Quote · On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Dr. Jill Biden: The Hardest Moments No One Saw (The Untold Story of the White House Years)
Where this was said
Learning to Live With the Pain
At 56:58 · chapter starts 56:28
The mechanics of surviving unimaginable grief, Jill Biden says, are both simple and insufficient: one day at a time. In the immediate aftermath of Beau's death, it was the sustained kindness of friends — dropping things at the door, sending texts not just during the funeral week but for months afterward — that kept her functioning. [1] — Dr. Jill Biden "Beau Biden died of glioblastoma: Beau Biden was diagnosed with glioblastoma — an aggressive brain cancer — and died after the family exhaus…" 56:58 She was teaching full-time at NOVA through much of Beau's illness, sometimes visiting the hospital before class and then returning after. Barely anyone knew. The family had made a conscious choice not to go public with the severity of his condition, partly to protect Beau and Hallie's young children from hearing about their father's illness through the media. She still wakes every morning and says a prayer for Beau — and says plainly that you never get over the loss of a child. You just learn to carry it.
Beau Biden was diagnosed with glioblastoma — an aggressive brain cancer — and died after the family exhausted every trial, medicine, and operation available, with doctors holding out hope until the final day.
The morning Beau Biden died, the doctors at Walter Reed told the family 'this could still turn around' — then one physician stopped them in the hallway and demanded his colleagues tell the Bidens the truth. They went back in and said Beau would likely die that day. Jill Biden called it the worst thing she has ever experienced.
For years, the Biden family had no idea where Hunter was as he cycled through rehab after rehab. His daughters kept asking where Daddy was. Jill Biden flew someone in to stage an intervention — Hunter bolted when he realized what was happening, and Joe ran after him and just held him. They had to love him through it.
