I was asked a few months ago by our local Charlotte librarian, Margaret, to facilitate a book discussion group. The book was "right up my alley! It was Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush's new book, Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying. I was delighted to be asked and looked forward to the warmth of the small group gatherings on the four wintery Monday mornings of January. When I ...

An email came in from California with a request for a copy of Vigil. How I love finding those requests in my "in box!" They always leave me wondering... How did they hear of Vigil? From where does their interest come? Are they a caregiver, or a hospice volunteer? Do they share my passion for quality, whole-person care for all at the end of life? May Vigil inspire them to keep the subject of dying ...

1964 is the year ... my graduation from Jeanne Mance School of Nursing here in Burlington, VT. Over fifty years have passed and now, as I reflect back while preparing my remarks for a keynote speech at Norwich University's School of Nursing, I have become acutely aware of how vast the influence of nursing has been on my life. While bedside nursing has not been a part of my life for many years, the ...

As we wend our way from January through February, and the light of each day slowly lengthens, spirits lift and we look forward to the new life that will soon be stirring under the soil. What a great time to curl up with a good book. There are some outstanding publications related to life's final journey that are being published. Let me share a few that stand out for me. Koshin Paley Ellison's ...