Season Four · Episode Fourteen · Val Kleppen
The Mother You Never Stop Being
Motherhood, Grief and Learning to Embrace Joy
How do you keep living when love and grief share the same space?
Val Kleppen (Kleh-pen) is wife to her Prince Charming “Hubs” for over two decades, mother to Little Miss and Little Man who endure her homeschooling dance parties, and bereaved mother to Harlynn who was born sleeping in 2013. She is a homesteading enthusiast, residing in central South Dakota. She has been writing and speaking since 2008, and has been the host of The Motherhood Experience podcast since 2023.
Before · The change · What came next
Before
Val learned to perform confidence and anticipate outcomes. As she built a marriage and family, control felt like a way to keep the people she loved safe and protect the future she imagined.
The change
Profound loss made control impossible. Val entered a kind of motherhood few people understand until they are living inside it, carrying love for a child who could no longer be physically present while continuing to care for her family.
What came next
Val and her family learned to keep memory active rather than erase it. They speak their child’s name, mark meaningful days and allow sorrow, gratitude, humor and joy to coexist. Surrender became something different from failure.
“I was never meant to control everything.”
Val Kleppen
Listen to Val Kleppen’s story
The Mother You Never Stop Being premieres January 5, 2027. Listening links will be added when the episode is released.
Learn more about Val and The Motherhood Experience at TheMotherhoodExperience.com.