Grief Dreams Podcast

Lauren Kane-Lysak is an Pet Taxidermist, Mortician, artist, and animal lover. After high school, she worked in a funeral home where she found that the corporate nature and lack of creative opportunity left her drained. She became interested in taxidermy after meeting a bird taxidermist in real life while volunteering at the San Bernardino County Museum. Lauren has made it her goal to work with pets, and preserve their tangible memory for eternity.

In this episode we talk about her journey into pet taxidermy, all things pet taxidermy, the death of her pet rat and grandmother, and grief dreams of her grandmother.

You can find more about Lauren here:

Website: www.preciouscreaturetaxidermy.com

Instagram:@preciouscreature

Mahoganie is an active and ardent member of the Palliative Care community.  She currently volunteers her time to act as the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario’s Policy and Political Action ENO for both the Niagara Chapter and Palliative Care Nurse’s Interest Group for the past 3+ years. She has also sits on the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Nursing Group as Secretary/Treasurer. She currently works as a Registered Nurse at McNally House Hospice in a casual capacity, as well as, working full time as a Palliative Pain and Symptom Management Consultant (PPSMC) throughout the Niagara Region. Additionally, Mahoganie writes a blog called “The Art of Dying” and is a roller derby referee.

In this episode we talk about roller derby, finding direction in life, working in the palliative care field, the death of her first patient, uncle, and family dog, and grief dreams.

You can find more about her at:

Blog: “The Art of Dying” dyingdreads.wordpress.com 

LinkedIn: Mahoganie Hines

Instagram: nurse_stax

Twitter: @nursestax

She will be the closing speaker at the CHPCA – CHPC NG “Inspiring Nursing Leadership” Satellite discussion on Thursday Sept. 18th, 2019 at 8:30am - 12:30pm in Newbridge.

Find more about PPSC at www.pccnetwork.ca/what-is-a-ppsmc/

Ophelia Rigault is a grief educator, speaker, TV host and creator of Conversations from the Heart. Conversations from the Heart is a bi-weekly TV show that airs in local Cogeco Cable in Kingston, ON. The focus is on bringing inspirational guests to share their story of hope and resiliency, for the purpose of inspiring the audience to feel “if they can do it – so can I”.

In this episode we talk about her life with her mother, her death, grief dreams before and after loss, her TV show and upcoming radio show.

You can find more about Ophelia at www.getgriefreliefnow.com or www.vopheliarigault.com

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

Instagram: @opheliarigault

Jonathon Aslay is a Midlife Dating & Relationship Coach. He helps women recognize and distinguish the difference between men who are emotionally unavailable from those who are truly ready for love. He is also the author of 4 books. His newest book is titled What The Heck Is Self-Love Anyway?

In this episode we talk about his humbling events (divorce and job loss), becoming a dating coach, dating, self-love, his new book, the death of his son, and a grief dream of him.

You can find more about Jonathon's book at http://www.jonathonaslay.com/love/

In this update episode we talk with Shelby Forsythia (host of the podcast Coming Back: Conversations on life after loss) from episode 52. In this episode we talk about the experience of having someone else share a grief dream of her mom with her, and a couple new grief dreams she has had of her deceased mom.

You can find more about Shelby at http://www.shelbyforsythia.com/ and on Instagram @shelbyforsythia

Marlene Rodgers works as a story editor on feature films and documentary television series, and makes short films driven by her personal passions. Her most recent film is a collaboration with her husband, Franco Pante. DREAMS OF THE DEAD tells the story of Marlene’s journey in the aftermath of the sudden and accidental death of her grandmother, Baka, and the vivid dreams that were intrinsic to navigating that loss. Visit the film’s website at www.dreamsofthedead.com to post your own memory of a loved one, and view the 18-minute film at www.nsi-canada.ca/2019/07/dreams-of-the-dead/.

In this episode we talk about how she got started working in film, her newest film ‘DREAMS OF THE DEAD’, the death of her grandmother, her grandmother's house, and grief dreams of her.

Nikki Wilson works full time at an electricity company whilst also studying full time at The University of Melbourne. She will be graduating with a Bachelor of Environments degree (currently in her final Semester). While in university she has been taking creative writing classes as elective subjects. This semester she has been writing for a non-fiction class and decided to write about Grief Dreams after having personal experiences with them.

In this episode we talk about her university assignment on grief dreams, her multiple deaths (friend, step sister, and uncle), her grief and grief dreams following each loss, and lessons learned from her grief process.

You can find her creative writing assignment on Grief Dreams at the bottom of this web page http://www.griefdreams.ca/pop-culture

Kayla Moryoussef is a Community Worker/Registered Social Service Worker from Toronto who has been volunteering and working in end-of-life/palliative care for over seven years. She is a Death Educator, Death Doula candidate with Home Hospice Association, and project manager for all of their Death Cafés across southern Ontario. Kayla truly believes in the profound power of a ‘good death’ and its lasting effects on healthy individuals, families, and communities at-large. At the age of fifteen, Kayla’s life was profoundly changed by baring witness to the death of her grandmother, a primary parent and the one of the most formative figures in her life to this day.

In this episode we talk about getting becoming a death doula, the coming death boom in our culture, the death of her grandmother and dogs, her memorial tattoos, Death Cafés, and grief dreams of grandmother.

You can find more about Kayla at www.GoodDeath.ca or on Instagram and Facebook @GoodDeathDoula

Amy Vilela entered into politics after the death of her daughter, Shalynne's, needless death at the hands of the USA’s profit-driven healthcare system. Losing Shalynne became a defining moment in her life. The transformation out of grief and into a position of strength was a long journey. Although her life has been full of struggle – and, more recently, tragedy – her experiences have strengthened her resolve in the fight for justice. Her journey is shown in the 2019 documentary on Netflix “Knock Down The House”, which follows 4 female progressive candidates as they campaign against prominent incumbents in the 2018 midterm election.

In this episode we talk about her relationship with her daughter and the circumstances of her death, her journey into politics, and grief dreams of her daughter.

You can find more about Amy here https://amy4thepeople.com/

Karen Millsap is a TEDx speaker, Founder of The Groflo community and the CEO - which stands for "Chief Empathy Officer" of Egency. At only 29 years old, her life was suddenly flipped upside down... she became a widow when her husband, Richard, was tragically murdered. On the quest to rebuild her life, she discovered simple habits and lifestyle changes that helped her find her way back to a whole heart. Self-care essentially saved her life. This realization sparked a deep desire to share everything she has learned and spread light to anyone who needs help navigating tough situations.

In this episode we talked about her relationship with her husband, his murder, finding joy again, grieving in the work place, and grief dreams of her husband and uncle.

You can find more about Karen here https://www.karenmillsap.com/