This week on the Jim Bratton Podcast, we step into one of Galveston's most joyful traditions.

The Grand Kids Festival is celebrating 30 years, and Fallon Duford from The Grand 1894 Opera House joins us to talk about a three-block outdoor festival filled with performances, storytelling, arts, food, and free family fun.

If you want to know what's happening in Galveston on April 25th, this is your insider guide https://www.thegrand.com/the-grand-kids-festival/

Behind the scenes video. https://youtu.be/GbE96ZB5dFI

In this moving episode of the Jim Bratton Podcast, Jim sits down with Rose Sulentic, and Tracy Tang, two non-traditional medical students whose lives and careers have been shaped by deeply personal experiences with grief.

This conversation explores the emotional landscape of anticipatory grief, healing through writing, medicine's human side, and the creation of a remarkable Grief Kit designed to help others process loss.

This is a thoughtful, vulnerable discussion about what grief really looks like—not always visible, but always present.

Grief Kit Links.

https://clammy-preface-32a.notion.site/The-Grief-Kit-A-Resource-for-Medical-Trainees-Navigating-Loss-335b5f33cd24804d8881c35ead870122

Flipbook (best reading experience):

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/696653ed67.html#page/1

Behind the Scenes Video https://youtu.be/yE3oDhQpgSU

About the Guests

Tracy Tang is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford. Prior to medical school, she practiced as an occupational therapist. She is the founder of the Humanities in Medicine Lecture Series, an initiative dedicated to integrating the humanities into medical training, and serves as a co-editor and contributor to the Grief Kit.

RoseSulentic, MPH, is a medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch with a background in public health and epidemiology. She was a co-director for the Humanities in Medicine Lecture series, and is the editor and contributor to The Grief Kit, a zine designed to help individuals navigate grief and loss.

In one of the most emotional and courageous episodes of Focus Your Inner Bitch, Mary Bratton shares the darkest night of her life—and the mindset that carried her through it.

What begins as a conversation about practical safety lessons for women living alone becomes something far deeper: a raw, unforgettable story of surviving a violent assault, refusing shame, and choosing strength over fear.

Mary's reflections are not about victimhood. They are about vigilance, resilience, and the decision not to let trauma define the rest of your life.

This episode is difficult, honest, and ultimately empowering.

If you have ever faced fear, violation, or a moment that could have changed your life forever, this conversation is for you.

Before Jim: Mary Bratton's Dating Adventures

Suggested Episode Introduction (Libsyn / show notes)
In this hilarious and surprisingly candid episode of Focus Your Inner Bitch: The Mary Bratton Story, Mary opens up about the unforgettable men she dated before meeting Jim—from the Audi guy who was shaken by her Mercedes, to the charming younger fling, to the wildly over-planned metallurgist with a "sex closet" proposal.

With warmth, humor, and Mary's trademark honesty, this episode becomes a playful look at intuition, red flags, attraction, and how life's strange turns eventually led her to the right man—Jim and his Delta 88.

A funny, revealing, and deeply human conversation about dating, standards, and the stories we carry into love.

Behind the scenes Video. https://youtu.be/WY1bWpxumoo

Dave Baca shares how his journey from engineering to library science led him to build Happy Town Community, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening other nonprofits. Through strategic planning, board development, and operational support, He is helping organizations move from ideas to measurable impact. This episode explores how strong systems, clear messaging, and community collaboration can transform both nonprofits and the communities they serve

Here's a link to a bonus behind the Scenes of the podcast. https://youtu.be/ELl5IUPd6sw

David R. Baca, PhD

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584315827666#

Suicide prevention often begins with a simple conversation. In this episode of The Jim Bratton Podcast, Jim speaks with Kelly Day and Shanice Blair from the Galveston chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Drawing from their work as a teacher and a mental health therapist, they discuss how young people experience emotional struggles, why talking about suicide openly can save lives, and how communities can respond. The conversation also highlights the upcoming Out of the Darkness Walk, a powerful event dedicated to awareness, support, and healing.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, https://afspwalks.donordrive.com/Galveston

In this episode of Focus Your Inner Bitch, Mary Bratton reflects on her travel adventures — from Rome to Mexico City — and the curious reality of always being mistaken for "from somewhere else." What begins as humorous cultural confusion unfolds into stories of broken tour buses, hitchhiked rides, daily bouquets from an embarrassed Italian guide, and the quiet advantage of not being immediately identified as American. It's a story about identity, language, adventure, and the confidence to move through the world on your own terms.