This week on Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grielf Dialogue, we hold space for what’s hardest to say. Dionne C. Monsanto and Yvette Love Dávila are joined by Dr. Denisse Centeno-Lamas, whose work in suicide prevention is rooted in culture, faith, and lived experience.

This episode moves beyond facts into the body of grief itself—migration, loneliness, burnout, depression, and the silence that keeps people from asking for help. Dr. Denisse shares how loss, community trauma, and her own mental health journey shaped her calling, while the hosts name the harm of stigma in faith spaces and the myth that prayer alone can heal everything.

Together, they remind us: mental health is health. Language matters. Culture matters. And talking—honestly, compassionately—can save lives.

The conversation closes with a Moment of Ashé, speaking names, honoring ancestors and loved ones, and offering grief the dignity of being seen.

Come breathe with us. Come name it. Come heal it.

Send us a text

Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grief Dialogue is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios and hosted by Yvette Dávila and Dionne C. Monsanto. Each episode offers a brave and intimate space where grief is spoken aloud, healing is shared, and love refuses to fade—listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever your journey takes you.

Join the conversation on Instagram @2mothers1achepod and learn more at wearemerrickstudios.com/two-mothers-one-ache-pod.

Original music by Dasan T. Broadnax, known artistically as O.D. Mongrel. Discover more of his work on all streaming platforms.

No funeral. No ritual. No “closure.” Just a relationship that ends while everybody’s still alive and a grief we’re rarely taught to name.

In this episode of Two Mothers, One Aché, Dionne and Yvette ground the space and dive into ambiguous loss: friendships that fade, people who ghost, and relationships that rupture without an ending. The kind of grief that lingers because there’s no ritual, no permission, and no clear goodbye.

Dionne reflects on a bracelet she still wears, a living reminder of a friend who disappeared, and how relational loss can shake identity, safety, and belonging. Yvette names what’s happening beneath the surface: when there’s no closure, the body and spirit stay tethered.

Together, they unpack guilt, boundaries, and the myth of “forgive and forget,” exploring how grief and relief can exist at the same time, especially when a loss is protective. They also offer practical tools, journaling, mirror work, and simple release rituals, to help give form to grief that’s been sitting in the shadows.

Because grief doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs to be witnessed. Come breathe with us. Come name it. Come heal it.

Aché.

Send us a text

Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grief Dialogue is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios and hosted by Yvette Dávila and Dionne C. Monsanto. Each episode offers a brave and intimate space where grief is spoken aloud, healing is shared, and love refuses to fade—listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever your journey takes you.

Join the conversation on Instagram @2mothers1achepod and learn more at wearemerrickstudios.com/two-mothers-one-ache-pod.

Original music by Dasan T. Broadnax, known artistically as O.D. Mongrel. Discover more of his work on all streaming platforms.

Grief doesn’t come with a script… but somehow everybody shows up holding one.

Dionne C. Monsanto and Yvette Love Dávila get real about the phrases people say when they mean well but cause real harm—“At least you have other children,” “God has a plan,” “Time heals all wounds,” and even “How are you?” They break down why these lines minimize pain, rush healing, and miss the moment entirely—and what empathy actually sounds like instead.

This conversation also gives practical ways to show up: presence over platitudes, specifics over big questions, and love that looks like action (food, help, “I’m here—no response needed”). The episode closes with an Ashé moment, breathing life into the names of loved ones: Joseph Guadalupe, Nan Kalaliku Tayahimba, Justin Ross, Tina Allen, Aunt Cynthia Wallace, and Ramona Anderson.

Aché.

Send us a text

Two Mothers, One Aché: A Grief Dialogue is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios and hosted by Yvette Dávila and Dionne C. Monsanto. Each episode offers a brave and intimate space where grief is spoken aloud, healing is shared, and love refuses to fade—listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever your journey takes you.

Join the conversation on Instagram @2mothers1achepod and learn more at wearemerrickstudios.com/two-mothers-one-ache-pod.

Original music by Dasan T. Broadnax, known artistically as O.D. Mongrel. Discover more of his work on all streaming platforms.