Published Articles
2022 - October - CDT - Active Life - Allowing Nature to Help Us Heal
Allowing Nature to Help Us Heal
“Instead of seeing natural things as merely objects to be used, we must allow nature to enchant us.” These words of writer and Franciscan priest Richard Rohr ...
Sunday, October 9, 2022
2022 - September - Gazette - The Work of a Funeral Director
The Work of a Funeral Director
I had the honor and privilege of traveling around Pennsylvania for two weeks this September making presentations to funeral directors at the Pennsylvania Funeral Dir...
Thursday, September 29, 2022
2022 - September - CDT - Helping Hands
“No one wanted to talk about Noah and he was all consuming to us. We could think or talk of nothing else. We needed validation that he had been here—that his life mattered. We needed to hear his na...
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
2022 - September - Town & Gown - Animals Model and Encourage Healthy Healing
Animals Model and Encourage Healthy Healing
I love to share the story of Elephant Whisperer, Lawrence Anthony. Lawrence was a South African author and conservationist who took some rogue elephants...
Thursday, September 1, 2022
2022 - August - Gazette - Open to Moments and Transitions
Open to Moments and Transitions
I read somewhere that it wasn’t a matter of if you got COVID, it was simply a matter of when. Well, I recently had my turn. As a result, I had to cancel gatherings ...
Thursday, August 25, 2022
2022 - July - Gazette - Legacy and Loss
Legacy and Loss
My sister-in-law died last week. Cancer was a part of Cheryl for many years and it ultimately squeezed the life out of her. Her loss left us with sadness as well as a legacy we wil...
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
2022 - July - StateCollege.com - Article by John Hook
Spiritual Director, Celebrant and End-of-Life Doula: My Wife’s Unusual Job Titles Mean Helping People Through Difficult Times
President, nurse, truck driver, doctor, sales associate, cook, teacher...
Monday, July 18, 2022
Previous Posts
2023 - November - Gazette - Dare! Silence
A lot goes on in the silence.” These are words I often share because silence is a big part of my work. For example, I ask for moments of silence when officiating at memorial and funeral services. D...
2023 - Nov - CDT - Helping Hands - Healing Through the Holidays
Healing through the Holidays
Author, poet, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, wrote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I witness this every day in my work ...
2023 - October - Gazette - Memories Become Treasures
Memories Become Treasures
I was visiting with my mom and dad a couple of weeks ago and we started talking about my dad’s parents, who I lovingly called Grandma and Grandad. My mom shared two memor...
2023 - September - Centered - Arriving Where I Started
I love the T.S. Eliot quote, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets:
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for t...
2023 - September - Gazette - Existing Elsewhere
A few years ago I sat with a handful of adults’s in a grief gathering and listened as one mother shared her story. She told us about the moments before and after her young child’s unexpected and su...
2023 - September - Town & Gown - End-of-Life Doulas, Graveside Journaling, and Sponsoring Memorials from Afar
We hope you read the September Town & Gown article by Holly Riddle featuring End-of-Life Doula Jackie Naginey Hook.
2023 - August - Gazette - Surrender Your Soul
Surrender Your Soul
A couple of weeks ago, I stepped onto the deck of our cabin at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. It was early morning and the sun had just risen from behind...
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