OUR BELIEF

My first touch into this work was personal as the death of a dear friend was the soil in which my passion for grief work was to be planted.  He had been rejected by his family for his life choices and was preparing for death without them. My journey with him was short but deeply impactful as it changed the trajectory of my life and while coming to terms with his lonely death and profound grief was heartbreaking, it literally set me in activism mode. 

It was shortly after his death, that I completed training as a Home Hospice. I volunteered in men’s homes for 5 years before the medications became reliable and being gay wasn’t always breaking family ties.  Some of the most amazing times I have had in my life have been in the homes of dying.  Strange, yes.. but so beautifully honest and raw.

I then completed the Children’s Home Hospice Training and dove into the heartbrokenness of dying children.  It is in these years I really came to understand just how fickle death can be and how difficult it is to face death and grief.  I was in awe that in times we would consider the most unimaginable, that we are able to find glimmers of beauty, cracks of light and the nourishment in tears. 

Since then, I have been a practitioner of Death and Grief care.  This journey, while weaved with the loss of my own loved ones, was solidified by my participation in the Orphan Wisdom School.  This scholarship took me into the depths of what death and life require from us and the importance of community in this wild moment we call life.

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And what life exists without a relationship with Grief? It is our relationship with Grief that is the foundation for how we love, for how we receive and for how we will live on in the hearts of others. It is because of my 25 years of intimate experience with my own grief and the grief of thousands, that I can say, that grief is our greatest teacher.

I spend my days holding story, navigating grief's lessons, and cultivating legacies with both individuals and groups. I advocate for better bereavement policies and processes and am grateful to speak regularly on the important lessons this life long apprenticeship has taught me.