How to Deal When the Shit Gets Real Podcast · Rietta Boksha

Greg Linkowski MD: Faith and Loss | Coping with the Death of a Child, Grief and Spiritual Doubt

·51 min·3 clips

At 13, Greg wrestled a loaded .45 out of his father's hand.

1. How to Deal When the Shit Gets Real Podcast features Rieta interviewing Greg Linkowski, MD, about faith, loss, and coping with family trauma. 2. Greg Linkowski, MD, is the guest, and he says he has "lived two lifetimes rolled into one" at age 71. 3. The episode asks how Greg deals with "the shit" in life, and his answer centers on purpose, forgiveness, and making the "last quarter" of life the best one. 4. Greg says he lived through a traumatic childhood, the life and death of his medically fragile son David, and a long career as a diagnostic radiologist. 5. He describes growing up in a conservative Catholic, blue-collar family outside New York City, going to Catholic grade school, high school, and college. 6. Greg says his father was a World War II Navy veteran at Omaha Beach who later struggled with untreated PTSD and alcohol abuse. 7. He says his mother was the oldest of nine children and likely became a surrogate parent in a working-class household. 8. Greg recalls that when he was about 5, his sister became seriously ill, and he began finding comfort in excelling at school. 9. He describes a Saturday morning at age 13 or 14 when his father fired a loaded 45 caliber pistol into the kitchen floor and announced he was going upstairs to kill himself. 10. Greg says the family charged at his father on the stairs, subdued him, and he wrestled the gun out of his right hand. 11. He says the family later acted as if the event never happened, leaving him with years of anger, sadness, and therapy. 12. Greg says he and his siblings grew closer over time, especially after both parents died and his mother passed away at almost 95. 13. He says the inheritance split was seamless, which he presents as a sign of fairness, kindness, and compassion among the siblings. 14. Greg says his youngest son, Sammy, is gay, and that experience changed how he thinks about judgment, parenting, and his conservative Catholic upbringing. 15. He says he now believes parents do not own their children and should focus on revering the joy of being parents. 16. Greg explains that David was born in early 1993, showed developmental delay at about 3.5 months, and was later found to have disorganized white matter that caused seizures. 17. He says David was functionally a quadriplegic, required 24/7 care, and had repeated emergencies including 911 calls and trips to Valley Children's Hospital. 18. Greg says journaling for about 30 years helped him process David's life, and he later wrote Dare to Thrive: Lessons Learned from a Trauma Survivor with help from a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter. 19. The conversation stays direct and reflective, with Rieta asking follow-up questions and Greg moving between personal stories, faith language, and practical advice. 20. People dealing with grief, abusive family dynamics, or caregiving stress would find this episode useful, while listeners wanting light banter or fast comedy probably would not.

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