We hope that we, and our family and loved ones will come together in the kindest ways when someone we care about is dying. We hope the shared experience of loss will bring out the best in us. But grief and loss brings all kinds of feelings to the surface-sweet memories and shared pleasure right along with sorrow, old wounds and resentments. And of course, fears about our own mortality. There are ways to care for ourselves, clear the air before conflict arises and work together to tend our broken-open hearts and bring a healing balm to the dying time of life.

Rose Gordon is the founder of Circle of Compassionate Care, dedicated to serving people who are dying and their families. Rose acts as a midwife for the dying during this deeply meaningful and challenging time of their life. She has a degree in Hospice and Grief Counseling and over 2 decades of direct experience with the dying and their families. Rose worked with the Office of the Medical Examiner, served for 5 years as Director of the Being with Dying Program at a Zen Center, teaches Compassionate Care of the Dying and Self-Care for Caregivers to community members and healthcare professionals in the U.S. and overseas, and currently manages and trains Hospice volunteers and offers Spiritual Care through Mountain Home Health Hospice in Taos, New Mexico. Rose uses her life experience, her skills in deep listening and over a decade of work with Council process to illuminate the resiliency and capacity within the people she serves, helping them to bring forward the best of who they are to meet the dying time of life.

Assignment for the week: Call to Action

Additional Reading: Five Women, Five End of Life Stories, Hospice, Big Hearts, Skilled Hands