How to Support a Grieving Parent & Keep Their Child’s Memory Alive with The Madeleine Camille Foundation
Guest name: Lauren McDaniel
Business name: The Madeleine Camille Foundation 501(c)(3)
Losing a child changes a family forever. Grief doesn’t simply disappear with time—and moving forward doesn’t mean leaving behind the person you love.
In this episode, I sit down with Lauren McDaniel, co-founder of the Madeleine Camille Foundation, created in memory of her daughter, Maddie, who died at 37 days old in 2019.
Lauren speaks openly about child loss and what the past six years have taught her about grief, guilt, therapy, and learning to experience joy while still carrying someone you love.
We also talk about how to support grieving families when you don’t know what to say. Lauren reminds us that you don’t need the perfect words. Show up, offer specific help, continue checking in—and don’t be afraid to say their child’s name.
Lauren also shares how keeping Maddie’s memory alive grew into the Madeleine Camille Foundation, which now provides direct financial support to families after the loss of a child.
In this episode, we cover:
Maddie’s story and Lauren’s experience with infant loss
What Lauren has learned through SIDS research
Why grief isn’t a linear process
What grieving parents truly need from the people around them
Why showing up and saying their child’s name matters
Creating meaningful traditions after loss
The story behind Maddie’s Bows
How the Madeleine Camille Foundation supports grieving families
Maddie’s Playground and the commemorative stones at Coal Creek Park (Erie, CO)
Caring for your emotional, physical, and relational well-being through grief
How our community can better support families after child loss
Lauren describes grief like carrying a sharp stone in your pocket. At first, the edges are painful and you feel it constantly. Over time, those edges soften, but the stone remains.
Today, Lauren finds joy, meaning, and connection while still carrying the loss of Maddie. For her, the foundation is one way she continues to parent her daughter and keep her memory alive—but she also reminds us that there is no single right way to grieve or honor someone you love.
If you have experienced the loss of a child, know someone who is grieving, or simply want to better understand how to show up after profound loss, I hope this conversation offers comfort, perspective, and a reminder that none of us have to navigate grief alone.
This episode is your reminder that moving forward doesn’t mean moving on. We can continue living, loving, and finding joy while still carrying—and speaking the names of—the people we’ve lost.