Don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing to friends with a chronic illness: Jennifer Cramer-Miller

Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship

Episode #69: with Jennifer Cramer-Miller

You know those articles and memes that are everywhere reprimanding us about what NOT to say to a friend who is going through a hard time of any kind? Jennifer is here today to say THE OPPOSITE of that. She's urging us to stop being afraid of saying the wrong things to friends with chronic illness, or friends dealing with anything else.

Your friends will never say the perfect thing! WE will sometimes say the "wrong thing" to our friends. And I agree with Jennifer that we need to leave so much more room for people to say the imperfect thing and then let it go.

Meet Jennifer Cramer-Miller

Jennifer is an author, speaker, and four-time kidney transplant recipient. Diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease at 22 and then experiencing the weight and relief of four transplants has given Jennifer a way of seeing life and the people in it that I could not wait to share with listeners.

Jennifer’s memoir, Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope is available now where books are sold. She also has lots of essays all over the place but some examples— Zibby Mag, Brevity, Grown & Flown, Star Tribune, and Minnesota Physician— some of which were started in our ModernWell Writing Group!

Find Jennifer on her website, and on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

A few links mentioned in the episode:

• The National Kidney Foundation for information on becoming a living donor
• The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger M.D. and Marc Schulz Ph.D
• The guest spot I mentioned was on The Untitled Gen-X Podcast where we did a deep dive into Steel Magnolias

Let's connect over all things friendship!

• My Substack newsletter about friendship & more
• Dear Nina website with show notes and a guide to pitching yourself as a guest
• Instagram , TikTok, Twitter, Youtube, Threads
• JOIN the Dear Nina Facebook group
• Ask an anonymous question

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Chapitres

1. Friendship, Chronic Illness, and Recognizing Kindness (00:00:00)

2. Friendship and Support Through Life's Challenges (00:08:26)

3. Friendship and the Importance of Grace (00:15:09)

4. Kidney Transplants and Acts of Kindness (00:19:21)

5. Celebrating Friendships and a Podcast (00:31:57)