They met in a grief support group after losing their husband and wife and neither of them was looking for a new relationship.
In this episode of The David Watson Podcast, Bob and Tammy Cranston share a rare and genuinely uplifting story about love after loss: how grief brought them into the same room, how a simple “new normal” list turned into ballroom dancing, and how laughter returned for the first time after death.
Tammy also shares the journey of caring for a spouse with stage four cancer, why she became a hospice bereavement volunteer, and what she learned from listening to people at the end of life.
Bob, a neurologist, speaks openly about losing his wife and what it means to move forward without erasing the love that came before.
This conversation is about grief, faith, starting over, and what it looks like when a new relationship honours the old one instead of competing with it.
In this conversation:
• How they met through a hospice-sponsored grief support group
• The moment laughter returned (and the guilt that followed)
• “You can’t go back, you can’t stay here — you must go forward”
• Why bitterness can destroy you (and how they avoided it)
• The power of a blank journal and living intentionally
• Their tandem bicycle adventures across the USA
• How to love again without forgetting the person you lost Where to find Tammy and their books:
Website: tammycranston.com Books mentioned include: Why Not Me (memoir) and The Blank Journal (plus a children’s series on grief).
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: two losses, one love story
00:39 How they met in grief support
02:00 Tammy’s story: divorce, remarriage, cancer, hospice
03:57 Bob’s story: loss, reading grief books, joining the group
05:09 The “matchmaking” that wasn’t planned
06:36 Creating a new normal: the list that changed everything
07:22 Ballroom dancing begins
09:04 The first laugh after loss (and the guilt)
09:49 “Are we meeting as friends or is this a date?”
11:03 Choosing health: counselling and compatibility results
12:33 Family blessing and a wedding built around dancing
13:32 “Life is for the living”
14:19 The blank journal and building a shared bucket list @
15:36 Tumour news, perspective, and living intentionally
20:17 Adventures after marriage: tandem biking and memory-making
24:02 Turning the journey into a book
26:15 Bear territory, wrong directions, and the shortcut decision
29:49 Avoiding bitterness through faith
31:06 “Why not me?” and finding meaning after loss
34:57 What dying people regret most
37:19 The Blank Journal as a film-worthy story
41:48 Fear of loving and losing again
42:39 Honouring former partners without competition
44:13 The burial plot story: four lives, one shared respect
47:36 Children’s books that help kids understand grief
49:37 Where to find them and their work
50:20 Time machine question
54:10 Closing reflection: take the leap of faith