In December 2015, my mother passed away after two years with cancer.
At the time, I was working as a journalist for the Caledonian-Record, a daily newspaper in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. My publisher and editors gave me an amazing opportunity to spend a full year exploring my own questions about how to provide our loved ones with a “good death.”
Between May 2016 and April 2017, I interviewed health care providers, death care providers, artists, teachers, families of those who have passed, and many more.
Below is the full series of 26 articles, plus the accompanying online extras that until now were only available to Caledonian-Record subscribers.
- Part 1 – Making peace with death during life
- Part 2 – Musical pharmaceuticals
- Part 3 – When helping people die is your life’s work
- Part 4 – Advanced directives (it’s always too soon until it’s too late)
- Part 5 – I just can’t keep from singing
- Part 6 – What we need to know when we help our loved ones to die
- Part 7 – Doctor/patient communication
- Part 8 – The language of death
- Part 9 – A midwife at the other end of life
- Part 10 – Signposts on the journey of dying
- Part 11 – The four P’s of being a good patient’s advocate
- Part 12 – Home funerals
- Part 13 – What we talk about at the end of life
- Part 14 – Why doctors recommend ongoing treatment at the end of life
- Part 15 – Beyond the statistics
- Part 16 – What do doctors want at the end of life?
- Part 17 – Local doctors talk about the end of life
- Part 18 – How To Be With Someone Who Is Dying
- Part 19 – No Regrets
- Part 20 – “Do No Harm” Gets Complicated At The End Of Life
- Part 21 – Helping A Child To Die
- Part 22 – Helping A Child To Die, part 2
- Part 23 – Caregiver stress and exhaustion
- Part 24 – One Family’s Journey Through Disease
- Part 25 – Teaching The Next Generation
- Part 26 – A Year Of Living With Dying Retrospective