“Home is a place we return to. It is a place where we feel safe and a place of being with those we love. It is a place of comfort and warmth. We are completely accepted for whom we are when we return home.”
My Own Journey with Death
Until my parents died, I was terrified of death. The thing I was terrified of the most was losing my best friends. I never thought that I could go on living without them. But I did.
It took a long time for me to work through my grief, but I kept moving with it. I survived. I began to laugh again and I began to live again. I also realized that I walked with each of them to that place of death. I realized that it was an honour to be with my parents. They died the way they lived their lives; with dignity and with integrity.
They were my examples of how we can all die gracefully and peacefully.
As I work with those in their last days of life, I have realized that this work is not about doing this FOR others, but doing it WITH others. I feel a call to walk with others and on this journey help make their death as beautiful as it can be.
My Story…
For most of my working life I have been a self-employed accountant with a strong passion for social justice. I have been very fortunate to use my passion to serve not-for-profit organizations that support people on the margins of our society.
I have a deep love for the Prairies and our expansive horizons and I am proud to call them home. My spouse Lee, and I have lived most of our lives in Winnipeg. I am fortunate to have my brother, sister, and their extended families living close by.
My life changed dramatically when I attended a course in 2017 that was called “How to be a Death Doula”. I felt the content of accompanying the dying, called out to me in a very meaningful way.
During the course we were asked to describe, in our own words, our vision of how we intend to engage the world as a death doula. I realized that I preferred the term End-of-Life Service Provider over death doula, but the “describing” words that immediately came to my lips were “walking each other home.” I quickly wrote them down to ponder. Over the next ten days these words continually worked their way into my life. In a podcast I was listening to… a book I was reading… and a conversation with a friend. Having so many coincidental encounters with this four-word phrase kept reinforcing their significance in my life.
I realized I was also called to educating people about the end of life.
I began end-of-life work in 2016. The 17 years prior to that, I was privileged to accompany both my Mom and Dad through their end of life journeys. It was through this accompaniment that I came to realize the richness of end-of-life service and its great need in our "death phobic" society.
People at the end of their lives require understanding and support, but I also know how educating all people before they reach the end of their lives is another important service I provide.
After completing Willow end-of-life training, I now lead workshops and sharing circles that help people approach death differently. We can all come to see how our coming deaths can be great teachers. People who have attended my workshops discover who and what matters most, now, and in preparation for their inevitable death, dying and after-deathcare.
Looking forward to meeting you on your journey.