April 29, 2025

Ep. 498 Memory Bears and Grief in Community with Michelle Sebern RN

57 minutes

Learn how a project making memory bears for people who are grieving is opening the door to conversation about the end of life.

My guest Michelle Sebern is an RN who trained as an end-of-life doula to channel her skills and passion into more community-focused work. When she found her rural community wasn’t quite ready to receive end-of-life doula services she decided to find a more creative way to give back. She will share how she founded The Memory Bear Maker and now creates customized bears to help people in their grief and begin end-of-life conversations. Learn more at her website:

thememorybearmaker.com

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This episode includes:

Michelle’s journey from nurse to doula and memory bear maker

The challenges of introducing doula services into a community not quite ready for that step

How she discovered memory bears to be the perfect blend of her passions

How memory bears help with grief

Why the bears are an alternate doorway into end-of-life education and conversations

How grief unites people by dissolving barriers

The magic of storytelling that comes with memory bear making

Links mentioned in this episode:

Previous interview with The Peaceful Presence Project

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By Karen Wyatt MD

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