Craig Melvin on Addiction, Intervention & the Loss of a Sibling.
How do we begin to hold not only our own pain, but the pain of our families and communities? Today, David speaks with journalist and Today Show anchor Craig Melvin, who reckons with his father’s alcohol addiction and opens up about his brother’s recent death from colon cancer. Along the way, Craig and David break down old archetypes about addiction, recognize that legacies of pain can be passed down, and wrestle with the unfairness of death.
Craig Melvin is an award-winning news anchor on NBC News’ “TODAY,” a co-host of 3rd Hour TODAY, an anchor on MSNBC Live, and a host of “Dateline.” His breaking news coverage and
reporting appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms.
Melvin has covered a wide-range of news events, including several Republican and Democratic National Conventions and three Presidential Inaugurations. His coverage of politics has included
notable interviews with former President Bill Clinton, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Secretaries of State John Kerry, Mike Pompeo and Condoleezza Rice. He has also covered tragic mass shootings across the country for the network, including Dallas and Orlando in 2016; Charleston, South Carolina in 2015; the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. in 2013; and Sandy Hook in 2012. Melvin reported extensively on police involved shootings and subsequent protests nationwide.
In addition, he has also covered two Olympic Games and six Super Bowls. Prior to joining NBC News and MSNBC in July 2011, Melvin was a weekend anchor for WRC, NBC’s owned-and-operated station in Washington, DC. Before that, Melvin earned acclaim as an evening news anchor at WIS in Columbia, South Carolina, which is also his hometown.
Melvin is a graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina where he serves on the board of trustees. He is an active member in several charities, including the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Melvin lives in Connecticut with his wife, awarding-winning sportscaster Lindsay Czarniak, who is a Fox Sports reporter and the host of the podcast “The Artist and The Athlete.” They have a son and daughter.
Melvin is on Twitter at @craigmelvin.
Craig Delano Melvin is an American broadcast journalist and anchor at NBC News. He lives in Westport, CT with his family.
We talk about the legacy of grief, his father’s addiction and the impact that had on his family, and the recent death of his 43-year-old brother from colon cancer.
He is wise and candid and shares some of what he has learned from the many people he has interviewed on the best and worst days of their life as well as his own approach to healing.
Craig shares that healing is a journey and not a destination. We discuss the differences in the ways that he is raising his children from how he was raised and how his grief has impacted his role as a father. We discuss the legacy of addiction.
He also talks about the importance of giving ourselves grace in our grief. We have so much compassion for others and so often we are judgemental and impatient with ourselves. Craig shares that healing is possible and he has found that joy and happiness are possible even after the devastation of grief.
www.tenderheartssupport.com - David's online grief support group, Tender Hearts
www.aboutgrief.com - Understanding loss and grief
www.lossofaparent.com - Death of a parent
www.parentforever.com - Death of a child and sibling
www.griefsuicide.com - Death of a loved one by suicide
988lifeline.org - 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
nami.org - National Alliance of Mental Illness
afsp.org - American Foundation of Suicide Prevention
adultchildren.org - Adult Children of Alcoholics® & Dysfunctional Families
al-anon.org - Al-Anon Family Groups
amzn.to/31AZCPv - Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief
actapublications.com/tear-soup - Tear Soup: A Recipe of Healing After Loss
www.elf-help.com/grief_therapy_124048.htm - Grief Therapy, Elf Help Books
Hurt people hurt other people
In our families, there can be a generational legacy of grief. Wounded people wound people and hurt people hurt people. Healing people help others heal. How can you help change the patterns and the story in your family?
Addiction has a big wake
When a loved one suffers from the disease of addiction it can impact so many people. Craig shares how his father tried to fight his addiction for a decade when his family was able to get him into a rehab facility. The time was right and this time his father was able to become sober. We know that the path is not often straight for someone with an addiction and there may be many interventions and trials along the way. The results are not always positive. How has addiction impacted your family?
Bad things can happen to good people
Craig shares that his brother, Lawrence, had extremely healthy habits, he didn’t drink or smoke, ate well, and exercised regularly, and yet he was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. We have the underlying belief if we do the right thing, bad things won’t happen to us. How has the unfairness of death impacted you?
Licensed Professional Counselors – Get listed on Grief.com