About VickiJolene

Guiding Others to Live Again After Loss

What if you could heal your grief and end your suffering—so you could truly live again?
What if, after everything you’ve lost, you could still be the hero or heroine of your own story?

That’s the heart behind everything VickiJolene Lindley offers. With a warm spirit, animated storytelling, and just the right dash of humor, she helps grieving people reimagine their lives after loss—not just survive, but truly live again. Through her writing, speaking, and compassionate presence, she guides others to move through grief with courage, creativity, and hope.

A Storytelling Voice for Healing

VickiJolene is a natural storyteller, blending life’s struggles and sacred moments into lessons that heal. She weaves story into everything she does—from her blog and grief groups to the one-on-one conversations that shape her everyday work. A published author (VickiJolene Lindley Reece), her writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul and Guideposts’ Angels All Around Us, where her voice of comfort and inspiration has reached readers nationwide.

Professional Role in Grief Care

As a pastor, she walked alongside families during life’s most tender goodbyes—in hospitals, hospice units, nursing homes, and private homes—offering space for sorrow, memory, and meaning to emerge. She has helped countless grieving individuals find their footing, offering them space to feel, remember, and gently begin to rebuild their lives, often sharing in their laughter as hope returned.

Today, she works part-time in grief care as the Continuous Care Coordinator at Locke Funeral Services in Waterloo, Iowa, providing personal attention to those in the community who have lost a loved one. She also facilitates grief support groups and writes for The Care Courier, a newsletter where Margaret’s Grief Group began and where her passion for writing about grief truly took root.

Training and Credentials

VickiJolene is a Certified Grief Educator, trained by world-renowned grief expert David Kessler, who worked closely with Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and co-authored two books with her.

“A Certified Grief Educator is committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief. Certified Grief Educators completed a certificate program designed by David Kessler, bringing his unique methodology, tools, and decades of experience to help people navigate the challenges of grief.”

This certification builds upon her 40+ years as an ordained United Methodist minister (serving in Iowa, Illinois, and Florida as Vicki Lindley Reece), blending pastoral wisdom with modern grief methodologies.

A Mission to Help Others Live Again

Through her blog, YouTube channel (coming in 2026), and grief support groups, VickiJolene:

• Helps people name their pain and understand their emotions

• Offers tools and truths drawn from psychology, spirituality, and lived experience

• Walks beside them until their suffering eases and they begin to live again

Her message is simple yet profound: Together, we will heal your grief and end your suffering, so you can live again.

A Legacy of Ministry and Media

She also served as Associate Producer and writer for the Catholic magazine television series Real to Reel for the Diocese of Orlando, which aired in several dioceses. Her work was honored with the Proclaim Award from the Catholic Communications Campaign for excellence in religious broadcasting, featuring inspiring and human-centered stories.

Her Personal Grief Journey

Her own grief journey is deeply personal. During her husband’s failing health, she downsized into a senior living apartment so they could better manage his care. After his death, she moved out, stepping into a new chapter filled with all the challenges widows face—learning to take on the tasks and skills her husband had once handled, and navigating the daily adjustments of life alone. That experience now shapes all her work, bringing honesty, vulnerability, and a deep understanding of the unpredictable road through loss.

Writing and Speaking from the Heart

VickiJolene’s work today flows from this blend of personal experience, pastoral care, and expert training. She writes the Margaret’s Grief Group blog series, blending fictionalized group conversations with real-life insights, and coordinates companion videos on her YouTube channel. In every space she creates, she helps people rediscover the strength of their own story and reminds them that—even in the middle of grief—hope is still possible, and they can create a life without suffering and truly live again.