Ep002: Finding Your Tribe with the Secret Island Crew Artwork

Laugh At The Odds Podcast with Heidi & Dave

“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” Named after this Charles Bukowski quote on the meaning of life, "Laugh at the Odds" is a he said/she said podcast about surviving the loss of a partner or spouse through the lens of a young, interracial widowed couple. Heidi and Dave are two halves of a widowed couple, having lost Arnel in 2014 and Bianca in 2017, respectively. In this podcast, we offer our perspectives as two young widows who individually found joy and strength post-loss, and unexpectedly found love with each other after two years of platonic friendship. We speak with other widows and widowers who are writers, counselors, solo parents, comedians, COVID warriors, dancers, singers, entrepreneurs, and even self-proclaimed “wid-hos.” Dave is Dada to a sardonic and intelligent six-year-old boy, Benji, and Heidi is Momma to two adopted mini schnauzers, Ziggy and Xena. Together they raise and shuttle their family between their two homes in New Jersey.

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Laugh At The Odds Podcast with Heidi & Dave

Ep002: Finding Your Tribe with the Secret Island Crew

February 14, 2021 • Heidi Gutierrez & Dave Gruben • Season 1 • Episode 2

In Episode 2 of Laugh at the Odds Podcast with Heidi and Dave, we sit down with a small, tightknit group of widows and one widower who found each other and formed deep bonds and likely lifelong friendships. We explore how they crossed paths and gained a sense of community and helped each other heal.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS:

1) Lynn Nguyen was widowed from her late husband Can in 2015. She currently works as a project manager in IT Finance and recently relocated from Texas to beautiful Clearwater, Florida, where she raises her two boys now aged 5 and 10 and catches sunsets whenever they can.

2) Ariana Hilario is 40 years old, from New York City. She lost her fiancé, Felix, in 2011 after a 3-year battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Today, Ariana is a loving meow-my to Cleo the Calico, and has been in a loving relationship for a year and a half.

3) Daniel is a 37-year-old widower closing in on the 4-year mark, who still struggles with the loss of his wife, Lauren. However, he is leaps and bounds better than he was when he started out. He is a fur dad to a maltipoo named Buffy the puppy slayer and also the world’s best hugger.

4) Jaclyn Martinez is a 33-year-old solo mother to an 11-year-old son. Her journey began in 2016, when she lost the love of her life, David, to gun violence in Long Island. She enjoys moon gazing, carrying crystals in her bra, and all things spiritual.

5) Mayra Parra is 36 years old from New Jersey. Her journey began in 2017, when she suddenly lost her beloved boyfriend Joe. In hopes of a fresh start, she moved to Chicago in 2019, where she continued her HR career, but is in the process of relocating to New York. Recently engaged to her fiancé Armando she is looking forward to being back closer to her wid tribe, her friends, and family.

6) Mimi Rodeiro, originally from New Jersey, transplanted to Florida in 1982 with family. The love of her life, Felix, happened to have moved there just prior. Long story short, they broke up, and 30 years passed. They reconnected in 2011, but tragically in 2013, Felix suddenly and unexpectedly passed from Pulmonary Thrombosis. After years of trying to heal, but meeting broken men in the process, Mimi finally met her next chapter in December of 2018. She is now happily in love again, with a successful career, and a new life. She took a chance at starting her next chapter, and in November 2019, moved from Tampa to Near Miami to start her life with her new partner in crime, Henry.

7) Heidi Gutierrez joined this club that nobody wants to join, back in 2014, when her husband Arnel passed from a pulmonary embolism while cycling near their home in Scotch Plains, NJ. Today, she is surrounded by many friends in and outside the widowed community, including her family consisting of me, Dave, our boy Benji, and our two fur babies, Ziggy and Xena.

ABOUT LAUGH AT THE ODDS:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LaughAtTheOddsPodcastWithHeidiDave
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/laughattheoddspodcast
LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/LaughAtTheOddsPodcast
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