Death Doula blog

At some point in our lives, we all experience grief. Death is a part of life that we are all touched by— it’s part of the human experience. However, despite its inevitability, we’re almost never fully prepared for the period of grieving and emotional pain that follows the loss of a loved one. 

After 30 years in teaching and the onset of a pandemic, I decided it was time to re-evaluate my priorities. Since the death of my husband 10 years ago, I had always been drawn to the idea of helping families cope with the loss of a loved one. 

Conversations about end of life and disability are few and far between. Even less is spoken about advance care plans or legacy planning for people with a disability. These are indeed delicate conversations for families,friends and service providers to have. Yet without them there is no disability representation within deathcare. 

 The longer I’m involved in deathcare and grief work, the more comparisons I hear between birth and death—the two events that bookend our lives. The beginning and the end are two sides of the same coin, and yet we are far more comfortable acknowledging and talking about one than the other.