Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Sherrie Cassel The Hospice nurse said a dying person’s hearing is the last sense that remains once a person is unconscious, so … I spoke to her. I told her I loved her and that it was okay for her to go. I also made a promise I’m not going to keep; I toldContinue reading “The Kindness of White Lies”

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Death can be a dark topic; it certainly can; however, when we plan for the inevitability for ourselves, or a cherished loved one, I know from experience, it takes some of the sting out of the process. My mother just passed and had hospice care and her family surrounding her on the night of herContinue reading “The benefits of an end-of-life Doula”

By Sherrie Cassel All she wanted was to walk again. She fell and broke her pelvis at 80 and her life changed seismically after that; there was an adjustment that took her from us after two years of pain, sickness, disability, fewer and fewer joyful days, but when she did have them, they were beautifulContinue reading “When Pleasure and Purpose are Present”

By Sherrie Cassel The world has been silent, different, incomplete somehow as I adjust to my mother’s death, in the same way I’ve been adjusting to my son’s death for nearly eight years. I used to wrestle in the early days of grief with the possibility that there would be an end date for grief,Continue reading “Higher, Mommy, Higher”

By Sherrie Cassel Living in the high desert, I’ve become accustomed to quick weather changes. Two days ago, it was nearly one-hundred degrees in Joshua Tree, and today, we broke out the fluffy comforter. We’re hunkering down for an el Niño winter in Southern California, where the weather is practically perfect every day. My husbandContinue reading “The inevitability of change”

By Sherrie Cassel Dedicated to Erik Erikson My mother has been gone now for two weeks and some change; I’ve never been good at keeping track of dates. I’ve been hoping that my muse would give me something to say about the last two weeks, where I’ve been and how I’m managing. I just haven’tContinue reading “Generativity through Grief”

By Sherrie Cassel Artist, Giovanni Bragolin, 1911-1981 I lost the one person who meant more to me than life itself when I lost Rikki. So, I foolishly thought my heart could never be broken again as viscerally. Boy, was I wrong! Losing Momma last night really hurts. I haven’t cried as hard since Rikki died,Continue reading “Godspeed, Momma”