Title:

Episode 10: The Shoot

Description:

After months of surviving courtrooms, exchanges, and silence, I stepped back into the world. I started protesting. I worked with an artisan boutique. And then—I did a photoshoot. Just jeans, a bra, and a jacket.

This episode is about what it felt like to be seen again. To reclaim my body. To remember who I was before the losses piled up.

It was the night I met Eddie.

His motorcycle got stuck in the sand.

Me and the girls pushed it out while he stayed seated.

I didn’t realize it then, but that moment told me everything.

Themes:

• Post-separation trauma
• Maternal identity
• Re-emergence and reclaiming visibility
• Emotional labor and early red flags
• Female embodiment and truth-telling

Content Warning:

This episode includes themes of maternal grief, emotional imbalance in early relationships, and the subtle beginnings of control. If that feels too close today, come back when you’re ready. No pressure.

After the driveway exchange, I didn’t feel strong. I felt broken. In this episode, I talk about what came next—what it looked like to survive the aftermath. The grief that settled into my bones. The rage I never expected. The stories that were told about me while I was fighting every day just to keep going. And the moment I started reclaiming my voice.

This story is for every mother who’s been misjudged. For every woman carrying her pain in silence. And for anyone who’s ever had to rebuild from the rubble.

Themes:

• Post-separation abuse
• Maternal grief and trauma
• Emotional recovery
• Identity and reclaiming power
• Family estrangement
• Surviving legal and systemic injustice
• Turning points in healing

Content Warnings:

This episode contains sensitive content including references to emotional distress, maternal rage, post-separation abuse, and the grief of losing custody. If you’re not ready to hear those themes today, that’s okay. Come back when you’re ready. No urgency, no shame.

They weren’t even allowed to cry.

Sometimes it was their father putting hands on Ash.

Sometimes it was their grandmother threatening to send them to their room if they showed any emotion.

So I stopped saying goodbye in the driveway.

This episode is about the violence of drop-offs, and how I learned to reroute love — how I started pulling over a few blocks away just so we could have a moment to hug, to say hello, to say goodbye. Because the driveway wasn’t safe. But I could still create something that was.

It’s also about the road trips, the exhaustion, the music, the Ohio hotel with the water park — and how I mothered in the margins of what was left to me.

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In this episode:

• Emotional abuse at drop-off
• Creating safety through routine and ritual
• Road trip traditions: hotel stops, goodie bags, and Johnny Cash
• Grieving a life you’re still building
• Loving children through state lines and silences

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Start from Episode 1 to understand the full story. Each chapter builds on the last.

Don’t Call Me is written and hosted by Em.