Season 1 of Last Words comes to a close with a  personal reflection from host Nic Main.

For the first time, Nic shares the story behind the podcast: recording his mother’s last words before her passing, traveling thousands of miles to meet guests with nothing but an idea, learning to walk alongside the dying through doula and hospice work, and holding space for strangers in their final moments.

This episode is a look at the long road that led here the lessons death taught along the way, the legacies carried, and the moments that reshaped what it means to live.

To the lives who inspired this work: 

• ​Shelly Main 
• ​Sara Main 
• ​Ollie Main 
• ​Alexis Rusin 
• ​Bradley Rusin 
• ​Willow Olsen
• ​Virginia Viviano 
• ​Shirley Mueth
• ​Beau Offutt 
• ​Janet Archibald 
• ​Vange Thompson

This podcast would not be possible without:

You - The Listener.

Production:

Ben Dahlquist - Audio Technician/Editor. 

Tom Grady - Website Developer. 

Matt Wagner - Graphic Design. 

Nick Grady -  Guest Coordinator Assistant. 

Last Words Season 2 returns in June of 2026.

If this podcast has impacted you, please consider donating at www.lastwordspodcast.org and click donate.

How would you navigate walking through the world with your loved on as they go from age 70 back to the mind of 1 years old? 

Larry describes what it meant to keep a vow to his wife Vange, by recreating and re-orchestrating long term memories as his wife Vange saw the present change before her eyes. 

In this episode, Larry describes:

• ​Tracking his wife’s smile 
• ​Unlocking long-term memory for Alzheimer’s patients 
• ​Walking side by side through the mental regression of Alzheimer’s 
• ​Using music as a form of comfort for Alzheimer’s patients 
• ​What it meant to bring to color Vange’s world in the gray of Alzheimer’s

Most of all, Larry walks us through what it means to truly live out the vow: “Till Death Do Us Part”.

This is Last Words: Death Perception.

This is Larry Thompson.

This episode is in memory of Vange Thompson, who passed away on September 27, 2025.

Her husband, Larry Thompson, shares their story and what it truly means to vow for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.

Larry walked beside Vange through her entire battle with Alzheimer’s with one intention: To keep the vow he made to her.

In this episode, Larry discusses:

• ​Meeting at just 12 and 13 years old
• ​Life and marriage after the Vietnam War
• ​What 51 years of marriage looks like
• ​The importance of adapting with the one you love
• ​The meaning behind making a lifelong vow
• ​How Alzheimer’s can echo through a family tree
• ​Vange’s shift from caretaker to patient
• ​What it means to prepare as a caretaker
• ​The financial reality of the medical system
• ​Building an environment rooted in dignity for someone living with Alzheimer’s
• ​Learning how to communicate with an Alzheimer’s patient

Most of all,

He reflects on what it means to step into the role of a caretaker and why preparation must begin now. 

This is Last Words: Death Perception.

This is Larry Thompson.

Welcome back to Last Words: Islamic Concepts on Mortality.

We return to Dr. Saqib as we explore the death customs and rituals within the Islamic faith.

In this episode, Dr. Saqib walks us through:

– The right of judgment

– The burial process

– The funeral prayer

– Settling the debts of the deceased

– The loss of a child

– The period of mourning

– Islamic views on cremation

– Islamic views on suicide

Toward the end of the episode, Dr. Saqib opens up about his own mortality, sharing a recent dream that has led him to reflect on the questions he has about the end itself.

This is Last Words: Death Perception.

This is Dr. Zahid Saqib.

Religions and faith practices have long served as guidebooks for life, offering meaning, structure, and direction for what comes after. 

Each belief system offers its own layered and foundation concept of mortality. 

To truly understand death, we must not only see it through the physical lens, but also through the spiritual. 

This is Last Words Death Perception: Islamic Concepts on Mortality

Meet Dr. Zahid Saqib,

A physician for over 46 years who represents the Islamic Society of Evansville. 

In chapter one, he not only walks us through his own origin story - but walks us through the foundational principles of Islam and most of all, how he himself came to know God. 

I spent days sitting with Dr.Saqib, reviewing and learning about Islam. From inside the temple, to being invited into his own home. 

To understand the concepts of mortality of Islam, you must first understand the foundational concepts of the Islamic Faith. 

In this episode Dr.Saqib walks us through: 

• ​Growing up in Pakistan as a young boy. 
• ​Finding his faith to be defined at 21 years old.
• ​The most important lesson his grandfather imparted to him in over 98 years of life. 
• ​Pursuing more about his own faith, while living in a Christian dominant small town society.
• ​Defining the creator in Islam.
• ​The pillars of faith in Islam. 
• ​How the Quran is just not a guide for faith, but a guide for life. 
• ​How the lens of the next life, is the way to view the present. 
• ​The day of judgement

Most of all, how this life serves as a test for the life that comes thereafter. 

This is Last Words: Death Perception. 

This is Dr.Zahid Saqib. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.

This episode is in memory of  Janet Archibald who passed away on October 21st, 2025.  

On October 7th, host Nic Main sat with Janet in English, Indiana as Janet traversed some of her final moments in life.  

This would be the first time the two of them met officially.  

Unlike other podcasts prior, this was a moment where Nic simply sat up the microphone and let Janet leave behind her last words to the world.  

Just simply: Janice putting her heart out there for the world to hear.  

In this episode Janet discusses:  

‑ How she views death.  

- Her personal testimony.

‑ Noticing the simple blessing of the day to day.  

‑ The first thought she had when she was diagnosed.  

‑ How she had open conversations with her creator.

Most of all she looks back fondly on the life that she lived.  

Regardless of the pain and burdens that she had to carry,  

Simply stating: What more could you want?  

This is Last Words.  

This is Janet Archibald.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.

Welcome back to Last Words: Death Perception - Catholic Concepts on Mortality. 

We return to Father Dusty and uncover more of the concepts that the Catholic Church embraces in regard to death and life. 

In this episode Father Dusty explains: 

• ​Developing faith throughout lived experiences. 
• ​How the Catholic church is meant to walk alongside where the world is. 
• ​Funeral processions within the Catholic Church. 
• ​Mental preparation for a funeral mass. 
• ​Offering a soul back to God. 
• ​What it means to be present to the moment of transition. 
• ​The church ruling changed on cremation in 1963. 
• ​Defining “Memento Mori” 
• ​The importance of conversations surrounding death. 
• ​Staying with someone leading up till their last breath. 

In the end, Father Dusty walks us through his personal fear of death and the experiences that have shaped his own view on mortality. 

Including the loss of a close friend and what it means to work and walk through it. 

This is Last Words: Death Perception 

This is Father Dusty.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.

Religions and faith practices are often used as a guidebook for life.

For believers and followers creating a perspective for what comes after,

Multi - layered and foundational each with their own concept of mortality.

In order to better understand death, we must not only see it through the physical lens - but the spiritual.

Hearing from leaders throughout all different walks of life, sharing their beliefs and how this in turn has changed the way they see their own mortality.

We start with: Catholic Concepts on Mortality.

In our first episode, we sit with Father Dusty, a priest for St. John the Baptist.

Father Dusty kindly hosted Last Words inside of St.John the Baptist.

In This Episode: Father Dusty dives into.

• ​How he found the passageway to his faith.
• ​A recalled cancer diagnosis breaking through his blinders of life.
• ​The pull into becoming a priest and leaving behind everything he knew.
• ​How death is a transition, not the end.
• ​What it means to hang in the balance of life and death.
• ​His first experience of death in the church.
• ​His one experience of seeing the “light” at the end of life.
• ​The timing of last rights for a follower of a faith.
• ​The role of near death experiences in faith.
• ​The differences between heaven and purgatory & defining hell.
• ​Defining the paranormal and demonic in the Catholic Faith.

And how most of all, what it means to be and serve in the “pit”.

This is Last Words: Death Perception

This is Father Dusty.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.

Host Nic Main’s mother Shelly Main was the first interview ever recorded. 

Almost 2 years ago, on October 25th, 2023. 

Shelly Main fought the good fight against triple negative breast cancer for almost 2 years. 

Taking on over 36 rounds of treatment.

At one point being told she was in remission and could slowly return to living a normal life. 

Sadly, that was wrong.  

Upon finishing a 5k race and placing top in her age class, she developed a cough that would not go away. 

Her breast cancer had spread into her lungs and brain, going unnoticed. 

On October 16th, of 2023, she was given 3 months left to live. 

Up until that day, Last Words Podcast was an idea that was shelved for over 2 years. 

Her death is what ultimately brought it to life.  

This is her story. 

No prep time, no questionnaire.

Just a small look into the life of a woman who left behind a profound impact.

In this episode: 

• ​We begin at the very first decade of her life.
• ​Being born in a pastors home, navigating the small town community.
• ​How she gained the understanding of hard work, through observing the sacrifices of her parents.
• ​Learning how to find her own identity and turning into her own person.
• ​Navigating the touchstones of her life, that brought her into the role of an educator.
• ​Spending almost three decades in education, to embracing the core of who she was across the world in Uganda.
• ​The experiential process of learning that she utilized as a foundation for education.
• ​Learning to be present with those in pain, vs trying to find an outcome.
• ​The role obstacles play in our own lives. 

Most of all, an honest look into how one feels with one foot in this life and one foot in the next.

This is Last Words. 

This is Shelly Main.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.

How would sitting with a cancer patient change you?

For Krista Wilson, it shaped her in ways she could never have imagined, offering a profound

appreciation for life that only comes from being present in those moments.

But how did her journey begin?

She shares the single conversation she overheard that set everything in motion.

In Chapter 2, Krista walks us through:

• ​What it truly means to be part of a cancer patient’s process
• ​The honor of navigating the end of life alongside another human being
• ​Being a voice for the voiceless
• ​The core principles of advocacy
• ​The lasting gift of perspective

Krista opens up about how these experiences have transformed the way she sees her own mortality.

This is Last Words: Death Perception.

This is Krista Wilson.

This episode was recorded more than a year ago, early in the Last Words Podcast lineup.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest(s) and do not reflect the views of Last Words Podcast or its producers.