Julie Barth Shares How She Rebuilt Life After Loss And Trauma
Send us Fan MailSome people hear “unthinkable” once in a lifetime. Julie Barth heard it again and again, and still found a way to keep her family standing. Julie is an author and the founder of Colin James Barth Outreach, and she joins us to share a life shaped by rare disease, caregiving, grief, and the slow work of rebuilding. From the Chicago suburbs to raising a big family, she walks us through the moments that changed everything and the mindset shifts that helped her survive them.We talk about her daughter Tatum’s early medical crisis, the frustrating “failure to thrive” label, and the eventual discovery of primordial dwarfism, a rare form of dwarfism that finally explained what doctors could not name. Julie shares what it’s like to live inside constant monitoring and uncertainty, and why she chose quality of life over a life consumed by appointments, fear, and other people’s comfort. If you’re a special needs parent, caregiver, or someone trying to support one, her words on isolation and invisibility will feel painfully familiar and deeply validating.Julie also opens up about losing her first husband Colin to pancreatic cancer, becoming a widowed stay at home mom, and turning to writing to preserve a story her children could hold on to. Then we go to the harder chapter: a second marriage marked by emotional abuse, the cycle that kept pulling her back, and the moment she realized her kids were carrying the cost. She leaves us with practical steps for healing, including a simple way to regain control when life feels overwhelming, plus how her charity helps women-led households in crisis create a plan forward.If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find it. What part of Julie’s story stayed with you?Juliebarthauthor.com, my charity at cjboutreach.org. Support the show
