Growing up, my mother, Jeanette, worked as an activities director at our local elderly care facility. In 2018, she was killed by a distracted driver, and I stepped up to take care of our family in the aftermath. Our tragic loss was devastating, and one of the curious experiences I encountered at the time was the overwhelming outreach from the families of the seniors my mother had cared for. Apparently, she often sat quietly at the bedsides of the elderly residents in their last hours. She held space with families and for those family members who couldn’t make it to say goodbye. I carried her legacy to my husband’s bedside when I became a widow in 2020. Losing my husband to cancer during the pandemic is an experience that reshaped the way I see love, time, and what it means to hold a life with both hands. 

I also learned what it means to live inside uncertainty – to love someone while watching them slip away, to make impossible decisions, to keep showing up when there is no roadmap. During the pandemic, I learned how invisible caregivers can become. So much attention is placed on the dying person, while the one holding vigil is often left to navigate fear, exhaustion, grief, and devotion alone. This space – the caregiver's space – is where my work lives.

Vivere Death Coaching was born from this lived experience. I work with caregivers and loved ones walking alongside death – before, during, and after. My role is not to fix, rush, or spiritualize your experience, but to accompany you through it with presence, creativity, and care. I offer space to breathe, to name what is happening, to ritualize what matters, and to remember that you are allowed to live while loving someone who is dying.

All of my work is rooted in tenderness, truth, and respect for the stories we carry. I believe that grief is not a problem to solve, that caregiving is the ultimate act of love and is worthy of support, and that even in the presence of death, life is still asking to be lived.