In this third and final installment, we chat with Maureen Kures, CEO and Founder of Radiant Mourning, about the steps she recommends that you take when faced with the impending death of a loved one, the importance of legacy work, and how her work changed...
As we continue our interview with Maureen Kures, CEO and Founder of Radiant Mourning, she discusses the differences between an end-of-life doula and hospice care and the questions that you may want to ask when considering brining in an end-of-life doula for your loved one. WALH:...
Maureen Kures, CEO and Founder of Radiant Mourning, hosted a webinar for our staff and graciously agreed to spend some time with us and educate us on what end-of-life doulas do and how they can help with the end-of-life process. In this three-part interview, Maureen shares...
In early December friends and coworkers of Kate Lounsbury gathered on the Bainbridge Island Ferry to remember and celebrate her life. The Bainbridge ferry paused briefly as friends released Kate’s ashes. Kate battled large B Cell Lymphoma for several months before exercising her right to Death With Dignity under Washington’s 2008 law. With assistance from Compassion and Choices, she died peacefully at home among friends on October 26, 2013.
Kate, second from left, with friends from the dance world[/caption] Last October before our coworker Kate Lounsbury died of lymphoma she asked this blogger to write about her choice to use Washington’s Death With Dignity law to acquire legal aid in dying. Kate hoped it would promote wider public understanding. Before writing, I spoke with coworkers and friends and asked for their perspectives on Death With Dignity. Many had voted for Initiative 1000 which established the law with a 58.6% margin in 2008. All said they’d vote the same way again today. That was clear. But some expressed conflict about the actual act it legalized---aid in dying. Would I make that choice? they wondered aloud. How would I feel when someone I loved made that choice?! I think many people experience similarly unsettled emotions. Some are conflicted or opposed ideologically or because of religious faith. Complicating our feelings is the fact that death is rarely discussed in our culture and is hard to imagine. In that, Kate’s view differed from us all. She didn’t have comfortable distance from imminent death. She knew her life would end-- painfully-- and, understanding that, she was unwavering in her determination to choose the manner in which she left this world and her beloved friends behind.