have the strength to try again.

A champion isn’t crowned in the spotlight. She’s forged in the moments she refuses to stay down.

It’s in the quiet decisions. The deep breaths. The choice to get back up when it would be easier to quit. That’s where real strength is built. Not in front of a crowd, but in the middle of doubt, disappointment, and sometimes heartbreak.

And honestly, I think that kind of strength matters more than any trophy or celebrity! by @denabetti

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8 months ago

I have always wondered…

If someone never lifted me up,
why would I ever let them bring me down?

It’s something I’ve quietly asked myself over the years.

Why did I give so much emotional weight to people who were never cheering for me… never encouraging me… never standing beside me when things felt heavy?

I’ve realized that sometimes we hand over our peace to people who never invested in our growth.

And that doesn’t make sense anymore.

The voices that get access to my heart now are the ones that speak with love, respect, and honesty. The ones who challenge me kindly. The ones who celebrate my light instead of dimming it.

I can wish others well. And most importantly I can love them from afar.

If they never lifted me up…
why would I let them bring me down?

Just something I’ve been thinking about lately. by @denabetti

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8 months ago