My name is Davan Hussey (Hanley), and I am the voice behind The Empty Chair.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve lived with an absence I could never fill. My mother’s presence in my life was fractured — missing from my high school years, absent from my graduation, and nowhere to be found on the day I married the love of my life.

Those empty chairs at my milestones weren’t just symbols. They were wounds. And they shaped me in ways I’m still untangling.

When my father passed in 2020, the weight of absence grew heavier. I realized how much of my life had been marked not only by who was there — but by who wasn’t. The grief I carried wasn’t just about death, but about the living who chose not to show up.

This podcast is my way of breaking that silence.

I am doing this for myself — to speak the words I’ve carried quietly for years, to write the letters that were never read, and to release the pain that has sat too long in the shadows. But I am also doing this for you. For anyone who has looked at an empty chair at a graduation, a birthday, a wedding, or even an ordinary dinner table, and felt the ache of being unseen, unloved, or abandoned.

The Empty Chair is about more than grief. It’s about resilience. It’s about how we keep showing up, even when others don’t. It’s about learning to love harder because we know what it feels like to be unloved. It’s about finding family in unexpected places, and building a future not defined by who left us behind — but by how we choose to move forward.

If my story resonates with you, I hope this space reminds you that you are not alone. That your empty chair doesn’t define you. That healing is possible, even if the absence remains.

And if this resonates with you, I invite you to share your own letter or story. Together, we can spread the healing power of speaking our minds and letting go of grief, guilt, and bitterness. Your words matter — and your empty chair deserves to be seen.

This is my story. This is our story. Even when the chair is empty, our voices can fill the silence.

Welcome to The Empty Chair.