Covid has highlighted many social needs. One is the human need and right to die well, and to die with dignity, and to die with care. For many, 2020 was a year of grief, and not just due to Covid. Death doulas serve to assist others in dying well, as well as the grieving process that comes with the smaller deaths and the final Death we face. Here is a recent article shared by a friend. Please reach out if you have questions about what a death doula or end-of-life coach does. There are many resources available to you, here and elsewhere!
Thanks, Barbara, but I plan to be the one remembering you!
Hope to see you in real life soon!
you are a beautiful human being, Cheryl. I know what I'll remember about you!
I do not think it would be an invasion to invite someone to come and visit with your mom. If that individual came with some regularity your mom might warm up and begin to share her feelings. Perhaps she doesn't want to burden any of her family members so she's holding back. A caring End of Life Coach could be the perfect person. Or even a social worker. You're a wonderful daughter, Cheryl.
Thank you for this. When is the right time to reach out to a death doula? My mom has been depressed for years. She pretty much shut down when my Dad was no longer there to support her about 10 years ago. (No hearing aides, no leaving her chair so her legs are permanently bent, not caring about cleanliness, no desire to socialize or seek counseling- doing all the things that seniors are told are cognitively detrimental, but still not showing major dementia.) She can't seem to grieve and at one time confided that she couldn't cry after my dad died. To me, acknowledging that was a major breakthrough. I've gotten her to smile in the past couple of years. Would it be invading her privacy to bring a professional in? I fear it might cause more unhappiness and that it is more for me than her.