I received a call from the daughter of a patient I had only seen one time almost a year ago. After my visit with her mother, I had called her to let her know how things went. She hadn't seen her mother in many months; they lived seven hours apart from one another, and they didn't really "get along," but she did want to know how she was. At the time of the call, her mother was doing well and from my perspective had a few months left to live. We ended up having a very long co

I was present for a man who chose Medical Aid in Dying to end his suffering caused by his terminal diagnosis. He is being referred to by...

I was once called “Cemetery Girl”. Seriously, it’s true. Even as a really young kid, I was fascinated and drawn to cemeteries. Back then,...

I often talk about having a conversation with the people you love about what is most important to them at the end of their life, way...

I had a patient a few years ago, who I visited twice a week until she died. On her coffee table was this box, it was never opened. It...

I truly do believe that people are coming from a thoughtful place when they say things to someone who is grieving, but unfortunately,...

When I walked in the room, I could see she was struggling… for life, for breath, and for peace, and when she said to me, “can you help...

“Gabby, I think Mom is dying.” It was a text from the daughter of a woman I had been visiting for more than a year. Six months earlier, her mother had looked at me and quietly said, “I’m ready to die. I just don’t understand why it’s taking so long.” She was 93 years old. She had lived a full life. Her family had shared their goodbyes more than once because, for months, they believed each day would be her last. And each morning, she was still here. That kind of waiting can be

I picked up the phone to call you today Forgetting (again) you are gone So many things I’ve wanted to say Wishing you could pick up the...

When I first wrote this particular blog in 2023, I had just been present for seven people in ten days who had exercised their legal right to take the Medical Aid in Dying medications, which in California we refer to as End-of-Life Option Act (“EOLOA"). Dignity, “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect.” This is how I feel all human beings should be treated at the end of their life. For me this means being seen, heard, honored, and respected. I have been prese

I was on a flight home sitting next to two kids, ages six and nine, both girls. They were playing games with their laptops, and watching...

This is a story of one of my doula clients who invited me to walk beside him through every stage of his end-of-life journey. From the moment he received his terminal diagnosis to the hours just before his death, he shared openly what he was feeling and experiencing. He had been ill for many years, but when things worsened and he was told he had only months left, he asked me to help him plan the time he had remaining. It was an honor, and a journey for me as well. His honesty

I was sitting with a woman who was days before her death, fully conscious and aware of everything she was feeling and experiencing. She...

“Gabby, why am I grieving the loss of my mom more than my sisters are? Why is mine so much deeper and more painful? I feel like it’s...

I was with a woman who was in her eighties and had Dementia although there were moments of such clarity that I sometimes forget. With...

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....