Butterfly Days w Tami Jorden

If something happened to you tomorrow, would your family know what you want? Or would they be standing in a hospital hallway, guessing, and maybe fighting about it? Most families find out the answer at the worst possible moment.

In this episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden sits down with Maureen Kures, a registered nurse, certified end-of-life doula, and founder of Radiant Mourning. Maureen breaks down the three documents every adult needs, how to start the conversation with aging parents who flatly refuse to talk about it, and the one question that opens every door: what makes a day worth living to you?

Maureen started out as an oncology nurse who planned to leave within a year. Instead, she spent decades at the bedside in oncology, intensive care, and hospice, and watched too many families fracture because no one knew what their person wanted. Sister, if you are the one your family leans on, caring for aging parents while planning for your own future, this conversation is for you.

🦋 Connect with Maureen Kures:

Website: https://www.radiantmourning.com

Beyond the Will Workshop: https://www.radiantmourning.com/workshops-and-live-events

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radiant.mourning/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radiantmourning

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/radiant-mourning/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9b2fdIAVwk_AfveOV2khQ

🦋 Mentioned in this episode:

PREPARE for Your Care: https://prepareforyourcare.org

The Conversation Project: https://theconversationproject.org

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

Wide awake at 2 AM while your brain runs every worst-case scenario it can find? You are not broken, and you are not alone. In this solo episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden, a certified death doula, gets honest (and very funny) about her own middle-of-the-night greatest hits: the skincare she can't verify, the deadline that dooms her and then fixes itself, the clumsy thing she said three days ago, the wellness guilt, and the very real question of whether the floor is going to hold.

She explains why menopause rewires our sleep, why worrying over aging parents and grown kids keeps so many of us staring at the ceiling, and why every one of these fears is really one fear in a hundred costumes. Sister, if you are lying awake doing math that never improves the third time through, this episode is company for you in the dark.

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack and visit her website 🦋

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

YouTube: UCiFtxn0HNroWf5J4pYeZm5g

What do you do when the person who cheered you on the loudest is suddenly gone? And how do you become your own cheerleader in midlife while still raising a teenager on your own? In this episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden sits down with actress, poet, and author Rosemary Vaswani, known to TV audiences as Rosemary Dominguez, who plays Isabel on Paramount's Landman.

In 2022, Rosemary lost her husband, Eric, to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal brain disease that took him one month after his diagnosis. She shares what it was like to become his hospice caregiver at home, how family and neighbors carried her through it, and the simple rituals that keep Eric's love alive for her and their daughter. She also opens up about the hardest parts of widowhood, from college rejection letters to launching a book without her biggest fan beside her.

When writing essays about the loss felt like drowning, Rosemary turned to poetry. One poem a day for 40 days became her debut poetry memoir, When I Press Stop: A Memoir of Loss, releasing October 23, 2026. Sister, if you are walking through grief, caring for someone you love, or learning to show up for yourself in a brand-new way, this conversation is for you.

🦋 Connect with Rosemary Vaswani:

Website: https://www.rosemaryvaswani.com/

Preorder When I Press Stop: https://finishinglinepress.com/product/when-i-press-stop-a-memoir-of-loss-by-rosemary-vaswani/

Substack: https://rosemaryvaswani.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosepoemsthebitterandthesweet/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rosemaryvaswani8450

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rosemaryvaswani

Prior media: Landman Season 2 | Better Call Saul | The Journey Behind Rose's

Powerful Memoir Awakening Soul Films

🦋 Learn more about CJD: https://cjdfoundation.org/

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

What if the thing you refuse to say out loud is quietly running your life? So many of us learned young to keep the lid on. Don't make a fuss. Keep the peace. Maybe if you never say it, it won't be true. In this solo episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden gets honest about the silences midlife women carry and what they cost.

Through a 1980s memory of Paul Sebastian cologne, a friend who made sandwiches instead of asking why she was left out, and her own past covering for a cruel partner, Tami shows how buried truths hide under the stories we already believe. She explains why the fear keeping that lid on is running on old information, and why the strength you have now is earned, not reckless. Sister, if there is a flicker you keep waving off, this episode is your permission to finally look.

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack and visit her website 🦋

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

YouTube: Tami Jorden, Butterfly Days Podcast

A year ago, Tami Jorden hit record without knowing whether anyone would listen. Fifty five episodes and twenty three remarkable women later, she is not doing a highlight reel. She is handing you the map.

In this first anniversary solo episode of Butterfly Days, Tami names the five lodestars from year one: the fixed points of light that showed up in her solos and in every guest conversation, over and over. Earned wisdom is currency, and you are the most equipped you have ever been. Memento mori clarifies purpose, because a finite window is exactly what makes this chapter matter. Amor fati upgrades your experience the moment you stop grieving the life you thought you would get. Contribution compounds, because what feels effortless to you is remarkable to somebody else. And kinship sustains, because you were never meant to do any of this alone.

Sister, if you have been waiting for permission to build something bold in your second half, this is it.

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack and visit her website 🦋

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

Memento mori. Remember that you will one day die. It sounds grim until you have sat in the room where it actually happens, and then it turns into the clearest instruction anybody ever gave you.

In this one year anniversary mashup of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden pulls together what her favorite guests have taught her about living like the clock is real. Abbe Large explains the difference between a buffalo and a cow, and why it changes how you handle every hard conversation you have been avoiding. Aree Bly refuses to spend a single day feeling bad about being fifty three. Dr. Mary Alice Mina names the hamster wheel we run on when we are frightened of aging. Theo Boyd asks why we put a gag order on grief, and what stories people will tell when you are gone. Lindsey Goldstein says keep your eye on the prize. Christine Despres reminds us we can impact this life no matter the cards we're dealt. Erin Trier sagely observes the value of slowing down & focusing on what matters most. Anissa Hudak was frank to say we don't have to live just stay stuck, we've still years to rise! And Margaret Pasquesi, who brings live harp to the bedside of the dying, says the line Tami calls the spine of this entire show: our power is in our presence, not our productivity.

Sister, if you have been postponing the conversation, the apology, the trip, or the truth, this is the episode Tami says she would keep if she could keep only one.

🦋 Connect with Abbe Large: Lenox Advisors & LinkedIn

🦋 Connect with Aree Bly: Website, Book: The Sustainable Brain & LinkedIn

🦋 Connect with Lindsey Goldstein: Website, Book: Gap Year, Substack, Instagram & Threads

🦋 Connect with Erin Trier: Website, Empowered in Health Podcast, Instagram & LinkedIn

🦋 Connect with Dr. Mary Alice Mina: Website, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn & The Skin Real App

🦋 Connect with Margaret Pasquesi: Website, LinkedIn, Facebook & Music-Thanatology Association International

🦋 Connect with Theo Boyd: Website, Book: My Grief Is Not Like Yours, Book: Hope All the Way, Podcast, Instagram & Facebook

🦋 Connect with Christine Despres: Website, Brain Health Quiz & Instagram

🦋 Connect with Anissa Hudak: Speaking, Phoenix Women Healing, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram & Facebook

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack and visit her website 🦋

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

Aging parents. Adult children who still need you. And you somewhere in the middle, holding all of it together. If that is your life right now, you already know that nobody handed you a manual.

This is part of the one year anniversary of Butterfly Days, and it is the most practical hour this show has produced. Nicole J. Smith describes becoming a caregiver as learning four new languages at once, under duress, with life and death consequences. Kirsten Mau gives you the sentence that actually gets a parent to accept help. Abbe Large has a golden idea for how to think about dealing with parental finances & arrangements. Anna Giannone names what our children really need from us. And you will learn exactly what to say to a friend who is drowning in it, instead of the useless let me know if you need anything. And Lauren Bayne reminds us the power of honoring your parents.

Tami Jorden is a certified death doula, and she will tell you plainly what she sees at the end: the families who talk early are not spared the grief. They are spared the regret. Those are two different things, and only one of them is optional. Sister, if you are living the sandwich years right now, or you are about to be, this one is for you.

🦋 Connect with Nicole J. Smith: Website, Book, LinkedIn, Instagram & Daughterhood 🦋

🦋 Connect with Kirsten Mau: Website, Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Anna Giannone: Website, Books, Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube 🦋

🦋 Connect with Lauren Bayne: Website, Instagram & LinkedIn 🦋 🦋 Connect with Abbe Large: Lenox Advisors, Linked In

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack, visit her website, and follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram 🦋

You can't make new old friends. Tami Jorden says it as a warning, not a poem, because the friendships that will carry you through your seventies and beyond are being built or neglected right now. And most of us are far too busy to notice.

In this one year anniversary episode of Butterfly Days, Tami brings back the guests who taught her the most about finding your people. Florence Ann Romano, author of Build Your Village, hands you the six villagers every woman needs and shows you how to recast a friendship instead of ending it. Theo Boyd introduces her fairy blonde mothers, the women who appeared when her whole world came apart. And Anna Giannone shows what it looks like to build a family on purpose, including her husband's ex-wife.

Loneliness is not a soft subject. For women who tend to outlive our partners, this is infrastructure. Sister, if your circle has gotten quiet and you have no idea where to start, this is the encouragement you need.

🦋 Connect with Florence Ann Romano: Website, Book, Instagram, Facebook & TikTok 🦋

🦋 Connect with Theo Boyd: Website, Book: My Grief Is Not Like Yours, Book: Hope All the Way, Podcast, Speaking, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok & Threads 🦋

🦋 Connect with Alison Nazarowski: Website, LinkedIn & Food for Thought 🦋

🦋 Connect with Anna Giannone: Website, Books, Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube 🦋

🦋 Connect with Lauren Bayne: Website, Instagram & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Lindsey Goldstein: Website, Book, Substack, Instagram & Threads 🦋

🦋 Connect with Lisa Copeland: Website, Free Guide: 35 First Date Questions, Book, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn & Instagram 🦋

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack, visit her website, and follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram 🦋

A financial coach. A somatic healer. A therapist. A co-parenting expert. A dating coach. And a woman who teaches boundaries for a living. Different fields, different decades, same wound.

In this one year anniversary episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden pulls together the moments from a full year of conversations where guest after guest said a version of the same thing: nobody taught me I was allowed to matter. She revisits where the doormat ended up, the gremlin voice that thinks it is protecting you, the rule book you never agreed to, and the gut check question to ask before you walk away from a one-sided relationship.

This episode is about worth, and the boundaries that come from finally having some. Sister, if you have spent your whole life coming last on your own list, this one is for you.

🦋 Connect with Simone Knego: Website, Book, Podcast, Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Shawna Marie Bryant: Website, Book, Podcast, Instagram & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Johanna Danaher: Website & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Dr. Julie Merriman: Website, Books, Instagram, Facebook & YouTube 🦋

🦋 Connect with Carla Calderas: Website, Book, Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn 🦋

🦋 Connect with Florence Ann Romano: Website, Book, Instagram, Facebook & TikTok 🦋

🦋 Connect with Anna Giannone: Website, Books, Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube 🦋

🦋 Connect with Anissa Hudak: Speaking, Phoenix Women Healing, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, Facebook & X 🦋

🦋 Subscribe to Tami Jorden's Substack, visit her website, and follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram 🦋

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast

Ever catch your reflection and think you are the faded version of the girl you used to be? Copy of a copy of a copy, each one a little fainter than the last. That ache is real, and almost nobody says it out loud.

In this solo episode of Butterfly Days, Tami Jorden takes apart the lie hiding inside it. Every version of you, the girl, the young woman figuring it out, the one who built the career and the family, the one who crashed and had to rise from the ashes, was a brand new original. A first edition, every single time. And there are versions of you still coming. Tami talks about the knapsack you have been packing your whole life, why the gifts that come easiest are the ones you have written off as nothing, and how knowing your time is finite is exactly what lets you build the next version on purpose instead of on autopilot.

She tells the story of Ganna Walska, who chased a singing career that never played to her strengths, then bought a piece of California land at 54 and spent the next 43 years building one of the most extraordinary gardens in the world. And she tells the story of a friend, a retired accountant, who became a court appointed advocate (CASA) for a boy in foster care and changed the trajectory of his whole life. Sister, if you have been calling your best gift nothing, this is the episode that asks you to look again.

🦋 Mentioned in this episode:

🦋 Ganna Walska Lotusland, Montecito, California: https://www.lotusland.org/

🦋 CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates: https://nationalcasagal.org/

🦋 The Richmeister, Rob Schneider's Saturday Night Live copy room sketch, 1991

🦋 More from Butterfly Days:

Substack: https://tamijorden.substack.com/

Website: https://tamijorden.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-jorden-322918227/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ASQDpGEUX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterflydayspodcast