Grieving with a Smile: Dana Heidrich Breaks Taboos and Helps Women Overcome Grief with Humor
Former catering chef Dana Heidrich has discovered a seemingly unconventional method for guiding other women back to life after loss: humor and wanderlust.
BERLIN, BERLIN, GERMANY, April 24, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- After the sudden death of her beloved husband, Steffen, at just 40 years old in February 2019 following a severe but seemingly cured cancer diagnosis, Dana Heidrich disappointedly replaced her cooking clothes with a suitcase and started a new life as a digital nomad.
Starting a whole new life while peers worried about keeping their new red kitchens free from grease stains was challenging. Thus, Dana embarked on a long journey back to herself.
On her sometimes adventurous path, she found unexpected help to cope with the pain: her own sense of humor.
It's important to know that Dana and Steffen had been a couple for 16 years, closely connected by their unique sense of humor and love for food. When the love of your life dies...
Catering and food was their second shared passion. After Steffen's death, Dana felt alone and lost without his laughter and witty remarks. However, English-language social media posts helped her fill the void with humor. When she read the quote "I put the fun in funeral" this was the first time she could laugh out loud again.
Is it ok to laugh out loud while grieving?
Dana wondered why this approach was so rare in German-speaking countries. "We need more humor in grief!" she thought. "When you can laugh at something, it loses its power over you. ".
Inspired by this experience, she founded her own grief blog at danaheidrich1.com, where she shares her experiences and thoughts with other grieving women in a humorous and heartfelt way. Dana openly discusses the challenges women face when losing a partner in the prime of their lives: the madness of having to reorient oneself, rehab visits, the need to earn a living (widow's pension is a joke), re-entering the dating market, and eventually, menopause – just when everything seemed fine.
Dana's unusual approach to combating grief with humor, passion, and wanderlust has attracted a loyal readership who eagerly await her personal "Champagner-Newsletter" every Monday morning. If everything is already terrible, why not start Monday morning with a virtual glass of champagne?
The link to champagne holds a special significance in Dana's story, as it was the widows from the Champagne region who pioneered the success of this renowned sparkling wine. Among these influential women, Veuve Clicquot deserves special mention2 for her role in introducing champagne to the Russian court. This historical connection to resilience and triumph serves as an inspiration for Dana's own journey in helping women through the grieving process.
In her newsletter, Dana shows her readers that it's possible to find joy in life despite grief and how to embark on new paths.
Although her grief for Steffen's death does not disappear, Dana has learned to integrate his legacy into her life and carry it with her on her journey.
Her travels have taken her to India, Sardinia, Malaga, Cyprus, and Mexico. In each country, she explores local death customs and writes about them. The death cult in Mexico, farewell ceremonies in India, and why corpses were buried upright on Malaga's beach all coexist with her love for food in Dana's world. These topics form her key to newfound zest for life, which she gladly shares with others.
Those wishing to meet Dana personally can do so on May 4th and 5th at the “Leben und Tod”-Fair in Bremen, Germany, or simply online. She is open to podcasts, interviews, and guest contributions. Dana enjoys sharing her unconventional approaches to dealing with grief and her adventurous life as a digital nomad.
Smile, because the photo could stand next to your coffin one day :)
Dana Heidrich
Danachblog
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1 https://www.danaheidrich.com/
2 https://www.danaheidrich.com/veuve-cliquot/
3 https://www.danaheidrich.com/danachblog/kontakt/newsletter/
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