How Do I Keep Going Without Her? Kelly S. Thompson

When Kelly S. Thompson and her older sister Meghan were children, they were close. Meghan was Kelly’s protector and constant as they moved around as a military family. Things shifted when Meghan hit adolescence and started using substances. Their connection disintegrated and they spent years barely in touch. When Meghan stopped using, they came back together and worked to rebuild trust and repair their relationship. Then, on the same day Meghan gave birth to her second child, she was diagnosed with a cancer that would end her life in less than two years. Kelly became her primary caregiver, going with Meghan to treatment and being with her in the hospital up until the last few moments of her life. Before she died, Meghan made Kelly promise to write their story. Kelly kept that promise with her new memoir, Still, I Cannot Save You.

We discuss:

• The arc of Kelly & Meghan’s relationship

• The process of repairing that relationship

• What it was like to care for Meghan after her cancer diagnosis

• Kelly’s relationship with survival mode

• Why the grocery store kicks up her grief

• The ways writing helps Kelly cope and stay connected to Meghan

• How Meghan loved Kelly (without condition or hesitation)

• The ongoing heaviness of grief

• Answering the question “How do I keep moving in a world that doesn’t have this brilliant human being in it?”