Women Like Me Stories & Business

Natalie Mosley Klenotic: Love, Loss, And A Phone Call From Beyond

• Julie Fairhurst • Episode 170

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What if love doesn’t end when a life does? Natalie Mosley Klenotic joins us to share a story that begins with a teenage hug, spans oceans of Navy deployments, and lands on a day that shattered the life she was building. Hours after her husband’s fatal accident, the phone rang. The voice on the line was the one she knew better than her own. That moment didn’t erase grief; it gave it a shape and the courage to write it down.

We trace Natalie’s journey from an emotionally barren childhood to finding a partner who saw her fully and insisted on “see you later” instead of goodbye. She walks us through the hardest scenes with clarity: the alarms on the ship, the stunned friends, the journal pages that captured every word of an impossible call. Along the way, we explore what it means to carry loss for a lifetime without letting it define every day, how to honor continuing bonds without apology, and why “stages of grief” never tell the whole story.

Natalie also opens up about breaking the cycle of narcissistic parenting and choosing to build a different kind of family—one rooted in warmth, honesty, and resilience. We dig into her decision to self-publish six books, from memoir to children’s titles like Daddy’s Not Gone, each crafted to help readers talk about death, signs, pain, and hope in plain language. There’s practical insight here for anyone weighing traditional vs. indie publishing, and powerful encouragement for anyone wondering if their story matters. It does. It can even become someone else’s lifeline.

If this conversation moves you, share it with a friend who needs it, leave a review to help others find the show, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Your stories keep this community alive—what signs have you seen?


Find Natalie's Books and more information here:  https://www.nataliemosleyklenoticbooks.com/

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Who Is Julie Fairhurst?

Speaker • Author • Business Strategist • Founder of Women Like Me

Julie Fairhurst is a force of nature disguised as a woman with a pen and a business brain built for impact. As the founder of the Women Like Me Book Program, she has opened the door for women around the world to share their truth, heal their past, and rise into their power. Since 2019, she has published more than 30 books and over 350 true-life stories — without charging a single writer a dime! Why? Because women’s stories deserve daylight, not gatekeeping.

With 34 years in sales, marketing, and successful business leadership, Julie knows how to turn storytelling into influence and influence into income.

Her mission is clear and unapologetic: break generational trauma one story at a time and help women elevate both emotionally and financially. She doesn’t just publish books, she builds brands, confidence, and possibility, giving women the tools to rewrite their futures, grow their businesses, and lift their families with them.


Julie's Website




SPEAKER_01:

Welcome everyone to another episode of Women Like Me Stories and Business. I have to tell you, this is going to be quite the conversation. So I hope you tune in for the for the whole the whole conversation that we're going to have. So today I am with Natalie Mosley kinotic. It's a duty. Yeah. Yeah. Got it. And she has lived through things that most of us read about in books. And then she wrote the books about what she has been through. She is a six-time bestseller, self-published author, and she cracks open a life shaped by narcissistic parents, childhood abuse, military love, unimaginable loss, and a moment so extraordinary she kept it secret for years. Wow. Natalie, thank you so much for being here. Would you like to tell us a little bit more about yourself?

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much. I mean, I think you got covered in a nutshell. I decided at the age of 50 that I was going to write my first book. And a lot of people don't know about my childhood. My childhood was a little bit abusive. And my parents were, I didn't know the name of them when I was a child, but they were narcissists. They were emotionally unavailable parents. So my parents had never told me they loved me. They had never hugged me. We didn't have any kind of emotion in our home. And then when I was 15, I met a young man and he changed my entire life. Like he told me that he loved me and that he gave me my first hug. And so when I decided that I wanted to write that book, I wanted to write so people could know him because he passes away at the age of 22. And I felt like nobody really knew how much he saved me and how he changed my whole life. So that's why I decided to write the book. My first book.

SPEAKER_01:

Your first book, yes. Wow. Well, why don't we start off with that book? Because you reveal moments in that book that people are terrified to even speak aloud. Yeah. Why don't you tell us about what happened?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, do you want to know about the tragedy of my husband?

SPEAKER_01:

Let's do that. Yes, let's do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, when I wrote the book, um, initially, the tragedy obviously, it's the end of my fairy tale, right? That's when our marriage ends. He passes away. But we decided to put it at the beginning at the prologue because I wanted people to know why that ending affected me so badly and why I got this amazing reach out that I did from the beyond because we had such a special relationship. Um, my husband and I, he joined the Navy when he was 18. And I was not happy about it. It was not a good day for us. It was not a good few days. I was still in high school. I was a year younger than him, but he wanted to get our lives started and he wanted to get us away from my parents. He wanted us to have a brand new start in our own family, in our own lives. So we moved to California, everything was wonderful. We were apart way more than we were together, unfortunately. He joined and he was gone for a Westpac for six months, and then Desert Storm happened, and he was gone for three more months. So he was gone for nine months almost right off the bat. We were only married three and a half years. And when I tallied it all up, we were only together about a year and a half together on land. So it was tough, but I wouldn't change it for anything. The day that he passed away, he had never asked me to bring him anything during his work day ever, ever. And he was having an inspection and he needed his lid and it was his hat for his inspection. And he said, Hey, I need a favor. Can you bring it to the ship? And we had a baby by this time. She was 16 months old. I had just laid her down for a nap. You know, typical mom, I'm like, oh, she's finally asleep.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And he's like, just come anytime, you know, whenever, just get here before four and I'll pass the inspection. No big deal. Well, we lived in California and you don't get anywhere fast, nothing's close. So it took about an hour to get there when I finally decided to leave. So when I decided to leave, I got there, and as I was walking on board the gang plank, I was holding my toddler and his hat. And as we walked up, my little girl pointed to the sky and she goes, Daddy. Well, I thought she meant the sailors on board the ship. And I was like, Yeah, Daddy, Daddy's on board. And she goes, No, Daddy. And she was pointing up. And after everything tragically plays out, I think she was seeing daddy. I think she was seeing him. As we stepped on board, I spoke to the ombudsman and told him I was there to give my husband his hat. I was like, Can you go get Mosley for me? And he's like, sure, sure, no problem. I'm so-and-so. How are you? And I'm playing with my daughter. We're kind of in the sun. And and I stood there about 30 seconds and then alarms started to go off. And it sounded like a fog horn. And I just knew something was not right. And I looked at the ombudsman and I said, I should probably go. Just take his hat and tell him I was here. I'm gonna go and I'll see him later. And he goes, No, no, no, this is this is serious. No one can leave, no one can come on when this is going on. So we're standing there. About another 30 seconds goes by, and his phone rings next to him, and he answers it. And I'm just kind of like looking around, trying to keep my daughter happy. And he goes, His wife is standing right here. She's right here. And so I said, Is that him? I said, just please tell him, you know, I've got it. I'm gonna, I'm getting out of here. I'm gonna go. And he goes, No, no, you you gotta stay. And he hangs up, and then another second, his friend, Tom, my husband's name was Tom. His friend comes up and he was a medic. And they had alerted him that I was there. And he looked at me like he was seeing a ghost. He goes, What are what are you doing here? Why are and I said, Oh, he needs this needs this lid for his inspection. I said, Can you just give this to him? Like, I really want to get out of here. And I said, No, no, no, let's get you out of the sun, let's take you downstairs. We go downstairs, and everyone's crying around me. I see people putting their faces and their hands, and and they're looking at me and they're looking around, and and he pulls me into a room and he didn't sugarcoat it. He didn't just he just flat out said it. He goes, Natalie, he goes, There's been an accident. And I was naive. I was 21 years old. And my husband and I had argued about this maintenance that he was doing. He was doing maintenance on a weapons elevator. And we had argued about it a few weeks before when he had done it another previous time. And he told me how they were making him do it. And I told him, you have to tell them you can't keep doing it this way. It's not the proper procedure. And he goes, You can't tell people no in the Navy. He goes, it doesn't, it doesn't work that way. And so when he told me, he goes, Natalie, no, he he's dead. Tom, Tom's dead. He died. I couldn't process it. And I just looked at him and I said, Did he break his arm? Like, what? And he goes, No, no, he's he, you know, he's died. And my first immediate thought, my husband and I had a little bit of an unusual relationship when we were teenagers. He had told me that if anything ever happened to him, that he would watch over me or he would get back to me, that nothing would be able to keep him from me. So I looked up and I yelled and I said, get back in your body right now. Like right now. Like come back to me. Like, don't you dare leave me here. Like, where are you? And so I'm starting to come a little bit unglued. And see, I was very stoic in my childhood. You weren't allowed to have emotions. And so whenever I would have emotions, it was like a weakness in my home. So I'm finally coming unglued. Like my person is gone. And so I'm yelling for him to come back. They took my daughter for a little while. And long story short, Judge Advocate General has to come and they have to do the measurements and they have to take the photos and they have to do the investigation. And they weren't going to let me leave the ship. They were going to make me be interviewed because I was there. His friend snuck me off the ship. He said, I'm not going to let them do that to you. This is a total fluke that you're here. And he goes, Was he rushing? Did he know when you were coming? And I said, No, he had no idea.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I told him I'd come when I could come, and that was it. I didn't even tell him when. And he's like, okay. He goes, we're going to get you off of here. So they snuck me to the hospital because I begged to see him. Because I still just couldn't, I couldn't imagine him anywhere but with me. Like we were always together. Like he was my person. And so we get to the morgue and they prepared me to see him because his injuries were catastrophic. It was very, very bad. And so I was like, okay, it doesn't matter. Like I have to see him. So when I finally saw him, they had him completely covered from the neck down. I could only see his face. And so I said my goodbyes. But the title of the book is See You Later. Because my husband, when we first began to date, he said, Don't you ever tell me goodbye, girl. Because when you say a goodbye, nobody's waiting. Because you always tell me, see you later. So all through our relationship, I had said see you later. So I told him, see you later. And I'll take care of Hannah and we'll be okay. And but I just kept asking him, I was like, Are you all right? Like, where are you? Like, what happened? Like, are you all right wherever you are? Like, I just kept wondering that. So they took me home and they drove my car and got me home. And I'm home and I get a phone call and it's the dry cleaner. The dry cleaner is like, hey, is uniform's ready? And I'm like, well, I'm never coming to get that. You know, like that's not happening.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And then I called my friend who was in another state. She was in Pennsylvania at that time because we're all transplants. This is in Northern California. We were living on a base in Nevado.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so I called her and I spilled into the phone and told her what had happened. And then I just got off the phone and I just thought, well, what do I what do you do when someone dies? Like they someone had taken my daughter for the night. So I was all alone. So I began to fold clothes. I was like, I'm just gonna fold this laundry. And then I'm sitting there on the floor and I just still kept thinking, where are you? Like, are you all right? Are you okay wherever you are without me? Like, where are you? I I just couldn't get it. And then the phone rang. And I thought it was probably my parents in another state in Indiana, finally, because they had actually called them from the ship and I had spoken to them on the ship a little bit. And the phone rings. And my husband and I had talked to each other because we were apart so often countless times on the phone.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I knew it was his voice the minute I heard it. I answered it and I said, Hello. And he goes, Hey you. And I just froze. I just I was like, who is this? He goes, You know who this is, Natalie Marie. And then I just started to cry. Then I just I just lost it. I just cried. I was like, is it really like are it's you? Like, are you okay? Like, what what? And he's like, he's like, I need you to listen to me because you might not remember all of this after I say it to you. I am all right, and you're gonna eventually be all right. Things will eventually be all right. And I said, But I'm so I'm alone again, like I'm so sad. And he just goes, I wish I could be there, but I can't be there. And so we said a little bit more, we talked a little bit more on the phone, but when we got ready to hang up, I said, I'll see you later. And he goes, You better. And then when we hung up the phone, I've always had diaries, I've always had journals. So I ran down the hall and I wrote it all down. Wow. Because it was like I knew that maybe he was telling me that and I wasn't really supposed to remember that maybe on some level it was just supposed to register with me. So I wrote every word down, and then I wrote about my whole day and I put everything into the journal. And that portion of the book is verbatim. Wow. From our conversation. And I think if I hadn't written it down, I'm sure I wouldn't remember it as vividly as I remember it. Yes. So I'm thankful that I wrote it all down.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. So when you answer the phone, did you have you do you have a spiritual background?

SPEAKER_00:

Because um, yeah, I'm just I'm just like how it we never, I wasn't an overly religious family. I'm Catholic, I'm baptized Catholic. Yeah, and that was one of my concerns that kept going in my head is he's not baptized. And I was like, oh my gosh, can he get into heaven? Like, where is he? Is he in limbo? Is he gonna, you know? And I was thinking those things, irrational, just you know, thoughts. And no, not over religious. But my first husband, Tom, when we started dating, he would tell me these conversations that he thought we had known each other in another life. He's like, I think we've known each other, and it took me seeing you to unlock it. Yeah, I'm a 15-year-old girl in the Midwest, and I'm like, what are you talking about? You know, I mean, so is he. He's from the Midwest, and he's he was only 16. But I was like, What in the what? And he's like, No, I really think I think we've known each other, and all it took was me seeing you, and we've got to get this next life going, we've got to get moving, like we've got to get this. I was like, Okay, and you know, eventually I kind of warmed up to it, and I would say, Well, it's like you and me in every life, you know, like this is it. Yeah. And he, I have in the book, even I don't think I put the copy of the letter, but again, verbatim, countless notes from him in high school saying, if anything ever happens to me, I'm gonna watch over you, I'll take care of you, I'll keep an eye on you. And I think he had some kind of somehow inner knowing that he wasn't gonna be around very long. It sounds like it, yeah. Yeah, and he was unusual. I mean, he was that was not that was not, I was worried about my hair. I was worried about fitting in at school. I was worried about getting the car, I wasn't worried about like somebody watching over me when they died one day. But that's just who he was. He was very deep, very deep. Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

And so what happened after you hung up that phone? Like, did you did it shock you or because you said you kept it a secret?

SPEAKER_00:

I kept it a secret. Well, while I was on the phone, I was frigid freezing. I was very cold, and there was a blanket on the floor that we kept for our daughter that she would play on, and I pulled it over my legs. And I can remember when I when I remember that moment, my legs, I was shaking, I was freezing. Yeah, so I think the phone was like a conduit. I don't even know if he was even over the phone or maybe he was in the room. Right. And that's why I was freezing. Right because I can remember being freezing. Um yes, the reason I kept it a secret is because my parents were not very loving. I didn't have that kind of relationship with the person that I would tell about this kind of thing would be him. That I didn't have anybody like that. I didn't even tell my best friend Doreen. I didn't I thought people are gonna think I'm crazy. Like, how did this just happen? Like, how did so? I kept it. I was like, this is mine, like this is so special. He died and he thought of me. Yes, like that's love, like that is a love like no other. Yeah he knew I needed it, I needed it, and so I didn't tell my parents because I thought they'll think I'm crazy, they don't love me like that. We're not gonna have that connection when I tell them it's gonna turn ugly, it's not gonna be this thing that I really treasure.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So when I began dating about a year and a half, two years later, I went on a blind date with a young man, and his name is Bill, and he's my husband now. And I'd only known him a week. I hadn't told anyone. I'd gone out on other dates, I had made new friends, I had built a home, I'd moved back to Indiana. A week after knowing him, I just I don't know why I told him, but I said, Can I tell you something? And he's like, Well, of course you can. Like, you know, what is it? And I said, My husband called me after he died. We spoke on the phone, and he goes, What? He goes, Well, what did he say? So I told him what he said, and he goes, That's amazing. And I was like, Do you believe me? Like, do you believe me? And he goes, Of course I believe you. Why would you want to tell me something like that otherwise? I was like, You're the first person I've ever told. Oh, and so I told him and he believed me. And then when my daughter got old enough to understand, I told her, and then we had two boys of our own, and I told them, Yeah, yeah. They have always taken it point blank, 100%. Like, well, yeah, mom's husband called her, and this is amazing. And yeah, yeah, so when I told everybody I was gonna write the book, my husband was like, Are you gonna tell everything? Like, are you gonna tell? Are you gonna tell about the call? I was like, It's time, it's time. I want people, it's been valuable treasure for me, invaluable treasure. I want people to know what I know. Our people are waiting, yes, heaven's real. Yes, and I've lived with that all this time. I'm not afraid to die. I don't want to die. No, I'm not afraid. Yeah, I know there's something else, I know he's waiting.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, wow. I I it it's it's a tragic story, but but it's beautiful the way you tell it. I don't know, uh you know, I just yeah, it's you thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

And I try, and that's really what I want because it's my biggest heartache, it's my biggest loss of my entire life, the worst thing that's ever happened to me, but also pretty incredible. Like he gave me a gift, yes, a gift of knowing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that that is um he's yeah, and from and from what you're saying, he sounds like an old soul. He sounds like, you know, you you're worrying about you know what you're wearing to school the next day, and he's he's like, I'm I'm gonna take care of you. Yeah, he's whether I'm here or not.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and as soon as we met, he was like, you know, I love you. You're an amazing person. I'm sorry your parents don't tell you that kind of thing. He goes, You're incredible, you're so smart, you're beautiful, and horrible insecurities. Horrible because my parents never even once would say, like, oh, you look so cute today, or I like your hand, you know, that matters in a teenage girl's life, of course. And you don't have that feedback, it's not shallow, but it's just it helps build a person up from you know who they are as a person because all I had to focus on were my studies. Yes, I was like, I'm gonna get out of here. I was like a straight A student, I'm like, I'm getting into college, I'm getting out of here. Yeah, and then he came along and kind of derailed the plan a little bit, but yeah. So, did you have any any negativity after you wrote the book? You know, I really haven't. I really haven't had any negativity. That's so good. And that's and you know, for half a second I thought, well, people are gonna be nasty and they're gonna say something, but I don't Care. No, I don't even if they did, I don't care if you believe me or not. I know it happened, it's changed my whole life. Yes. I just had a booth at the we have a little hobby show in Indianapolis for Christmas. Every person that would come into the booth and I would tell the little brief synopsis, they would cry. And we would cry and we would cry together. And then they would leave the booth and they'd take a book. And my other authors are like, You make everybody cry. I'm like, well, because we're moved. And then they would share their stories with me. Yes. There would be a connection. They like, well, my mom did this after I died, or I had this happen. Or and that's it's been incredibly moving. It's been really rewarding.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. It's um, it's it's it's uh I don't want to use the word hope, but it's helpful for people who are suffering and not sure um, you know, what to believe, or is their loved one okay? And you know, or right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and like I I was never a big believer in psychics because I thought they were kind of scammy, or you know, I was like, oh, I don't know, you know. Yes. And then strangely enough, I've seen a couple of psychics since this, you know, we've gone to little events and they've been there and I've had really incredible experiences. Yes. He's reached out, and it it's confirmation again. And it's one of those things where I don't know that I would have ever gone to a psychic. I would have never, I would have just not been my style, just not my not my style. Yeah. And now I realize that's because I was closed-minded and I had even had this experience, and I was still like, well, I don't know. People, there's so much out there that's unknown and that we can't see, but it's reality. Yes. I'm more open to other people and their stories because why else would they be telling me these stories if it hadn't happened to them? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

I I uh I I've read, and of course, with the internet these days, I listen to a lot of podcasts about um near-death experiences. Yeah, and I uh and uh yeah, it's um yeah, there's more. I I a hundred percent agree with more, and there's so much more.

SPEAKER_00:

I do think because I've had such a traumatic childhood that I was abused and lone, and I do think that opened my mind to be open to the phone call at all. Yes, and because the relationship that we had, not once did I think when he died, oh yeah, he told me in high school he was gonna look after me and you know he's gonna be around. Yeah, oh where's where is he reaching out? Like how you know, where are you? I didn't even think about that. It just it just happened. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Well, I love that you put it into a book. I was reading a little bit of it. Uh, so you guys should get her book because I was reading a little bit of it today, and it I I I just kept clicking through the pages. It was it was so well written, and and um and you tell it, yeah, you just tell it with so much love and yeah, it was thank you so much. No, you're very welcome. So you've but you've written more than one book.

SPEAKER_00:

You've written six. Yes, yes, I'm up to six. I've got a couple more in the in the wings, yeah. But yeah, I've written six now. My second book, my first book, because I delved into my relationship and what happened. So many people that know me now were like, Well, how did you how did you go back to living with your parents? Because I had to move back to Indiana.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I didn't have anybody. I mean, we were I was 21 years old and had a 16-month-old baby. So they're like, Well, how did you get through that? So then I wrote my next book that's about narcissism, and it's titled Down the Rabbit Hole at Narcissism because my parents are very narcissistic individuals, and they've only shown that how much how how I am on the nose with them because they haven't talked to me in 15 years. Oh, yeah, they walked out of my life a long time ago. They didn't show up for my daughter's high school graduation one day and just disappeared. Oh, and then when they heard I was writing books, oh, they're back. They they want to know, oh, what's going on in your book stuff? Like, are we in the books? And yeah, and so I'm like, well, you might want to read them. Get back to me, you know, read them, get back to me, and maybe this will be a healing thing and we can go forward. Yeah, no, they're not no, it's not it's not going that route. There's not gonna be any kumbaya, it's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well, good for you though, because these things need to get out for ourselves because it's a healing for us to get them out of our hearts and our minds onto paper, but but it's such a healing for the people who read them.

SPEAKER_00:

It is, and when I did the book, it's really not to get revenge on anybody. No, of course. I don't need it, I don't, you know, I've got a great life, things are going well. And when I've written these books, the first two books, I've gotten so much positive feedback of people saying that they feel empowered. Yes, and oh, and you went through that, and I can get through this. That's right. What I'm going through is nothing compared to what you went through. So I can I can do this, and absolutely I've made new friendships through these books. So it's been it's been really good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And so how do you find that because you're self-publishing? I am. Yeah. So how do you find the self-publishing world? Have you attempted or were you thinking at all about going with a traditional publisher?

SPEAKER_00:

I did. Now I did query after query. When I did see you later, it was a solid year of queries, and I sent them out to all the publishing houses, and I would get a little bit of feedback, just enough to like egg me on to do more queries. Like, okay, well, they kind of like this, so I'll gear the query towards this. And I mean, a whole year of that, and that really beats you down. It really is not a fun process. No, and then when I started to research how much money they really make and you make, yeah, you don't make anything if it goes through a publisher, they take it all. So, so self-publishing was better for me financially as well. So it's gone really well. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And and uh, you know, it's great when we're able to make some money from our efforts as well, but but also it gets you to other places, yes, like speaking and and sharing with others, and that's and that's what's so important. The the women who write in in my books is uh they're all true life stories. And and even I had a lady today even say it to me. They say, and I've had every single one of them without an exaggeration say this to me. If I can only help one woman, it'll be worth it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And you know, when I was writing the first book, I really was writing it so people could know Tom. I really wanted them to know, and I had a couple of friends, and they were male friends. One has written a book and one had been on radio. So they were giving me both their perspectives if they were reading it. Um, totally different perspectives. But the man on radio, he said, Natalie, you're gonna help so many girls. You're gonna help so many ladies with this book. And I was like, Well, why? What do you mean? He goes, Natalie, he goes, You are still standing. He goes, You have been through so much in your childhood. He goes, I had no idea. I said, Well, because I don't tell anybody. I don't, yes, I'm not a woe is me person. I never have been. Even through all the stuff that I've been through, I'm not like, wow, this really sucks for me. You know, I'm just like, that's it's just how my life is gone. So keep it together and keep going.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And he read it and he goes, You're gonna help so many people. He goes, Natalie, he goes, he goes, You stand for so much of what women need to know. I was like, okay. And that has happened. That is happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, for sure. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, did I see a couple of children's books there as well? Yes, yes. So my first children's book is titled Daddy's Not Gone, and that's for children that have lost a loved one. And I wanted to be bright and positive and all about that, you know, your relative is not really gone. They're still around in another way. And we all have signs that we see, right? That we make in our mind and that we visualize and we want, like cardinals and feathers, and hummingbirds. And so I did that book first, and then I began donating that book to funeral homes and doctors' offices and churches and social services. My daughter had a friend that is a social worker, and she actually suggested that to me. She goes, Your book would do so much good in those locations. So I approached my local hospital, and then they did a story about me on in the cover of the newspaper. And then I probably donate 50 books a year to different, just different facilities all around the country. Beautiful. And then my other two books, um, because I have two other sons, everybody gets a book if mom's an author. So yeah. So my first son fought a disease called CRPS, it's a complex pain uh syndrome. Your brain overreacts to just an everyday injury, and he fought it for three and a half years. Wow. And so I wrote that book because he achieved remission. He's one of the rare few that actually achieved remission.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00:

So so he got that book, and then my other son fought something called a granuloma. It mimics a tumor, it's a mass, and he had it in his jawbone. And I championed Riley Hospital because that's where both of my boys went. Yeah, and they did an experimental drug program on him and got rid of that tumor. Wow. So he gets a book. So he gets a book too, and that's Chase. So Chase engaged, they get books, and Hannah got her book, and then you know, I'm trying to think of another children's book to do now that won't have any of my children in it. It'll be an original book. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, that's you know, what a great way, what a great outlet for for uh, you know, difficulties and fears and and uh that type of thing happening throughout your family. And I love that you say everybody gets a book. I'm sitting here thinking everybody could have a book at my house too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, and you know what? Because really, I was not championed as a child. Yeah, I was not championed, I didn't have a mom and dad saying how proud they were of me or how much they love me, or like, hey, go you! Like, this is incredible. My children are everything to me. Yeah, they I really broke the cycle. I I consciously did not want to do anything like my parents did, and my kids are so important to me. And now they're adults, and we're still buddies, we still see each other all the time.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, so it's good. Oh, well, good for you. It's um breaking that cycle, uh, first of all, is realizing that that there is a cycle that needs to be broken, and then having the courage to do it. So I applaud you for that. It's uh it's a difficult for thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

And it sounds like you have similar stories as far as the women, as far as their empowering stories.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yes. Well, we've we've told 350, over 350 true life stories now, 180 women in 38 books.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

Since December 2019.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, that's a not not that long. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

No, that's not that long. I sometimes it shocks me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, congratulations on that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. It's you know, I I believe that when something's meant to be done, you know, I received a message that this is a dream. This is something that I should do. And I took action and um and here I am. I I retired uh almost two years ago from my from my 34-year career in sales. And uh do this full time now, and I just love it. Just love it.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, isn't that great? That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

That's yeah. So it's it's um, I understand you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's why I I can feel that there's there's a mutual understanding. Yeah, it's wonderful when you wake up and you're really doing what you want to do.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely, it feels so good. Yes, it does. Wow, Natalie. It was um thank you so much for sharing that conversation and and the story about your husband and and the phone call. I I uh yeah, I'm gonna have that in my brain for a few days thinking about that. That no, that was beautiful. I I I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

And um he would love that. He would love that. Yeah, people are still talking about him so many years later because he died in 1993.

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, yes, yeah, so that's wonderful. Yeah, what would you say to a woman that might be dealing with some grief in her life right now?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh gosh. Um, you know, I have to be honest, grieving is a lifelong thing for me. I will always grieve my husband. He died right in the middle of the good part. Yeah, so I get it if you're grieving. Grieve in your own way. The thing that I don't like is that there's so many self-health books out there that tell you to do this or tell you to do that, or if you're still in this stage, it's a problem. Like my parents sent me to a doctor when I was still crying three months after my husband died. Three months. And I told the doctor, I said, he's only been gone three months. And he's like, Well, you need to get over this. This is too long to still be crying about him. I was 21 years old with the baby in three months, and that that has always stuck with me. Grieve in your own way. You know, you only know how you're directed. And if you feel like you need to take a couple of days in bed and just cry it out, do it. Do what you need to do to get through it in your own terms. Eventually, I won't say that it gets better, but it weaves its way into your life and you make time for it, and it's just part of you. It won't be as agonizing as it is in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. Thank you for that. Those are those were beautiful words and uh very inspiring for someone who who uh who may be needing it. So wow. Well, thank you so much, Natalie, for doing this. Uh I just um I I can't wait to get this podcast out there because there are people out there who need to who need to watch this and to need to hear your story and and um I think that that will give them a sense of hope. Thank you, a sense of peace. Um, yeah, just just beautiful. So for everyone, uh I want you to know that I'm going to have ways that you can contact Natalie in the show notes uh and also her books. Uh definitely go on to Amazon and they do offer that free read. You can have a few a little bit of reading if you want before you purchase, but it's a good book. It it's fabulous. I was um yeah, I was uh stuck there. I didn't want to get off. So but we'll have all that in the show notes uh for you to be able to reach out. Well, Natalie, thank you very much. And thank you for for your encouragement, your inspiration. Beautiful story. And um I just love it when people go through not so great things, but they stand up and they and they use it in a power way that helps other people. And and you have definitely done that. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, thank you so much for the opportunity. And uh it's been a pleasure talking to you. Really have.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. Okay, everyone. Well, that's it for now. And make sure you tune in next time to another episode of Women Like Me uh Stories and Business. Thanks, everybody. Take care.