When my cat Merlin passed away, it happened quickly. One day, he was his usual happy self; the next, a seizure made it clear something serious was wrong. Within 24 hours, we had to say goodbye. The grief was immediate and heavy. At that time, I had just started exploring shamanic practices through a course I was taking. One exercise invited me to journey and connect with someone I’d lost. I didn’t know what to expect, but I set the intention to meet Merlin. What I experience

I remember sitting with a client who was about to be discharged from a skilled nursing facility. He had been there for a few weeks. His time was up. The plan was simple on paper. It included going home and calling friends for help. His family didn’t live nearby. There wasn’t much else in place. But he couldn’t walk. He was in a wheelchair. He could manage his medications and was mentally sharp. But he was afraid. He was overwhelmed and kept saying, “I don’t know what I’m goin

Understanding grief isn’t the same as easing it. I have a client whose wife died about seven months ago. Since her death, he’s felt overwhelmed. Simple tasks at home feel hard to start and finish. He tells me he knows what needs to be done, but he can’t seem to get himself to do it. There are moments when we’re talking, and I can see him start to feel overwhelmed. He’ll put his fingers to his temples, rub in small circles, and stare at the floor. Then he goes quiet. I can t

Animals have a way of showing up when we need them. They do not try to say the right thing. They do not explain grief or try to make it better. They simply stay close. A dog sits beside you. A cat curls up in your lap. And somehow that presence makes a hard moment feel a little easier. When people are grieving, words can feel awkward or unnecessary. Animals do not have that problem. They just sit with us. I have seen how powerful that can be. Long before I worked in end-of-l

Why Grief Feels Lonely Grief can make the world feel smaller. People often tell me they don’t want to bother anyone or worry that their feelings are too much. They try to keep everything inside, and over time, that silence makes them feel even more alone. Timing is another challenge. Grief moves slowly and doesn’t keep pace with everyday life. Someone may still be struggling months later, while people around them think they should be doing better. When support fades, but gr

When Samantha Rose lost her mother to suicide, it was sudden and overwhelming. Her stepfather had died just a few months earlier from cancer, but his death was expected. Her mother’s wasn’t. It brought confusion, anger, and silence. Samantha had spent years writing other people’s stories as a ghostwriter. But this time, she started writing for herself. What began as handwritten notes turned into something more. Through writing, she found a way to process what had happened and

When a child dies, the focus is often on the individual grief of each parent. But what’s frequently left out is how that grief affects the relationship between them. You’re both in pain, but how you cope might look completely different. One person might want to talk. The other might shut down. One might need distractions, while the other sits in the pain. Even in the same house, grief can feel isolating. It’s not easy to stay connected when you’re both hurting. But underst

Parenting after losing a child is something you can’t possibly prepare for. The first days feel like you’re moving through fog. Even breathing feels heavy. And yet, life doesn’t stop. Another child still needs breakfast, still tugs at you for attention, still asks the kinds of questions that are difficult to answer. Your world has fallen apart, but you’re still a parent. You don’t stop being mom or dad to the child who’s here, even while grieving the one who isn’t. What f

Advocating for a Medically Complex Child When Blair Young’s son Bubba was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition, she wasn’t handed a guidebook. There were no clear next steps, no roadmap; just a phone call that ended with the words, “It’s worse than we thought.” She was left to figure it out on her own. “It felt like being dropped into the middle of the ocean with your arms and legs tied behind your back,” she said, “and being told, ‘Good luck. You’d better swim.’”

Coping with Child Loss Costs When a child dies, time fractures. You’re heartbroken, disoriented, and suddenly asked to make decisions you never imagined. In those first few days, the world seems to stop making sense. There’s no handbook for this kind of loss. But there are things you can know; small bits of preparation and comfort that might help you survive the impossible. This post walks through five things grieving parents often face, and what can help when everything fee

Grief doesn’t wait for death. Sometimes, it shows up early, unexpectedly, well before the goodbye. It creeps into conversations,...

In a time before grief therapists, hospice care, and funeral homes, Americans were turning to something a little more… spectral. Picture this: a candlelit parlor, a circle of people clutching hands, and the sound of ghostly rapping on the table. Welcome to the strange world of 19th-century spiritualism - a movement that promised we could still speak to the dead and maybe even find peace in doing so. Spiritualism didn’t begin as a formal religion. It started with two teenage

We don’t like to talk about death. Most people avoid the subject entirely until life forces them to face it. But here’s the truth:...

Grief is a universal human experience, but when it comes to children, many adults feel at a loss for words. We want to protect them. We...

A Quiet Conversation About MAiD Medical Assistance in Dying—MAiD—isn’t something most expect to face. It can feel abstract until someone...

When Sandy Chen Stokes visited her father in Taiwan, he was already in the ICU—hooked up to machines, unresponsive, and unable to speak for himself. There had never been a conversation about what he would’ve wanted. No DNR. No advance directive. And at that time, Taiwan had no laws in place to honor such choices anyway. Sandy, a nurse in the U.S., recognized the heartbreaking gap: no one had prepared for this. Her father remained in the ICU for over a year. That experience li

Grief is one of life’s most challenging journeys, and yet, so many of us feel like we have to walk it alone. The world keeps moving, but...

Death with Dignity in Switzerland What would you do if your loved one told you, long before illness, that they didn’t want to suffer...

Losing a child is an unimaginable heartbreak. It’s a grief that changes everything—the way you see the world, your relationships, even...

Grief is a journey without a map. It affects us all differently, but there’s one universal truth: we need a way to process it. At The...