My Dad Died When I Was 9, My Mom When I Was 11 | Frank Watkinson [Loss & Grief Ep 2]

Show notes for this episode can be found here: https://theipsproject.com/2025/07/both-my-parents-died-frank-watkinson/

In this series episode on loss and grief, I sit down with Frank Watkinson, also known as Virtual Grandad. A YouTube musician with over 1 million subscribers, Frank, who is quite the rockstar, talks to us about his experiences with loss and grief.

Frank lost his dad when he was 9 years old, and just a few years later, at 11, he lost his mom as well. Thus, he became a foster child.

We don’t talk much about loss and grief in Western society, and there isn’t much space for these conversations. Often, we’re expected to ‘move on’ as quickly as possible. Yet, it’s only when you lose someone dear that you realize it’s not such a simple task.

Hopefully, this episode—and the others we’ve done—can provide a space, a moment where you can feel that there is no rush and no judgment, that you can allow feelings like grief to be there if you’ve recently lost someone, or even if it’s been years.