The death of a child is a traumatic event for any parent and a death by suicide carries its own unique challenges. As Sharon MacLeod shares her story, we hear a difficult journey of a family’s struggle to support, manage and seek help for their exceptional yet complex son Alexander. We are honoured to have Sharon join us and thank her for her openness and courage. We hope this recording honours Alexander’s life; as David Kennedy often says, a person should be remembered for their life in its entirety and not for just how they died. May Sharon's story also serve and support others who travel these hard roads.

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In Season 2 we offered "The Written Word": which was an episode dedicated to sharing poems, lyrics and quotes that speak to us. We had positive feedback from the original episode, so we decided to do it again this season. We hope some of these words will resonate with our listeners and we welcome your feedback!

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In this episode we engage in a lively discussion with our colleague and friend, Dr. John Beamish. Together, we explore what it means to face our own mortality and work toward finding moments of acceptance and peace with the inevitable reality of death. Our conversation explores how we and John have worked with death anxiety and grief within ourselves over the years. It's a treat to have Dr Beamish join us and we thank you for joining our discussion.

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People often speak of the importance of dignity at the end of life.

Sometimes the medicalization of illness interrupts being seen in our full humanness which erodes our sense of dignity.

In the first episode of 2025, we speak with Dr. Harvey Chochinov, physician, author, researcher, and developer of Dignity Therapy, who shows us how to put dignity front and center in the process of caring for those living with a life-threatening illness.

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In this last episode of 2024, the co-hosts offer support, compassion and suggestions for navigating the holidays.

It’s often not the most wonderful time of the year, especially for those grieving and living with illness. Have a listen or pass it along to someone who needs a little extra support during this month. Our blessings to all our listeners.

We’ve got some great episodes lined up for January 2025, please c'mon back to listen! We are so grateful for your support.

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In a previous episode, we discussed how guilt and grief are frequent companions on the journey. Anger can also be a frequent traveler.
In this episode, we discuss the protective and helpful role of anger, how to go beneath anger to other feelings, and offer suggestions about what to do if you find yourself stuck in your anger. Being in the presence and feeling the effects of another’s anger can also be challenging. For those supporting a person on their grief journey we provide valuable insights that may help us hold space for anger.

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In this episode we have the honour of speaking with members of the Birrell family who share their insights after the death of their 8-year-old son and brother James in 2001.
Our conversation focuses on grief and its long-term impacts on families. The Birrells aid us in understanding grief from the parental and sibling perspectives. Pam, Syd and Rebecca are transparent and honest in sharing the difficult and sometimes dangerous aspects of grief that challenge personal, and family dynamics and change relationships for a lifetime.

The Birrells are well known, locally, and around the world. Their fund-raising efforts have raised over $13 million dollars towards research into neuroblastoma.
James' journey of cancer is documented through the book published by the family, with the title contributed by James “Ya Can’t Let Cancer Ruin Your Day.” We would also like to acknowledge Ben, James' brother, who due to his studies, was away at the time of recording and unable to join us.

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In this episode, Harrison's mother, Shannon shares their family story of Harrison's significant yet short life. With incredible grace and generosity Shannon shares what life was like for her and her husband as they rode the emotional and physical ups and downs, joys and sorrow, treatment and recovery and eventual death of their first child and little superhero, Harrison. It's a heart heavy and important story, gracefully told.
We are honoured to get to know Shannon and her family and we thank them for sharing this part of their lives with us.

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