Today, most of us lack the direct experience of being witness to a meaningful and family-centered dying process. We have outsourced the washing, dressing, and burial of the body of our beloved. Furthermore, just as grief is too often viewed as an illness to overcome, death, too, is seen as something to “fight.”

over the last decade is a step in the right direction, most Americans lack basic knowledge of the dying process. Combine this with an absence of meaningful conversation regarding the emotional and spiritual significance of death and one can see why the work of bringing the subject into the light is so important.