I was having a conversation with my granddaughter recently, telling her a story about my mom, who had died way before she was born. She...

I first started working in the end-of-life field as an in-home caregiver, which is what motivated me to become a hospice nurse. As a...

Something I teach in my classes and use as an assessment tool for someone who is declining from age or illness, is the significance of...

I know it's you that comes to visit me I feel you each time It might be the rainbow after a pouring rain And always when I hear wind...

It is not my place to tell someone how to feel when they are dying. I never try to fix or change their mindset, and rarely am I asked to....

Who am I and what have I done Where have I been Have I had enough fun Have I taken advantage Of each moment and of time Have I cherished...

I try to walk every morning, and I change my route each day to break things up, but the one thing that never seems to change is the...

When someone has received a terminal diagnosis, and they’ve been told they have less time what this translates most to them, is that they...

I was with a family the other day as they were preparing to say goodbye to their matriarch. She was in her nineties, has ten children,...

“Autonomy can be defined as the ability of a person to make his or her own decisions .” When someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness their autonomy, their choices, and their voices are often taken from them. They did not choose for their life to be cut short, or for their body to be riddled with pain, or to lose their ability to care for themselves or do things they love, with the people they love. Everyone else makes choices for them, stepping in to make decisions on th

To be gifted someone that loves you To know that feeling in your heart To be cared for well, and to feel safe In life… that is the very...

I am often asked what the best gift would be to bring someone who is dying or someone who is grieving. Our first go-to is usually...

I have built a wall around me One that protects me from the pain And despite how thick or strong it is The ache comes back again But even...

Some days are harder than others to get out of bed. Some days you want to throw the covers right over your head. Some days you feel so...

This is a question I am asked often. I think that we each have our own thoughts and beliefs about this and should not tell someone else...

There are two kinds of goodbyes, the kind where you expect to see each other again, and the kind where you know you never will. The...

When we take our very first breath, we have no idea what it means to be alive. We have no set plan, we are not burdened by judgment or...

When I was a little girl, I heard a motorcycle crash outside our house and ran out to see what had happened. A young man was lying on the ground, bleeding and unresponsive. Something inside me knew what to do, not medically, but compassionately. I held his head in my lap and let him know he was not alone. I had forgotten this moment entirely until years later, while writing my second book, “The Hospice Heart.” As I traced my life backward, I realized I had been practicing thi

Almost every single day I speak with someone who is either preparing to say goodbye, has just said goodbye, or is doing their best to...

When someone you love dies, your life changes in a million different ways. Everything you planned to do won’t happen, and the you that...