I was with a new friend of mine the other day travelling to our Maple Ridge, BC Death Café. Terri was talking about the death of her dear cat a year ago. A her story filled out it was clear that some of her friends tended to minimize the loss. I have noticed this before with others who have experienced the death of a family pet. There seems to be some sort of belief that … [Read more...]
Deathbed Regrets are Wisdom In Disguise
Our North American culture’s fear and denial of death has many negative impacts on those of us surviving the death of a friend or family member. One of the less obvious losses that for me is one of the most expensive is the loss of unspoken life wisdom most often disguised as deathbed regrets. When we allow our fear to run things we will almost always miss or fail to create … [Read more...]
Darrin & Crystal: Our Story
“Darrin! Crystal!” Our Dad, who was standing in his grey blue coveralls, hollers over to us as we played outside. “I’m going to the dump. Do both of you want to come?” We looked at one another and we smiled! That sounded like fun on a Sunday afternoon to a couple of youngsters. We jumped into “Dynamite,” Dad’s brown and beige Chevy pick up. Off we went, treasure hunting at the … [Read more...]
Alive in Death Training for ‘Grief Quarterbacks’ – Become A Resource for Your Fellow Co-workers
As I meet more and more individuals working in and around health care, whether it be in hospitals, long term care homes, or private homes I am struck by the painfully obvious need to equip our care providers with great self-care practices both on and off site. This was once the domain of the spiritual care practioners and still is for that matter. However, one of the first … [Read more...]
Bringing Death Back to Life
I remember when I was young living and playing with ‘reckless abandon’ whether it be on the ice hockey rink, in the back yard, or the family playroom. It was this full on life energy in action. It, well actual I, didn’t fit well in a box, I was a handful to try and contain, and I didn’t ‘behave’ myself at least according to others. I was so full of life. Well that changed a … [Read more...]