Let's Talk Death! ... a HealGrief® program

In this episode, Alexandra shares how as a writer, she had no words to express the grief she experienced after her husband's death. Yet today, she looks back and finds the beauty and love her experience brought to her "new self."

Alexandra Vassilaros is a Pulitzer Finalist, Playwright, Mother, and Founder. Alexandra's work in the theater is extensive. Her plays were commissioned and premiered at American theatres On and Off-Broadway, as well as in featured international festivals. She was the winner of a Jefferson Award for Best New Play at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and was a co-finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play Omnium Gatherum. In addition, she's been a guest artist at premier theater institutions such as Juilliard and New York University.

In 2016, one year after the passing of her husband of 23 years, Alexandra pivoted from writing for the theater and founded the Make Meaning Workshop.

Alexandra continues to develop her work with hundreds of women, men, and young adults facing the challenges that loss, crisis, and change inevitably bring.

She is the mother of 3 wonderful young men.

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In this episode, Marni, a lawyer responsible for her mother's advanced directives, shared her emotional block around completing paperwork that had to do with her mother's death.

Marni Blank is a trained death doula, mediator, lawyer, and female-founded small business owner.

Marni's goal is to create a safe space to learn and talk about death, dying & grief, including one's accountability in completing advance care directives & end-of-life planning, creating legacy projects, and helping with pre and post-death logistics. She brings deep compassion, active listening, practical resources, and a healthy dose of humor to her work.

Death and grief affect us all. The more we connect with our families, communities, and ourselves, the less fear plays into these critical discussions and decisions.

She has written articles for Trust & Will and Lantern.

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In this episode, Matthew shares the story of his mother's long journey with addiction to medically prescribed opioids and the trauma and the relief of her death.

Matthew Kennedy is a self-taught ceramic artist whose professional career has spanned more than 25 years. Matthew set himself apart from others as one of the first who began using a tattoo machine as a carving tool on ceramics. Today his artwork is featured in many offline & online galleries.

Matthew says he has a mission to serve people with his creative ability. He helps memorialize loved ones by giving them a special, unique resting place with his one-of-a-kind urns.

Custom Military Urns

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In this episode, Daniel shares his experience about his time spent with his dying mother. During her last year, he spent hours with her weaving together the life stories of his parents.

Daniel Kenner holds a Master's in Educational Theatre from NYU and a BA in Theater from George Washington University and is a proud member of Actor's Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and National Players Tour 60.

In the Spring of 2017, and within a month of each other, Daniel became an orphan after both parents died. However, they left behind their legacy, Daniel, who spent hours with his mother during her last year weaving together their life stories. Room for Grace is a love story of family and community told by a mother through her son, detailing the 60 years of a life well lived.

In the spring of 2022, Daniel facilitated a five-week storytelling residency that utilized the power of storytelling as a processing tool to cope with the demanding stress of caregiving.

Through Daniel's experience, he's created art-based research projects titled, Tuning In, A Window at the Moment, and Branching Out.

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In this episode, Dean shares memories of his time with his son hours before his son's suicide. Dean shares his experience finding his son's body and the blessings he found in the tragedy.

Dean Lambert has worked with funeral professionals for nearly 30 years to help them connect and serve the families facing one of the most challenging moments of their lives: the loss of a loved one.

As a father who has experienced the loss of a child, he knows firsthand the grief that clouds the vision needed to honor a life well-lived. 

Dean is leading The Love Always Project with a team of experienced subject matter experts and people committed to its purpose: encouraging people to think more positively and proactively about end-of-life issues and funeral prearrangement.

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In this episode, Michael speaks about how the intimate care of his father's body and the planning for his father's funeral led to forgiveness. He talks about how the experience altered his life in a positive and meaningful way.

Michael Wohl is best known for his role as one of the original designers of Apple's legendary film editing tool Final Cut Pro. He is also an award-winning filmmaker with two decades of experience across genres, styles, and formats.

Michael has maintained a parallel career as an author, professor, and educator, serving eight years as an adjunct professor at UCLA's Graduate School of Film and TV.

Michael is a father of two small children, a champion bird watcher, an armchair humorist, and principal baker at Burlesque Buns. 

Yet today, Michael joins us as the author of In Herschel's Wake, which he describes as a darkly funny examination of faith, funerals, and fucked-up fathers, but most of all, it's about forgiveness.

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In this episode, Zander shares how going through his father's photos created a new relationship with his father, almost a co-dependency. For Zander to tell his father's legacy, he needs his father's photographs. And his father needs Zander to share his story.

Zander Masser is an occupational therapist, husband, father, musician, and author of the narrative photography book Unburying My Father.

Zander's father, Randy, contracted HIV from contaminated blood products to treat his hemophilia and died in 2000 from AIDS-related illnesses. Zander, at the time, a young fourteen-year-old boy. 

Twenty years later, Zander unburied ten thousand slides from Randy's career as a professional photographer, which prompted him to dig deeper into his father's life. What started as a photography project evolved into a transformative exploration of living with, and healing from, grief.

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In this episode, John speaks about his personal story and how writing his book led to many conversations with others who shared similar experiences about one's conflict over assisted suicide.

John Byrne Barry is a writer, designer, actor, pickle ballplayer, and crossing guard. He is the author of When I Killed My Father: An Assisted-Suicide Family Thriller, which is fiction but is informed and inspired by his family's journey with their mother, who died in 2018 after ten years of dementia.

When I Killed My Father, his third novel, is a "page-turner with a conscience" about a man caught between what is compassionate and what is legal. First, psychologist Lamar Rose's father, who has cancer and dementia, asks his son to help him die. Lamar refuses, but his father keeps asking, and he relents. Then, at his father's memorial, Lamar's sister accuses him of murder from the church's pulpit.

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In this episode, Karen shares her journey following the overdose that led to her son's death and how it transformed her own path  to growth and spirituality.

Judge Johnson is a Georgetown Law Center (J.D.) graduate, a former Fulbright Scholar in Afghanistan, and holds master’s degrees in public health and Public and International Affairs (MPH, MPIA). Karen is a retired federal administrative law judge who has practiced criminal and energy law for more than 30 years. She also is a former U.S. Army officer, Major, USAR.

Karen is also a grieving parent of a son, forever 27 years old, who is now trained extensively in the techniques of Illumination, Soul Retrieval, Extractions of Energies and Entities, Divination, and Death Rites. Personally trained by Alberto Villoldo, Karen is faculty at the Four Winds Society and a Master Practitioner of Energy Medicine, and the author of Living Grieving: Using Energy Medicine to Alchemize Grief and Loss.

Karen writes, “You may be feeling stuck in your grief and wondering why you can’t seem to get over it. I felt the same way until I realized we do not get over grief. It’s not like catching the flu; we aren’t sick. There is no cure, and we can’t medicate it away. Instead, grief is a state of being that carries energy that you can tap into to create a new life. Just as we use the energy of other newly acquired states of being like marriage or parenthood to transform our lives, we can likewise use the energy of grieving to transform.”

You can learn more about Karen here.

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In this episode, Robert shares how his personal grief experience led him to write a guide that helps others navigate through the steps necessary after someone has died.

Robert Kabacy has been a lawyer in the estate planning and wealth transfer industries for more than twenty-five years.

After his mother's death, he experienced firsthand the difficulties of navigating the legal complexities of her estate and doing so while grieving. As a result, he wrote and developed About Me: Information You Will Need When I've Passed.

Robert enjoys reading, stage/parlor magic, outdoor activities, and swims almost daily in his spare time.

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