After a heartfelt and moving presentation at our monthly community meeting, I asked Kira to write a story about her mother’s death. May this sharing touch you and expand your awareness about what is possible. “Happy, happy, happy dead.” These were the words of my mother, Kathryn MacDuffee, spoken a few years ago as she shared her vision and…
In 2010, Sasaki Itaru of Japan, grieving the loss of his cousin to cancer, discovered something beautiful: a poem his cousin had written, titled The Phone of the Wind. The poem spoke of a mysterious phone, one that had no line, no connection—only the wind, which carried thoughts and feelings directly to the heart. “Whisper to the wind,” the poem…
While in her early thirties, Anna Byrne was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lymphoma. Over the next seven years, she endured four relapses, two stem cell transplants, and spent over 2,000 hours in Canadian hospitals. In 2014, she was given two years to live. Despite the odds, Anna left treatment cancer-free. She became a hospice volunteer and…
At a Death Cafe, people—often strangers—gather to enjoy cake, sip tea, and engage in conversations about a topic that many find difficult to discuss: death. This unique setting provides a welcoming atmosphere where participants can share their thoughts, fears, and experiences related to mortality, all while indulging in comforting refreshments. The mission of a Death Cafe is: “to increase awareness…
Karen Wyatt MD is a family physician and the founder of End of Life University (eolupodcast.com). She spent much of her 25 year medical career working with patients in challenging settings, such as hospice, nursing homes and indigent clinics. In a blog post, Dr. Wyatt writes: These are the fundamental truths of death and dying that should be taught to every…
Sarah Kerr is a death doula and educator based in Victoria. This is a transcript from her video. As a death doula, I help dying people and their families navigate endings. I help them to navigate the loss of something incredibly precious – of relationships, of love in this physical dimension. It’s a huge process of saying goodbye, and of…
Following is the script from a School of Life YouTube video titled Reasons to Remember Death. The School of Life is a global organization helping people to lead more fulfilled lives through useful resources and tools. The fast-paced video is directed to those of us who are not actively dying. This is about death, our death, and how useful it…
The five stages of grief were first identified by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross in 1969 as Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Grief isn’t a linear process. It isn’t as if we experience stage one, followed by stage two, etc. When we’re struck by grief, we’re all over the map, consumed by one major feeling and cycling through different aspects, moment by…
The Cortes Island DeathCaring Collective works to integrate death as a natural part of community life by initiating conversations, providing education, and encouraging people to plan ahead on issues related to end-of-life, and empowering, guiding, and supporting the practice and process of caring for our own dead and dying, in community. The DeathCaring Collective began on Cortes in 2019, inspired…
This information was mainly extracted from a video by Sarah Kerr from the Centre for Sacred Death Care. A funeral service is a focused intentional ritual that facilitates healing. When done well, it serves the person who has died, the close family and friends, and the larger community. This requires a structure able to hold the depth of grief and…