Lenny Hunt’s story begins with an ordinary moment every parent knows—a quick glance into the backseat to share a smile with his son.
Seconds later, both of his boys were gone.
What followed wasn’t healing. It was survival. For years, Lenny lived in the wreckage—haunted by guilt, drowning in self-punishment, and convinced he didn’t deserve to be alive. But slowly, through heartbreak, faith, and brutal honesty, he learned what it means to rebuild from nothing.
In this raw, unforgettable conversation, Lenny joins Jason to talk about the cost of avoiding grief—and the unexpected beauty of learning to walk with it. Together, they use a Jenga tower to illustrate what really collapses after loss: not only the person you loved, but your confidence, friendships, joy, and sense of purpose.
What’s left standing tells the truth about resilience.
Key Moments:
[00:00] – A brutal grief day. Jason opens the episode admitting he almost canceled. What follows becomes a real-time demonstration of what it means to show up anyway.
[02:00] – “Every parent’s nightmare.” Lenny recounts the day of the accident that claimed the lives of his sons, Dawson and Devin. His final memory of them—and the moment that changed everything.
[08:30] – Survivor’s guilt and the mask we wear. Why Lenny spent years hiding the scar on his forehead and how shame shaped the way he moved through the world.
[10:45] – Self-destruction disguised as survival. The years of poor decisions, addiction, and self-punishment that followed—and the moment he realized he didn’t believe he deserved anything better.
[17:15] – A glimmer of light. How a phone call, a move across states, and meeting the woman who would become his wife began to rebuild his life.
[24:50] – “You recognized it.” Lenny reframes Jason’s hard grief day as a powerful moment of awareness—the first step toward healing.
[28:30] – The Jenga demonstration. A masterclass in grief education: Lenny shows how secondary losses—confidence, sleep, joy, relationships, optimism—slowly dismantle our structure until one more piece sends it all crashing down.
[44:00] – The myth of “no right or wrong way to grieve.” Lenny challenges one of the most common and harmful clichés about grief.
[50:40] – Grief days vs. secondary loss days. Why understanding the difference can change how you move through healing—and help you stop confusing emotional exhaustion with grief itself.
[53:50] – “Good grief” vs. “ugly grief.” What it really means to walk with loss instead of letting it own you.
[58:50] – Faith, doubt, and surrender. Jason opens up about his unexpected pull toward Christianity; Lenny shares how his belief carried him through the years after the accident.
[1:06:40] – Triggers that never fade. How grief still shows up for Lenny years later—in traffic, in movies, in the quiet moments before the holidays—and how love helps him through.
[1:09:30] – Hope and invitation. Lenny closes with a reminder that healing doesn’t mean being “over it”—it means learning to live with what’s missing.
You’ll Hear:
The single moment that rewired Lenny’s life—and what survivor’s guilt really sounds like
Why hiding his scar became a metaphor for every mask we wear in grief
The difference between good grief and ugly grief—and how to know which one you’re living in
Why “there’s no right or wrong way to grieve” might be the most dangerous lie we tell ourselves
How to tell the difference between a grief day and a secondary loss day
How faith, love, and human connection helped him start over
Connect with Lenny:
🌐 LennyHuntCoaching.com — Learn about his 12-week Good Grief coaching program.
💬 The Good Grief Group — Join his online healing community. Use coupon code MANDOWN for a free month!
🎥 TikTok | YouTube — Follow his viral grief education and talks.
🎙️ Listen to this one when you’re tired of being told to “move on.”
It’s not about letting go. It’s about learning how to carry it.
Conversations with people like Lenny remind me how many men are silently fighting battles they don’t know how to win.
Most men try to think their way out of pain. I did too. Hell, I still do at times.
10 Hard Truths Every Man Needs to Hear About Grief is the guide I wish I’d had.
It’s straight talk about what grief does to you, and how to stop getting stuck in it.
And it’s totally free.
