Give the Gift of “I Love You”

This holiday season, I find myself reflecting on the ways we can do end of life better. After a doozy of an autumn that brought mortality to my doorstep, several times, both personally and professionally, I am reminded that even when we know death is imminent, we never have as much time as we think…

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End of Life Doulas Bridge a Gap for the Dying

It might surprise you to hear that a person with life-limiting or terminal illness spends only about 5% of their time with nurses, doctors, specialists, and the full range of hospice services. According to end of life expert Dr. Allan Kellehear, this means that as much as 95% of their time is spent alone, with family…

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Grief and Gratitude

In this time of Thanksgiving, I’m attempting to answer the question, “Can I be grateful for my grief?” in the wake of my beloved grandma’s recent death. She was more of a mother to me than a grandmother. She was nearly ninety-four and had lived what everyone calls “a good long life”. Yes, that’s true.…

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Reminders of Impermanence

“I’m in an ambulance on my way to the hospital,” my husband told me as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Wait. You’re what?” was all I could think of to say. It was almost 2:00am as I lay in a single bed in the guest room at my dad’s house in Florida,…

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