Holly Menard - End of Life Doula

Holly Menard - End of Life Doula I support people with compassion as they plan, prepare to live fully and experience a gentle death. People are living fully and dying well.

My vision is to witness individuals, communities embracing life and death as a natural part of the cycle of life.

09/07/2026

Dear friends, As a doula, I've sat with families in the midst of the hardest moments of their lives, and one thing keeps showing up: the conversations we avoid are usually the ones that mattered most.

If you're facing a diagnosis, caring for someone who is, or you know, deep down, that this is coming for your family one day, this is for you. It matters now, while there's still time to choose how these conversations go, instead of letting circumstance choose for you.

I'd love to hear where you're at. Your answers will help shape what we cover together this fall, and there are no wrong ones here. Choose one question that speaks to you most and leave your answer in the comments.

1. Have you or a loved one ever avoided a hard conversation about a serious diagnosis?
A) Yes, more than once
B) Once, and I still think about it
C) Not yet, but I know it's coming
D) No, my family talks about everything

2. Do you think these conversations are better started early, before any diagnosis, or when the moment actually calls for it?
A) Early, before there's ever a reason to
B) When something changes in the family, not necessarily a diagnosis
C) Only once it becomes urgent
D) I'm honestly not sure

3. Are you a primary caregiver, or do you sense that you will be one day?
A) Yes, I'm caregiving right now
B) Not yet, but I know it's coming
C) Unsure
D) No, that's not my role in my family

4. What tends to get in the way for you or your family when these conversations need to happen?
A) Fear of saying the wrong thing
B) Not knowing where to start
C) Feeling like there's still time
D) Family habits around staying silent

05/04/2026

Dear Friends,

Question: When do you start planning for something you know is going to happen, you just don't know when. It could be tomorrow? Here's the context. Let's be honest, we all think about death, more than we realize. The fact is very few talk about it. What does that mean? I'm a professionally trained end-of-life doula and the teacher, offering you an opportunity to start the conversation together now, virtually, in community, in a safe space.

My next six-week virtual Living Fully Dying Prepared class begins May 19th, 2026: For more information and to register: Hollyeoldoula.com

03/12/2026

Quote for the day:

“After all these years I have begun to wonder if the secret of living is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company”.

Rachel Naomi Ramen

10/11/2025

This the second reel focussed on starting the conversation about your end-of-life wishes. Your beliefs and values are integral in the process of making decisions. What distinguishes them and what are your beliefs and values? Start the process of identifying them and writing them down. Once you do you, you will find it easier to share them with your loved ones. That’s a powerful way to start the conversation
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https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19iYo1xjM1/?mibextid=wwXIfr

10/11/2025

This is my first in series of videos focusing on starting the conversation on what are your wishes at end-of-life. Making decisions while you are capable is integral to living your life fully today. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Someone else will make them for you that could impact not only you and your quality of life but also your loved ones. Once we start the conversation it gets easier. The conversationproject.org provides a wealth of information and a printable guide to follow.

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https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17A5AdKKZ9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

06/26/2025

In the words of John O’Donohue

“May we have the courage today to live the life we would love, to postpone our dreams no longer but to do what we came here for and to waste our hearts on fear no more.”

06/23/2025

Isn't Julia's poem lovely and oh so ever timely? I added the (or hot) part.

The Cure for it All

Go gently today, don't hurry
or think about the next thing. Walk with the quiet trees, can you believe how brave they are - how kind? Model your life after theirs. Blow kisses at yourself in the mirror.
Especially when you think you've messed up. Forgive yourself for not meeting your unreasonable expectations.
Praise fresh air, clean water, good dogs. Spin something from joy. Open a window even though it's cold, (or hot) outside. Sit. Close your eyes. Breathe. Allow
the river of it all to pulse through eyelashes, fingertips, bare toes. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe until
you feel your bigness, until the sun rises in your veins.
Breathe until you stop needing anything to be different.
~ Julia Fehrenbacher

Address

North Smithfield, RI

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19196063332

Website

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