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All There Is with Anderson Cooper
Grief can feel so lonely but talking about it and listening to others share their experiences helps. In all new episodes of this award-winning podcast, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal exploration of grief in all its complexities. In moving and honest discussions, he learns from others who have faced life-altering losses. Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis
Isaiah Thomas: The Loneliness of Grief
All There Is with Anderson Cooper
May 14, 2026
Isaiah Thomas's youngest sister, Chyna, was killed in a car crash the night before he played in the 2017 NBA playoffs. In 2024, his oldest sister LaQuisha died as well. Isaiah tells Anderson Cooper he is "still struggling," but he also shares powerful insights he has learned about grief as tries to "go forward, without moving on." For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Grace Walker, Emily Williams, Madeleine Thompson, Kyra Dahring Video Editor: Eric Zembrzuski Technical Director: Dan Dzula Bookers: Kerry Rubin and Kari Pricher
Episode Transcript
Anderson Cooper
00:00:01
'Welcome to All There Is. Wherever you are in your grief, you're not alone. I was talking with a friend of mine who doesn't listen to this podcast and he's experienced a number of losses in his life but he really doesn't wanna think much about them which I certainly understand. He asked me, isn't it depressing to do all these interviews all the time? And I thought about it for a moment and then I told him the truth, which is it's not. It's sad often, it's emotional but these are the most real conversations that I have with people. It's one human being connecting with and learning from another about a fundamental experience that we all share. My friend didn't really want to hear more about it, but I was kind of on a roll, so I kept going. But what is depressing to me, I said, what's depressed me much of my life is not having these conversations, except with myself in my head. The loneliness of that, that to me is what is depressing. I really love the conversation that you're about to hear. It's with Isaiah Thomas. He's a two-time NBA All-Star, and the fact that he's five-foot-nine inches makes that even more impressive. But what so impressed me about him is his willingness to speak about loss and his vulnerability. Two of Isaiah's three sisters have died. His sister, LaQuisha, died in 2024. And his youngest sister, Chyna, died in 2017 on the eve of the NBA playoffs. She was killed in a car crash in Washington State. She was about to turn 23. The day after Chyna died, Isaiah played in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Chicago Bulls. He played with Chyna's name written on his shoes, and in 38 minutes, he scored 33 points. A few weeks later, on what would have been Chyna's 23rd birthday, Isaiah scored a career-high 53 points in an overtime victory against the Washington Wizards. I spoke to Isaiah Thomas May 1st, the day before what would've been Chyna 32nd birthday. Can you tell me about Chyna? What was she like?
Isaiah Thomas
00:01:58
Chyna was, man, we were connected like this. Like anytime I had to go to the gym, anytime I have basketball tournaments, even if she didn't want to, like she was the tag along. She was everywhere I was, always super positive and super energetic, outspoken, outgoing, and just loving. Tomorrow's her birthday, actually. She would be 32.
Anderson Cooper
00:02:21
So she had been to like every game?
Isaiah Thomas
00:02:22
Everything. Growing up, middle school, high school, college, anytime I could look in the stands, she's right there with my dad. So like, truly my biggest fan in life.
Anderson Cooper
00:02:34
There's a great video of Chyna, and if it's okay, do you mind if we play it?
Clip from "Go Forward" documentary
00:02:40
How you feelin' sis? Good? I'm good. Yeah, IT's apartment man I'm waiting for this draft to start, we got about 15 minutes. Knowing Tina nervous. I've been walking around. You're just excited. You're excited. Oh, I love him. That's my big brother. So, I mean, I don't know. Words can't really express what I can say to him. Me and Isaiah are like this, like dreams are turning to reality basically. So, it's just showtime.
Anderson Cooper
00:03:11
'That was a party for the draft. So the whole family's gathered to... You were picked- you were pick the last pick. I mean, what a cliffhanger.
Isaiah Thomas
00:03:21
I remember my mom calling me around like the 56th pick, 57th pick. She's like, son, are you all right? And I'm like, I'm as good as I'm gonna be. Like I don't know what's going on. She said a Bible scripture. She said, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Around like the 58th pick, my agent called me back, was like, Sacramento Kings are gonna pick you with the last pick and all my negative emotions went out the window. Because at the end of the day, as a kid growing up, my dream was to hear my name called. Whether it was the first pick or the last pick, it didn't really matter. I was blessed and I was super thankful. I'm drafted in 2011. I played for the Kings, Phoenix Suns, then I get traded in 2015 to Boston.
Anderson Cooper
00:04:02
When you got to the Celtics, there was a team that was kind of rebuilding, but you really set the tone.
Isaiah Thomas
00:04:10
Yeah, I just tried to change the culture. They needed a player like me, and I needed an organization like them to give me the opportunity to showcase my skills. And we turned that whole season around in 2017.
Anderson Cooper
00:04:21
What happened to Chyna?
Isaiah Thomas
00:04:22
We're preparing to play the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. A day before the playoffs start, my little sister gets in a single car crash, fell asleep at the wheel really late at night driving. I didn't know about it until the next morning. We'd just get up and we'd practice. I'm going through my regular routine and one of my close friends, Avery Bradley, on the Celtics, we're actually from the same neighborhood and he knows Chyna, he knows my family, so he was like, IT, come here, I got something to tell you, it's important. And when we went back in the locker room, he was, like, bro, your sister passed away. I'm like, what are you talking about? So I go to my phone and I see calls from my dad, my mom, my wife. So I called my dad back and he just breaks it to me. And he couldn't really talk at the time either. I've only seen my dad cry like three or four times in my life, but I've never seen my dad be that emotional. So I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go to him, he couldn't go to me, I couldn't to go to anybody. It was unbelievable, the news I heard. Like I'm preparing to play the Chicago Bulls, we're the number one seed. The best year of my career and the worst year of my life, like at the same time.
Anderson Cooper
00:05:43
Had you had any experience with loss?
Isaiah Thomas
00:05:45
My auntie passed away, like older people in my family, and my grandparents, great grandparents, but not like my sister and my youngest sister at that. Like I would never think that would happen. She just was reaching out to me about coming out to the playoffs. She's like, you know, my birthday's coming up it's my Jordan year. Cause she would have been 23. So all of those things are like going through my head, I remember just leaving my stuff in the locker room and getting in the car and just crying for like 30 minutes straight. My coach comes outside, security comes outside. Then you know the people just trying to help, but like there was nothing you can possibly do. It was like the most numb moments I've ever had. I wanted to go be with my family to try to help them out. But I remember talking to my dad that night and he's like you know what your sister would want you to do. She would want to you to play. And you coming home isn't gonna do anything right now. So many people were texting and reaching out to me. Kobe Bryant sent me a long text. Condolences, I'm sorry to hear the news. But at the end of the text he said. If you are gonna play, there's no excuses. And you're gonna be who you always been. Kobe Bryant is my favorite player ever. So to see him reach out to me and say, if you are gonna play, you go out there and be who you are, because that's what your sister would want. There was no other way around it. That's what I was doing. So then the next day, I just showed up at the arena, like a normal day. Because anything I've ever been through in life, basketball's always been the space where it takes everything away. For two, three hours, I don't think about anything other than the game, and it puts me in a great space. That's the only thing I knew. So I went to arena, prepared like I usually do. My body was there, my mind wasn't. And it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I remember being in warmups and just starting to cry because it was like, it just didn't seem real.
Anderson Cooper
00:08:00
There's a video, and Avery Bradley comes over and puts his arm around you because you're crying. It was just a beautiful moment. It was such a human thing that he did.
Isaiah Thomas
00:08:12
That was one of the moments where I just couldn't hold it in. I was just like, how did this happen? Just having someone there at that moment was like the smallest thing. And it was everything. He was the one that told me the day before. You know how hard that is? His mom had passed away a year before that.
Anderson Cooper
00:08:29
So he knew.
Isaiah Thomas
00:08:30
He knew. He knew exactly the emotions I was going through.
Anderson Cooper
00:08:36
'But it wasn't like he was trying to fix it or stop it. It was just-.
Isaiah Thomas
00:08:40
He was just there when everybody else was scared to, you know, be around me. And it wasn't even their fault.
Anderson Cooper
00:08:47
'People don't know what to-
Isaiah Thomas
00:08:47
You don't what to say, you don't anything. For him to really be there for me at that time, that was everything. So I'm super thankful for him and all my teammates. So I played through that game. We ended up losing right when the game got over and I was leaving the arena. It just hit me again. The real life just hit me.
Anderson Cooper
00:09:11
It doesn't go away.
Isaiah Thomas
00:09:12
And it doesn't. Every time I would go to practice, every time I was playing a game, I would be okay. And then right when the game's over, I had no energy to speak to anybody. It was like the opposite of who I was, because I was the life of the locker room. I was energy on the team. It was killing me, seeing my teammates walk on eggshells because they didn't know how to react. So I had to fake it. Like I had to somehow put a smile on for my teammates. Cause it was bigger than me at that point. Like I was hurting my teammates, it was the hardest thing I ever had to navigate through while playing against the best players in the world and trying to win a championship.
Anderson Cooper
00:09:51
When you played, you wrote Chyna's name on your shoe. You wrote RIP, Lil' Sis, and the date of her death.
Isaiah Thomas
00:09:59
The only reason why I was playing was for her. Like the only reason, and it takes me back to just the YMCA, being at the community center. Anytime I'm lacing my shoes up, and she right there, so that's the reason why I wrote those things on my shoes. She would always text me, she said, showtime. Her and my dad would always text me that before a game. Since I was in high school, and it was showtime, it was just a different time with her not being there.
Anderson Cooper
00:10:27
You scored 33 points in 38 minutes in that game. You almost won, I mean, you brought the team back.
Isaiah Thomas
00:10:33
Yeah, I played pretty well, but everybody was numb. The whole organization was going through what I was going though.
Anderson Cooper
00:10:40
A reporter asked you a question in the locker room. I just want to play what you said.
Reporter
00:10:46
I'm sure Celtic fans would like to know just how you're doing. How are you doing?
Isaiah Thomas
00:10:52
'I'm just taking it day by day. I'm not- some days are better than others, but I'm not here, man. It's never going to be the same.
Anderson Cooper
00:11:05
I'm not here, I so understand that. I felt that a lot in my life, like I'm not even here, like, I'm half a person. When I heard that, I was like, oh, I get that.
Isaiah Thomas
00:11:18
I was just being completely honest. It was like, there's no way I'm here. Like I'm not present. That's really how I feel.
Anderson Cooper
00:11:28
Do you feel like you're here now? Not here, here, but do you, in general?
Isaiah Thomas
00:11:33
'I feel like I'm getting better with things, but fast forward, my older sister, LaQuisha, passed away a year and a half ago. The same thing, the same exact feeling. So for that-
Anderson Cooper
00:11:44
It took you right back to that.
Isaiah Thomas
00:11:45
It took me right back. It took me right back, and I got one more sister left, and I pray to God nothing happens to her, because I'm just not trying to do things on my own. And that's probably the hardest part. Is just being lonely.
Anderson Cooper
00:12:02
We'll be right back with more of my conversation with Isaiah Thomas. You went back to Seattle to speak at your sister's funeral, and then you flew back to Boston. Four hours later, you're playing the second round of the playoffs.
Isaiah Thomas
00:12:17
I get in at like eight, I go home, change, and go straight to the arena. Game one, my tooth comes out. Like out of all times in my life, I've been hit in my mouth, I been hit in my tooth, I'd been hit, and it's never came out.
Anderson Cooper
00:12:33
It was literally laying on the floor. You picked it up.
Isaiah Thomas
00:12:36
'I pick it up and I go take it to the trainer. We end up winning game one, I have a pretty good game. In between game one and two, I had 13 hours of dental surgery. Game two is on my sister's birthday. May 2nd. Every shot I made- every shot was going in and the magnitude of the game, it was a close game, we went into overtime. It was one shot where a guy fouled me and I lost the ball and it still threw it in and it went in and I'm like, I look up like, this is insane. And I've had a 50 point game before in the NBA. I've have games where it's like, dang, those shots are going in.
Anderson Cooper
00:13:12
'I've seen videos of it like every, like you're taking crazy shots-
Isaiah Thomas
00:13:15
It was just going in and I knew it like I'm like that's her. I felt her. She was at that game. Me to score 53 points on her birthday in a moment where the world was watching. I didn't hear my coach, I didn't hear my teammates.
Anderson Cooper
00:13:33
Because obviously the crowd is going crazy.
Isaiah Thomas
00:13:34
Crazy. It was silent. I didn't hear the fans. I didn't hear nothing. There was no emotion. I had no emotion in that game. I wasn't there. I was in the gym by myself at the YMCA Community Center growing up and she's right there. That was all God and all my sister. That was for her.
Anderson Cooper
00:13:56
You were asked about it after the game.
Reporter
00:14:00
Where is this coming from, man, where is this coming from?
Isaiah Thomas
00:14:03
It's my sister. It's her birthday today. Happy birthday. She would have been 23 today. So everything I do is for her and she's watching over me. So that's all her.
Anderson Cooper
00:14:17
Do you remember that?
Isaiah Thomas
00:14:22
Yeah, I remember that. I remember every moment. Right when I walk out the arena, it slaps you in the face. All that cool stuff, winning a playoff game, scoring a career high. That was one of the most amazing moments, but you don't understand what really matters until it really matters. That was among the moments that basketball just didn't matter.
Anderson Cooper
00:14:46
Your dad talked about how he didn't know how you played those games. I just wanna play what he said.
Isaiah Thomas
00:14:52
Yeah.
Clip from "Go Forward" documentary
00:14:55
I don't know how you played because I couldn't do anything. I've watched some games, and then I couldn't watch them. It made it worse for me. Whatever basketball I had to do, we made it a family thing to go and watch him, but also make it fun for the family. And now Chyna was missing. It's different. Only thing you think is, where would she be? When you got kids, you just want your kids around. When you lose one, it feels like the world is upside down. I wasn't, I wasn't built for that. Sometimes people think you're strong. You become the weakest thing around. It just wasn't right.
Anderson Cooper
00:16:09
I never cried until like five years ago. I buried all that stuff, I just moved forward and all that staff catches up with you if you don't talk about it, if you express it, if you turn to it in some way.
Isaiah Thomas
00:16:27
I understand that fully because when that happened, I didn't know what mental health was at that time. I didn't know what depression was. Where I'm from, especially males don't really speak about those things. And that's what I seen. So I thought that was normal. I was 100% depressed and I didn't even know it. And I just thought trying to figure it out on my own was gonna help. But when I was able to really start to open up and speak to people about these things that everybody goes through, man, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of just learning how to live with it. And I still have my days where I'm super emotional, like the other day, it was my mom's birthday, her 60th birthday, and she just wished my older sister was here. That just hurts because I'm usually the guy that can help and I can't help. And she has her emotions. I have mine. It just sucks. But knowing you can go through it with somebody else, whether it's a stranger or a family, it helps. Like you said, you were moving forward so much, just trying to move past it. And I felt like I was doing that too. And when life started to settle me down and I started to slow my mind down, able to reach out to other people who've been through these things, man, it helped in so many ways. Obviously, it didn't bring them back, but it's made things a little smoother when times are really tough. Being able to speak about it and trying to help my parents go to grief counseling.
Anderson Cooper
00:18:07
Do they speak about it?
Isaiah Thomas
00:18:09
'My dad speaks to me about it, but he's not speaking to anybody else about it yet. My mom does go to a grief counseling, it's something that helps her and I think it can help everybody. I try to go at least like once a month. After I just feel way better like it just- it helps to open up. I just always kept it in, because that's just what I always done. So I just try something different.
Anderson Cooper
00:18:33
The first time you went to talk to somebody, was that hard?
Isaiah Thomas
00:18:35
The hardest thing ever. Like, talk to somebody you don't trust or don't know? But it just made me, every time after, it just make me smile. It just made it made me feel different. I started making a routine of trying to speak to somebody once a month. Try to learn something off of social media that others are going through. If you're not able to speak about it to others, you're gonna find ways to live through it. Like not even get through it, just to live though it.
Anderson Cooper
00:19:05
Does it get better?
Isaiah Thomas
00:19:07
I think you learn to navigate through it. It doesn't get better. I wanna talk to my sister every day. I wanna argue with my older sister. Like I wanna like, I wanna have a back and forth with her. I wanna tell my younger sister to slow down. I wanna be able to laugh with them. I always say to my mom, I wish you could get one phone call a year and just hear my sister's voice. Just to just ask them, is everything good? If they can tell me that, that would make things so much easier. My younger sister didn't even get to meet my daughter. And my daughter is my younger sister.
Anderson Cooper
00:19:43
Really?
Isaiah Thomas
00:19:44
Everything about her.
Anderson Cooper
00:19:45
Wow. You see her.
Isaiah Thomas
00:19:47
'My daughter- everything. Everything. My dad says it all the time.
Anderson Cooper
00:19:53
Really?
Isaiah Thomas
00:19:54
That's Chyna. Because it really is. Every way she acts, it's like identical. It's cool because I can see her in my daughter. That's something God did to keep her close to me.
Anderson Cooper
00:20:09
'It's incredible to see- I have two little boys, four and six, and I see my dad in their eyes, and all the stuff that happened to you as a little kid that you bury, it's an opportunity to kind of figure that out and be better for them. My little one has the shape of my mom's face, and it's crazy, like I see it, it's so-
Isaiah Thomas
00:20:34
That connection is insane, but it's real and it helps me. Even just looking at my daughter's eyes, it's like, I know that, smirk, I know that look. I know what you're getting into, because I seen it, I seen it in my little sister. So with my older sister, when it's a nice day, I feel like that's her. When I see a yellow butterfly, that's my younger sister because when she passed for four straight months every day I would see a yellow butterfly and I just felt like that was her. So those are like little signs, I feel like, but I haven't hit the stage yet where I feel I'm speaking to somebody. I haven't had that connection yet, but I believe that will happen. I have a lot of faith in that. My mom had one, like a sign where she said, she felt like my older sister Quisha said she's okay. And I could see my mom smiling more and wanting to go out and do things more. I want that for my dad and I want that for myself.
Anderson Cooper
00:21:38
I don't feel like I get signs from my dad, but I remember what it was like to be the little boy that I was, like laying on his stomach watching TV. Like I remember that feeling. And I remember the love I had for my dad and I feel that again.
Isaiah Thomas
00:21:51
Yeah. And I go back at times, too, with my sisters, just all the moments we shared. Like, there'd be certain songs that come on the radio that was like, that's something me and my little sister would dance to, or figure something out.
Anderson Cooper
00:22:05
Is there a song in particular?
Isaiah Thomas
00:22:09
It's a gospel song by Donnie McClurkin called We Fall Down. And it's a song that on Sunday mornings, we would just have like a whole church concert in the living room with just me and her. And she would be the singer, I'd be in the background. So like, anytime gospel music comes up, I think of her. And then with my older sister, it's like, she was my protector. So anytime I get into something, no matter if I'm right or wrong, she's riding for me. I could be so wrong, and she would make it seem like I was right, and that's what I miss the most about those little things about them. I really thought I would have my sisters forever, and that that's where it hurts the most.
Anderson Cooper
00:22:53
Your dad says, you just got to go forward, not move on, but go forward. I think that's a really smart way of saying it. It's not moving on, it's not forgetting, but it's putting one step in front of the other, even if it's a tiny little step.
Isaiah Thomas
00:23:12
I didn't even really understand how big that line was, because that's exactly what grief is, is finding ways to go forward without moving on.
Anderson Cooper
00:23:21
Yeah, it's like not moving on, it is like carrying with, walking with.
Isaiah Thomas
00:23:26
Any door you go in, anything that you do, they're right there with you.
Anderson Cooper
00:23:30
'I used to think strength was going forward and moving on, but that's not strength. That's running from and-
Isaiah Thomas
00:23:39
And that's what I've felt like I've done for a lot.
Anderson Cooper
00:23:45
Join the club.
Isaiah Thomas
00:23:45
Yeah, and like you said that earlier too. And that what grief is about, is like, not forgetting, not moving on, but really figuring out how to go forward.
Anderson Cooper
00:23:57
What do you say to your kids about your grief?
Isaiah Thomas
00:24:00
When my older sister died a year and a half ago, that's when I was able to sit down and speak to them. Especially my older boys, they're 15 and 14 now. But just speaking to them my emotions. So when I'm on the couch crying, they're not just like, oh, let's get away from daddy, give him his space. Nah, come over here to understand why I'm crying. I miss my sisters and it's okay to cry. Never seen my dad cry when I as a kid. I just thought you shouldn't cry. I try to explain to my kids, like, you can be emotional. Adult men cry, that's strength. It's not soft crying. In life, you care that much, you're gonna cry. And you're going to be emotional, so not to hide those emotions. At some point in their life, when they hit some adversity or some type of grief, the last thing they're gonna do is hold it in, because that's the worst thing to do.
Anderson Cooper
00:24:49
'My six-year-old, like, when I try to talk about emotions with him, like he just will try to change the subject. I was the same way as a kid, and I really don't want that for him.
Isaiah Thomas
00:25:00
And then my daughter's seven, she'll just start crying with me. It's like the boys, they're at age now, I can really explain to them, like, yeah, you think your dad's all super tough and things, but like, it's also tough to cry too. I guess you can do that and you can explain and speak about your emotions. In this family, you can. And I want them to know that when I go to my sister's funeral home and talk to her, both of them, it makes me feel that much more closer to them. I don't know, grief sucks. But there's ways around it that can help you. And I really believe that. And as I start to meet more people that's open about talking about their story, it just, man, it helps. In life, you just need others. You need others to accomplish things, to get through things, to not move on, but to go forward. You need other, and coming on things like this is like, I can't wait to see the feedback. Just to read comments or to to hear what others are going through, because everybody has that in common. And then so many people come from the environment I come from, from the inner city, that have nobody to talk to, and going through so much death, adversity, school, and have nobody to speak to.
Anderson Cooper
00:26:20
A very close friend of mine who was incarcerated for 29 years, we talk about this all the time that prisons are full of grieving people.
Isaiah Thomas
00:26:29
I got a friend that served for a crime I know he didn't do, but I speak to him every day just to let him cry out and speak about things he's not speaking about in there. So I understand that and that's helped me in ways that he doesn't even know. Just being able to speak about the things to people and just somebody here without without having an answer, without having a comeback for what I'm saying is like that's huge in everybody's life and everybody doesn't have those.
Anderson Cooper
00:27:00
Is there something you've learned about grief that would be helpful for others?
Isaiah Thomas
00:27:04
'The biggest thing is leaning on others. I get so many messages on social media like, man, you inspire me. Like that moment when your sister, when you went through that, I was going through this and just watching you on TV got me through, like, I didn't understand the impact or the inspiration I had on people until after. No matter how amazing your life or how bad your life is, that's one thing we have in common is losing someone. Everybody loses someone, everybody goes through adversity, and there is people who wanna speak about these things and anytime I'm able to speak about my sister, it makes me feel so much better, it like helps. Just because I happen to be on TV or play the game at the highest level, it still hurts and I still need people and I need others to be able to get me through. Cause like, growing up you always feel like you can do things on your own, but like as I've gotten older, especially dealing with these situations, like man, you need people. You need- whether you can listen to somebody's story, whether you have somebody listen to yours, it's needed. In my life I've never leaned on nobody other than my parents, but the ability to lean on others and finding the right people to be able to lean on has helped me in ways that I can't even explain. And it could be a stranger or somebody you've had a 30 year friendship with. That stranger can possibly help you out more than that person you've known. Don't shy away from that if that opportunity ever presents itself.
Anderson Cooper
00:28:44
'Would it be okay if we played the song that you- the Chyna song?
Isaiah Thomas
00:28:49
'It was called "We Fall Down." We grew up in church too, so she's- And I'm in the background, I'm like this.
"We Fall Down" by Donnie McClurkin
00:28:55
We fall down, but we get up...
Isaiah Thomas
00:29:00
'Ah, I miss her. That's crazy. I'll be like- I'll be like the choir in the background.
Anderson Cooper
00:29:12
It's lovely. It's great.
Isaiah Thomas
00:29:13
That's her.
Anderson Cooper
00:29:14
And it's the same thing your dad said. I mean, go forward, not move on. We fall down, we get up.
Isaiah Thomas
00:29:22
Get back up again. Now we're getting back up with others, that's the plan. To keep moving and keep going forward with others. That's the only way.
Anderson Cooper
00:29:37
Isaiah, thank you so much. It's been really lovely to talk to you.
Isaiah Thomas
00:29:40
Thank you. This has helped.
Anderson Cooper
00:29:42
And thank you for telling us about your family and your sisters.
Isaiah Thomas
00:29:48
I appreciate you.
Anderson Cooper
00:29:48
'If you have some thoughts about this conversation with Isaiah Thomas, we'd love to hear from you. You can leave a comment at cnn.com/allthereis. There's a short film about Isaiah Thomas and his family's experience with loss called "Go Forward." It's part of a larger documentary that's currently in the works about his life and basketball career. Thursday, May 21st, we won't have a new episode of our streaming show, All There Is Live. Instead, we'll be bringing you another new episode of this podcast. It's a conversation I had with Today Show co-host, Sheinelle Jones. Her husband, Uche, died last May from glioblastoma. I talk with her about her grief and also the recent loss of her grandmother, Josephine, who died on New Year's Eve at the age of 96.
Sheinelle Jones
00:30:28
'What I also realized is, I grieved Uche for so long. And I'm sure somebody will know if this is a term, I don't know, but like, I pre-grieved too. So, because you know it's coming, even though I was in denial. And then I grieve Uche, and so I've been grieving for so long that I will acknowledge, I don't think I have truly grieved her because then it's too much. Like, you know, everyone's like, oh. You're so strong and you're there for your kids and, you know, all of the things and grieving him has been so much and so with her I've had to like tuck it just a little bit like I can feel it but like if I allow myself to truly explore you know what she means to me, I might have to take a personal day tomorrow.
Anderson Cooper
00:31:25
'That's coming up in All There Is. If there's something you've learned in your grief that you think would be helpful for others, leave us a voicemail at 404-827-1805. Thanks for listening.