Episodes
June 26, 2019
Send My Roots Rain
Poetry is a language perfectly suited for grief, resonating with deep experience without needing to be too literal. we hear our own experience captured and are comforted in companionship with this resonance. But can poetry al...
June 19, 2019
Extreme Measures
As medicine advances, it is harder and harder to accept the moment when it is time to face death and make the most of our remaining time. Dr. Jessica Zitter is a fierce advocate for asking the tough questions. Is doing everyt...
June 12, 2019
Prisoners Without Bars
Part of loving someone deeply is a hidden promise to take care of them if need be. But nothing prepared Donna Figurski for her husband's sudden disability and her headlong launch into life as a caregiver. As she adjusted to a...
June 5, 2019
We Regret to Inform You
Joanne Steen had what she considered a perfect life. She had a satisfying career and a good marriage to a Naval officer. Then her world turned upside down when her husband was killed while on duty. Evolving over time, her los...
May 29, 2019
The Emotion Code
An illness when he was only 13 planted the idea in Dr. Bradley Nelson's mind that he would some day be a healer. Although he almost gave that up for a career in business and computer science, his calling made itself undeniabl...
May 22, 2019
First Mistake
D.J. Chang learned early in her life to explore the big questions. When her childhood caregiver died she began to hear from him with both questions and answers. Through all her struggles and challenges she felt his guidance a...
May 15, 2019
From Scratch
When Tembi Locke spent a college semester in Italy, it changed the course of her life. Meeting Saro, the man she would love and marry, filled her with joy and also challenged them both to bridge the gap between his Sicilian f...
May 8, 2019
When Life Falls Apart
How did attorney Julie Potiker evolve from her career in law to writing a book about mindfulness? She discovered, through a brush with death and the ADHD of her kids along with countless other events of living, that she could...
May 1, 2019
Soft Landing
Gabrielle Jimenez never imagined she would find a calling as a hospice nurse. But when she got a job supporting a woman who was declining, she loved it. Struggling to finish the course work to become a nurse, her own soft lan...
April 24, 2019
Life's Last Gift
Decades of work with people as they are dying taught Dr. Charles Garfield valuable lessons about giving and receiving peace when a loved one is at the end. As the founder of Shanti Project, a compassionate end of life organiz...
April 17, 2019
Walking My Momma Home
Being very accomplished in other areas doesn't prepare you for caregiving. Kathleen Flora found that out when her mother began struggling with dementia. Despite her strong commitment to caring for her mother, she had lots to ...
April 10, 2019
Clouds Far Behind Me
With the death of a spouse, the future dies too. If you're a planner like Lori LoCicero there are many smaller losses along with the big loss. When Lori's husband died, she became unmoored, as if her tether to earth was broke...
March 27, 2019
That Good Night
Raised with a keen awareness that everything is impermanent, that all life ends, Sunita Puri was challenged to find a way to come to terms with medicine's inability to accept these truths. Her perspective was at odds with the...
March 20, 2019
We Are Hope
There is a crisis for young people in our country when it comes to equal access to mental health services. Some of the most traumatized and therefore anxious and depressed young people have little or no access to the services...
March 13, 2019
Peace Be With YOU
After any trauma in our lives, there is the possibility that we will, over time, choose to grow from it. One profound way this happens is in our spiritual outlook or belief. Having cancer as a young person, Anthony Maranise e...
Feb. 27, 2019
Beyond the Veil
Annie Mattingley endured what many of us, especially parents, fear most. Her daughter died of an overdose. Nothing could have prepared her for the communication she received from her just weeks after that death. It felt real,...
Feb. 20, 2019
The Cure for Grief
When Norah Casey's husband died after a short illness, she found her way quickly to what she'd learned as a business woman. Taking action gave her a focus and a contrast to her grief and her child's grief. Saying yes to oppor...
Feb. 13, 2019
A Chance to Say Goodbye
There are few things like losing a parent, even at an older age, suited to generating an inner discussion of loss and mortality. What makes for a good death? How can we contribute to everyone involved feeling good about our d...
Feb. 6, 2019
Until We Meet Again
When Melissa Lyons embarked on a radical sabbatical she expected a few months to reset and a return to her successful high-powered life. As the time extended, she felt lost, unsure what might happen next, she learned to let t...
Jan. 30, 2019
Advice for Future Corpses
How does a nurse relate to death. What has she learned by being close to the people who are experiencing the end of life? And how are her personal experiences with death influenced by her professional ones? Acclaimed author S...
Jan. 23, 2019
It Ends With Us
The Savages were a happy family with four boys. The older two were 18 and 19, one a year into college and the other just graduating from high school. Then they made a fateful error, mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. In ...
Jan. 16, 2019
Worth It
How can we possibly make sense from the death of a child. For most of us, especially parents, the thought is beyond comprehending, until that child is ours. But recognizing that children do, in fact, die and creating the best...
Jan. 2, 2019
Survivor
A cancer diagnosis is one of the hardest things we can face. Most of us have very little time to adjust to the profound life experience of cancer before we are immersed in treatment. We look forward to the day when we'll be d...
Dec. 12, 2018
Chronicles of a Catholic Housewife
In a life filled with learning, searching for meaning and intimately experiencing different parts of the world, Carmen Hartono came to a greater understanding of her spiritual home. How do her beliefs and practices help her, ...