Something to Think About

Watching someone die can be frightening, especially if you don't know what the normal process looks like. Let me explain why the last moments of life often look different than...

When someone you love no longer responds, it can feel frightening. Let me show you the simple, comforting care that still matters in the final days before death.

Most people don't know what to do or can do in the final hours before death. Here are gentle ways families and caregivers can create a meaningful goodbye and bring...

Hospice volunteers are at the heart of end-of-life care—but their role goes far beyond what most people understand. Let's look at what draws people to this work, why self-awareness matters,...

Sounds, restlessness, and physical changes can be unsettling to witness, but they usually don't mean there is suffering. Understanding what is normal can ease fear for those keeping vigil.

Years ago, a 3 a.m. hospice call changed the way I thought about caring for families at the bedside.It led me to write down what I wanted families to know...

Many of us avoid thinking about death, assuming it won’t affect us or our loved ones—until it does. This article explores advance directives, DNRs, and why understanding these choices matters...

So often I have walked into a room when family is standing at the side of the room, watching. Watching their special person dying...

How do we interact with someone dying a sudden death? The same way we would react with someone dying a gradual death.

The experience of dying a gradual death is an important, integral part of life. It is an opportunity to write our final chapter, to define the ending of our story...

We need to explain the way most people die — especially the not so pretty parts. This includes the sounds, movements, pees, poops, frowns, grimaces, and the struggles that accompany...

When we see our special person struggling, we, the watchers, think something pathological is happening or we think the professionals are not doing enough to provide proper care...

There are many different approaches and offerings. These multiple choices give you the chance to match your personality with the instructors and teaching methodology...

As end of life approaches, people start looking at their life; what they’ve accomplished, not done, who they have touched, interacted with, and the relationships they have or have not built...

I see Death Cafes as the start of a conversation; the start of opening ourselves up to exploring end of life issues; the start of breaking the belief that if I talk...

Someone has to have the courage to say “We’ve done the best we can. We can’t fix you. Let us help you have some quality time”.

Our body is programmed to die. We are born. We experience, and then we die...

The role of any end of life worker is to begin teaching  immediately, on the first visit -- teaching about approaching death, what to look for, and what to do. That’s...

We start off alone, then we have Mom and Dad, then family, friends, then the world of school, activities,and involvement in the bigger world around us. When we are leaving, we...

In the days to weeks before gradual death occurs a person realizes, at last, that they are dying. They may not share that realization with anyone, but they know. If...

Taking care of someone at the end of life is different from taking care of someone who is going to get better—-but most people don’t know that either. Unless we...