Abby Maslin
Love After the Before and After
Abby Maslin on caregiving, marriage, and rebuilding identity after trauma
✨ Episode Overview
In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Abby Maslin to explore caregiving, grief, rebuilding, identity, marriage, and resilience after trauma.
Together, they talk about the single shattering moment that changed Abby’s life when her husband was violently assaulted and left with a traumatic brain injury, how she stepped into the role of advocate and caregiver while parenting a two-year-old, and what it looked like to rebuild a marriage and a life that no longer resembled the one she once knew.
This conversation is for anyone who is caregiving, grieving what was, rebuilding after life changed overnight, or searching for meaning inside a version of life they never expected.
👤 Meet Our Guest: Abby Maslin
Abby Maslin is a writer, speaker, former teacher, advocate, and author of the memoir Love You Hard.
After her husband sustained a traumatic brain injury in a violent assault, Abby found herself navigating the unimaginable — caregiving inside her marriage, parenting a young child, and learning how to hold grief and gratitude at the same time. Through that experience, she discovered new depths of resilience, compassion, and identity.
Today, Abby shares how that season reshaped her life, her marriage, and her sense of purpose — and how writing became a way to reclaim herself while helping others feel less alone.
Website: abbymaslin.com
Instagram: @abby_maslin
Book: Love You Hard
Substack: Beyond the Classroom
🕒 Key Moments from the Conversation
00:00 — Introduction
Amanda introduces Abby’s story and the “before and after” moment that changed everything.
01:56 — Life before trauma
Abby reflects on life as a young wife, teacher, and mother of a toddler before her husband’s assault.
03:20 — The night everything changed
Her husband is assaulted while walking home, left unidentified in the hospital, and diagnosed with a severe traumatic brain injury.
05:16 — Becoming the advocate
Abby shares what she learned about herself in the earliest days: loyalty, protectiveness, and finding her voice.
08:08 — Recovery with no roadmap
Why brain injury recovery felt unpredictable, exhausting, and emotionally disorienting day after day.
09:57 — Rebuilding marriage inside caregiving
Abby opens up about what it meant to become a full-time caregiver while parenting a two-year-old and grieving the relationship she once knew.
13:20 — The grief no one talks about
Holding gratitude that her husband survived while also grieving the loss of who he had been.
16:45 — What caregivers need most
Abby shares why caregivers need compassion, support, and space to be honest about the loneliness of the role.
20:01 — Reclaiming identity through writing
How blogging became a lifeline and eventually opened the door to authorship and advocacy.
23:46 — Life beyond advocacy
Abby reflects on writing, lifelong learning, neuroplasticity, and her Substack community.
26:25 — What living fully looks like now
How gratitude, adaptability, and paying attention to small moments have changed the way she moves through life.
💬 Quotes That Stayed With Us
“There’s an innocence that’s taken from you when you meet a moment like this.”
“I needed to be grateful that he hadn’t died, and yet I needed to grieve.”
“You are not a bad person for finding caregiving difficult.”
“I had to reorganize and rewire my own brain to meet his.”
“Becoming isn’t about returning to who we once were. It’s about honoring the person we are now.”
📌 Resources & Mentions
Here are links and resources shared in this episode:
📖 Book:
Love You Hard by Abby Maslin
🌐 Website:
abbymaslin.com
💌 Substack:
Beyond the Classroom
📷 Instagram:
@abby_maslin
🧠 Topic Mentioned:
Traumatic brain injury caregiving, marriage after trauma, identity reconstruction, neuroplasticity
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