Leaving Peacefully: Compassionate End of Life Care

03/24/2026

Can you see how saying “he’s in a better place” is in no way helpful to a grieving person?

" Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Collected Poems of W. H. Auden:
https://amzn.to/4buVt1X

01/01/2025

We will remember them ❤️

10/26/2024

Our friends among the dead now live where time and space are transfigured. They behold us now in ways they never could have when they lived beside us on earth. Because they live near the source of destiny, their blessings for us are accurate and penetrating, offering a divine illumination not available according to the calculations of the given visible world. Perhaps one of the surprises of death will be a retrospective view of the lives we lived here and to see how our friends among the dead clothed us in weave after weave of blessing.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the books, To Bless the Space Between Us (US) / Benedictus (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

08/24/2024

Discover a moving poem penned by Sara Rian, where you may find yourself within its lines.

06/11/2024

🥀🍃

10/03/2023

🥀

08/09/2023

A beautiful view of after.......

“How can a creature who will certainly die have an understanding of things that will exist forever?”

08/05/2023

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.

Be excessively gentle with yourself.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the blessing, 'For One Who is Exhausted,' from John's books:
Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Lahinch Beach, Co Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

05/26/2023

Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives,
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of color.

The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.

We look toward each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from, 'On the Death of the Beloved,' from his books,
Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Kerry, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

05/02/2023

Talking about it won't kill you! Join us for cake, coffee, and conversation.

03/15/2023

So many ways to help

I know I need support navigating the complexities of dying and I want to die on my own terms

02/20/2023

A beautiful idea....

When a crafter passes away mid-project, or is no longer able to carry on due to illness, they will likely have a few unfinished items layng around. They may even have projects they were making for friends or family which may become lost, donated or thrown away.
The Loose Ends Project aims to match unfinished projects with volunteer finishers who complete and return the project to the intended loved one.
If you have an unfinished project from someone who is no longer with us that you would like to have complete, visit https://www.looseendsproject.org/ and fill out their form. They will then match you with someone in your country who may be able to help you.
Alternatively, if you have some time to give and would like to become a volunteer finisher, sign up on their website.
https://www.looseendsproject.org/