Episodes

After Roselee Blooston's husband died, she wrote a memoir about her experience going forward from his death and dealing with the government of Dubai to settle is estate. Then her life continued forward and she became committe...

After a loved one dies, what should we do with all that STUFF? And how about our own stuff, which we will some day leave behind? How does a loss change our relationship to stuff, both that of the person we lost and our own. R...

Some traumatic losses are beyond our imagination until we experience them. Bonnie Hirst's life was thrown upside down when her daughter was arrested for murder and then left changed forever when she was found guilty and given...

In 1972, a plane full of young people on their way to a rugby tournament crashed in the Andes. What followed was 72 days of survival in a rough and inhospitable environment. Those who did not die in the crash itself were in c...

Sarah Neustadter was part way through her training to be a psychologist when the love of her life suddenly died of suicide. In the early days after he died, she wrote emails to his account, which remained open even after his ...

How can we live well to the ends of our lives? And how are we affected by societys view of being old and being elder? As Louise Aronson aged herself, her view of these questions deepened. As a gerontologist she had already be...

In the confusing landscape of childhood sexual abuse, it is often easier to block the experience than continue to try to make sense of what is happening. Patricia Eagle did not uncover the memories of her fathers abuse until ...

A childhood of abuse left Lisa Braver Moss with doubts about her worth, fears and a driving need to succeed in school and get free of her family. As time went on, she understood more about that experience and began to make so...

When Karen Stefano was attacked on her way home at 19 years old, those moments led to fear; of footsteps behind her and of the dark. Only later would she understand that she carried the imprint of her attack with her. When he...

What helps us to choose courage and resilience over resignation? What helps us to pick ourselves up when we're knocked down? Living with a child who was diagnosed with a mental illness at a very young age, then facing her own...

Religions like Jehovah's Witness promise their followers certainty and safety. Leaders demand obedience to proscribed standards of behavior, beliefs and practices. But what happens when a follower begins to doubt? For Amber S...

LGBTQ+ people face discrimination, marginalization and oppression often from a very early age. Gay men, in particular, have also lived with the trauma of the AIDS epidemic. Those in the oldest generation, who experienced a cr...

When hospice is the best possible choice, families are often lost in a sea of confusion, not even sure what hospice is. At the same time, reading long descriptions of the services and goals is sometimes beyond them. After yea...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...