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This episode was originally released on August 18th, 2018.

The Sugars have been thinking about what it means to say goodbye and let go. In this first episode of our two-part series on moving on, the Sugars and Claire Bidwell Smith answer two letters from people struggling to move past their grief after the death of their loved ones.

The first letter comes from a woman who recently discovered that her best childhood friend died by suicide. In the wake of the news, she spent hours pouring over letters from her friend, and realized that there were signs of trouble early in life. Now she\u2019s haunted by the fact that she failed to intervene years ago. \u201cI keep ruminating on how Alejandra might have killed herself and where she was when she did it,\u201d she writes. \u201cI feel so much guilt from my complacency.\u201d

A second letter writer, who calls herself \u201cWracked by Guilt,\u201d feels similarly about the death of her mother. \u201cHow do I get over the sickening feeling that I played a role in my mom\u2019s death?\u201d she asks. \u201cHow is it possible for me to stop trying to place blame and simply accept the situation?\u201d

Claire Bidwell Smith is a licensed therapist specializing in grief, and the author of several books, including \u201cThe Rules of Inheritance.\u201d She writes and speaks about grief regularly, and offers online grief support in addition to her private practice. Her new book, \u201cAnxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief,\u201d will be released on Sept. 25th.