Best Life Best Death

Jessica Wertz - ceramic artist + author of the Spirit Vessel Ceremony Guide Book - and I talk about road trips, small towns, ceremony, grief, and sacred time. The name of her work, Spirit Vessel, has three layers: the body as a vessel for the spirit; the vessel of each ceramic urn she makes that holds cremated remains; and the vessel of ceremony - capable of holding and transforming individuals an...

Mary Anne Oglesby-Sutherly is the founder and executive director of a day care program for people with dementia. We discuss a variety of things, including: how to cope with receiving a dementia diagnosis, why it matters what kind of dementia it is, how to find resources such as caregivers or respite programs, when to seek palliative care or hospice, and more. For more information on Best Life...

Mary Anne Oglesby-Sutherly talks about dementia -- the challenges of getting a diagnosis, the challenges of medication, and the challenges of day-to-day living with this impactful condition. Her respite care organization in Gallatin TN, The Veranda, offers a place for adults living with dementia to come for the day.  For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website a...

Hannah Fowler and I talk about how she became involved in the making of the movie “The Last Ecstatic Days,” and what she has taken away from this profound project. Hannah is the Impact Producer for the film, an end-of-life doula and educator, a hospice RN, and faculty at the Conscious Dying Institute.  Learn more about why Ethan chose to film himself at the end of his life, how he found commu...

*Note - Solace is no longer in business. Join Kiley Crowley from Solace Cremation as she and I discuss cremation. How does it work and where does it happen? What does it cost? Why might someone choose cremation? And what are some of the new ways that even this "tried and true" method of body disposition are changing in the current landscape of the U.S., with dispersed families and rising...

Dr. Geber's book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers: A Retirement and Aging Roadmap for Single and Childless Adults lays out 6 essential elements for aging safely and happily. Based on research across several areas, such as economics and psychology, these 6 elements are truly what matter most. Join us to hear Dr. Geber's thoughts on how to plan and cultivate well-thought out strategies...

“I’m fine. That’s what grievers often say when people ask how they are doing. Except they’re not fine.” When Rachel Brougham was a young wife, her dynamic, beloved husband was killed in a bike accident in the city of Minneapolis while she was home making tacos for dinner. Her book, Widowland , is part memoir, part grief journal, part advice manual for all of us to better understand the path of gri...

Anthropologist Shannon Lee Dawdy set out to interview 100s of people in the U.S. over 5 years, in order to better understand American death practices. What she found is a phenomenon that is rapidly changing! Our podcast conversation and her book, "American Afterlives: Reinventing Death in the 21st Century," both offer glimpses into how we care for our dead -- our ceremonies, practices and beliefs....

Continuing my exploration of body disposition options, on this podcast I talk with Emily Nelson of Be a Tree Cremation to get the details on "aquamation" or "water cremation." This is not a new process per se, but it is somewhat new in its use with people. In this process, which is becoming more and more available, the body’s tissues are broken down using water, heat, and alkaline chemicals. Liste...

What is the so-called “Village Movement," in California and nation-wide? A way for people to help people, intentionally create community, and keep elders living well in their own homes! My favorite quote from this conversation with Kate Hoepke: “Young people step up to help their older neighbors for a lot of reasons – and deeply rooted is a need that younger people have for elders in their lives.”

Artist and art therapist Jackie Schuld and I discuss what prompted her to write “Grief is a Mess” and how creating these drawings and texts was helpful in a time of loss. Her charming animal characters find themselves in situations in which grief can surprise and overwhelm, or in which friends can be supportive or step on toes. Jackie’s genuine style and her creative joy make for a wonderful conve...

In Part II of this conversation with Dr Christopher Kerr, he and I get into some nitty-gritty about what it would take to have more of us choose hospice sooner – thereby improving patient satisfaction, extending lives, lowering costs, and for sure increasing the quality of our final days. What gets in the way of doing what would make such a difference?

Dr. Christopher Kerr – of Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo – studies and works daily with people who are at the end of their lives. After realizing that many of his patients had extraordinary experiences as death approached, he decided to design studies that would tabulate these experiences in a meaningful way. Dr. Kerr sees that these visions and healing experiences are “enormous gifts” to t...

Brie Smith - funeral director at Return Home - and I discuss Natural Organic Reduction aka “Terramation.” Get a look behind the sensational headlines of “human composting” and find out more about how this got started, first in WA state and then in CO and OR. How did it begin? What’s the process, science, and end result? How do families participate and what inspires people to choose this form of bo...

In Part II of our conversation, Barbara Karnes, RN and I move into talking about some harder questions that come up in the end-of-life arena, including: When someone is reluctant to have a conversation about the end of life, how might we approach the topic? Is calling in hospice a “defeat” in some way? How has hospice changed and evolved in the years since it first began in the U.S.? How do “doula...

Barbara Karnes, RN – hospice pioneer in the US and end-of-life educator extraordinaire – joins me to discuss her background, share her experience, and offer a few pearls of wisdom that we can put into practice today. How can we better understand the process of gradual death, and how can we benefit from “the gift of time” that is a gradual death? How can “gentle education” help our fear go down, so...

After the sudden death of his brother, Preston Zeller decided to dive into his grief and his creativity by painting every day for a year. He made a gorgeous, moving, colorful film about the project, called “The Art of Grieving.” Preston and I talk about grief, loss, dignity, joy, family, art history, and the struggles of mourning.

Join me and Maria Fraietta to hear more about how the Nokbox - or Next of Kin box - could save you a lot of time and effort. These 14 folders and corresponding instructions are designed to make critical papers and items easy to find, file, and know what to do with when the time comes to manage the paperwork that surrounds a death. Get organized early in your life and/or use it as a map to find eve...

Jamie Sarche, Director of Pre-Planning at Feldman Mortuary, a family-owned funeral business in Denver, CO discusses the advantages of planning a funeral in advance. Get ready to hear why grief rituals matter and to ask yourself, "Do I really want to google funeral homes on the day that I need to find one??" 

Learn about green burial and how licensed funeral director Emily Miller has turned 80 acres of high, pristine prairie lands into a fully natural burial site. What is the Colorado Burial Preserve, and how does it work?

cianna stewart is the creator of the Dying Kindness podcast, "a podcast for people who are going to die someday." Her wry sense of humor and practical advice go right to the heart of the work of Best Life Best Death! How did we meet? What does it mean to 'make your death kinder'? And what wisdom does her life experience have to offer?

As his wife slowly succumbed to a drawn-out illness, businessman, spouse and father Gene Zimmerman found himself writing poetry as a way to make sense of each difficult day during her decline and after her death. We discuss the challenges of this impossible situation, how he found inspiration through writing, and what his experience has to teach others about grief, loss and love. Attached is a rev...

Clutter! Help! What is so-called "Swedish Death Cleaning” and how can these principles help us take charge of the clutter in our homes? Join me for some de-cluttering inspiration based on books, articles and personal experience.

Johanna J Lunn When You Die , director/producer, and I discuss the film "In the Realm of Death and Dreaming" + her next three documentary films about the end of life. What’s to be learned from these four movies and the extraordinary experiences discussed here by scientists, medical practitioners and lay people? As caregivers, how do we "gently be" with the altered experiences of those who are dyin...

Author, speaker and grief specialist Gary Roe and I discuss the topic “Grief: It's Everywhere!" From humanity living with the COVID pandemic to personal losses of all magnitudes, grief is everywhere. It matters what you go through -- and it matters what you do with it. Gary talks about the "ABCs" of loss and how to make connections despite this toughest of human experiences.