Where the Veil Grows Thin

On November 26th, if you listened to that episode, you met Gabriel. Today, you will get an inside-behind-the-scenes glimpse into his mom, (a 26 year old mother of 3 boys) after she made one of the hardest decisions of her life and had the youngest of them cremated after his death. And just a couple of other details about that time in her life that were not included in Gabriels Wings..... Thank you...

I have found very little in my life that has taught me as much or taught me as well what it is I believe than sitting with those who are dying. What we believe in, where we hold our faith, how we manifest surviving loss, are all, in my opinion,  layers of how we grow and expand our humanness. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your po...

This episode describes the fist grief support group I ever led and the impact it has had on my life. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more information, visit seanjeung.com.

This story is sweet and tender. It is beautiful in its sadness. It is a memory I will carry forever. With grateful grace and humility. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more information, visit seanjeung.com.

This is the final piece to the story I started 3 weeks ago. It wraps all those pieces together around what happened to keep me home when we had a 3 week road trip all planned out and how the world brings what we need and gives us what we didn't know we wanted. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more informati...

I decided to slip this in as soon as I could. It interrupts the final episode of the saga about my recent  personal life but I felt it was important to try to offer these few words to those who might be grieving as we enter the next few months. The possible landmines that lie waiting don't have to catch us off guard. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get t...

After recording the episode published on Oct 29th about resiliency, I stayed in the closet and recorded todays episode. There were so many things happening bam bam bam in our lives and it just felt necessary to continue the train of thought. I am already composing next weeks episode as a sequel to this and then I promise I'll be done. We'll get back to things that are not so personal to...

Todays 15 minute episode looks at the desire we often have to reclaim the life we were living before some event took us sideways through the river (and then through the woods) while also opening the idea that it can sometimes be just one more way we prolong the suffering when something uninvited and unwanted falls from the sky.  Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can alway...

In this weeks episode, I talk about the connection between pushing away those things we don't want actually making them grow. I often say in my work with those who grieve, it's in the 'againstness' to what is, to what has come,  that we suffer the most. It's a lot to ask someone who has been assaulted by loss to ever believe they can make friends with what has happened. Bu...

This short 7 minute episode recounts the recent moment when I realized I do not need to carry all the details of my experience of someone's story as much as I need to carry the gift their story left me with.  I don't need to remember names, dates and places so much as needing to remember what the experience may have taught me. But in learning this, I was momentarily caught off guard by a...

This is a piece I wrote about an experience I had in trying to make room on my bookshelves for new books.  It's kind of funny and eye opening. It translated into all kinds of areas in my life. A parallel process of epiphanies and awakenings. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more information, visit seanjeung...

We tend, at times, as care providers to camouflage or deny our feelings when the ones we are caring for are a 'job'. Even when it isn't our job, we sometimes don't know what to do with emotions that come up. After all, we are going to be fine, the one we are caring for is dying, so why should we get to be sad? This is the story off how one woman helped her hospice nurse see tha...

In this episode I talk about the parallels between my Montessori work life and my work with those in Grief. Exploring the necessity to sometimes 'go back' before we can more successfully move forward. And how in going back, we find a deeper understanding and appreciation for what lies ahead. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you ge...

The piece missing from the story of my mom's death is what she wrote to us in her legacy letter. The story she told, after 32 years of silence, about an event we shared during one summer vacation. It is, in large part, responsible for my decision to leave teaching and start down this road of working with people at end of life. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can al...

Just the mention of the word Hospice can sometimes cause great distress to a family.  But when someone is appropriate, in other words if their illness  qualifies them for Hospice services, NOT mentioning it is wrong. Generally, all people know is that Hospice means someone will die. And that is true. So, how do we make friends with that reality?  How do we ease ourselves into that knowing and main...

I have mentioned how I came to be doing this work. And when asked, if someone has the time, I will tell them this story. It was a pivotal time in my life, as one can well imagine, a time of great change and growth. And, it's a very sweet memory. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more information, visit seanj...

The title of this piece kind of says it all as far as what the subject matter might be. It's a very short 7 and a 1/2 minute slice of my life.... Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more information, visit seanjeung.com.

Grief is something we all know. It is not something we necessarily know what to do with.  This episode is a sort of beginners guide to knowing how to be with someone else who is grieving, while hopefully also addressing what each one of us can do for ourselves when we suffer a loss. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or...

I realized, when I listened to this, that some of what I say sounds harsh. When I wrote it I was on a soap box for reform and expansion in the way things happen when someone is diagnosed with a life-limiting disease. I know I wear my comfort with talk of death sometimes too loudly, and I am choosing to publish it anyway, with this caveat: I have respect for and faith in all the doctors I have ever...

Part Two of a two part piece on sitting with someone who is actively dying. In this 19 minute episode we continue the conversation on what it looks like to be in the home of someone who is actively dying and what happens at the moment of and the moments after death occurs. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get your podcasts or for more i...

This two part series is based on a training I did for hospice volunteers interested in sitting vigil with people actively dying. As Death Doula work gains popularity here in the US.  it feels appropriate to take the opportunity to talk about what it looks like to be in someones home when they are dying, or to sit with someone in a facility who is actively transitioning. There is so much to be said...

We hear a lot about 'balance' these days; the necessity for it in all areas of our lives. In this episode, we take a look at how the compartmentalizing of our various roles in life can make our heads spin when we think we have to try to balance so many hats; and how the possibility of seeing ourselves as all we are all the time can actually help us feel more whole and more balanced. Than...

This episode was the result of someone in a grief group asking, 'What do the rest of you do with regrets?" and the amazing conversation that followed. When I was asked shortly after that to be a guest speaker at a local church I said I would if I could talk about Regrets. This is what came forth. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever y...

This story took shape after a particularly challenging week in our cancer center.  Staff shortages and a wave of deaths among our patients helped teach me how a small group of individuals can pull together to see one another through.  And, a week that showed me the toll it can take in the process. Thank you for listening to Where the Veil Grows Thin.   You can always get these  wherever you get yo...

This story was written in 2014. It was one of the first I wanted to record for this website. I think it was because this experience became a driving force behind my passion for what hospice can bring to a family. Even if the loved one in question never signs up. In rural communities like ours, connectors become vital for optimum outcome. At a certain point, the outcome of someone not dying isn&apo...