Conversations About Death
Death is a part of life, but too often people are afraid to talk about their fears about dying, and their priorities for care at the end of life. Many people find themselves in challenging situations when they are faced with a dying relative or friend, not sure what steps to take to honor the dying person’s wishes.
Are you prepared? Do you have a will? An advanced health care directive? If not, you are not alone.
** Listen now to About Health (9/11/23) ** https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=407174
Let’s talk about death and about communicating with the people we love while we can.
Guest
Eileen Spillane is the founder of Befriending Death, a platform that offers the signature course “Let’s Chat About Death” as well as 1:1 coaching, a book club, and community gatherings. Her motivation to create these courses came from many years as a Critical Care Nurse witnessing unnecessary suffering. Her hope is to normalize conversations around death with a supportive, friendly community, so life and death decisions can be approached long before one is hospitalized. In addition to working as a Registered Nurse for the last thirty three years, Eileen is a meditation and dharma teacher, and works as an active travel guide for international hiking and biking trips. She is a former Zen Hospice Project volunteer and a trained end of life doula.
Eileen offers a free book club. In October, she will have two authors joining for a discussion:
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Joanne Cacciatore, author of Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief on 10/10 9:30 AM PST
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Sally Tisdale, author of A Guide For Future Corpses: A Practical Perspective on Death And Dying 10/12 5 PM PST
To learn more about her work and offerings go to https://www.befriendingdeath.com/
Dying Kindness
“I’m going to die someday. So will you. Let’s all do what we can and make key decisions now in order to be kinder to those we’ll leave behind.” —Cianna Stewart, Dying Kindness
Have you thought about what your loved one will have to do when you die? Will they know your passwords, where your Will is, what your vision is for a funeral or celebration? Have you talked with your relatives about their advanced directives, or is it a taboo topic in your family? Consider the conversations that can bring you closer to your loved ones, and clarify your wishes.
Listen now 12/20/21 on KPFA.org—94.1FM
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=370014
Guest:
Cianna P. Stewart produces and hosts Dying Kindness, a podcast for people who are going to die someday. The goal is to help people make key decisions now in order to be kinder to those they’ll leave behind. Cianna’s varied resume includes community organizing, HIV prevention, nonprofit management, startups, theater, documentaries, and event production. Cianna’s tagline: Super curious about nearly everything. Tweet @cianna and visit http://www.dyingkindness.com to learn more.