As artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project Guest House in San Francisco, Wendy MacNaughton witnessed firsthand how difficult it is to know what to do when we’re sharing final moments with a loved one. In this tenderly illustrated guide to saying goodbye, MacNaughton shows how to make sure those moments are meaningful. Using a framework of “the five things” taught to her by a professional caregiver, How to Say Goodbye provides a model for having conversations of love, respect, and closure: with the words “I forgive you,” “Please forgive me,” “Thank you,” “I love you,” and “Goodbye,” each oriented toward finding mutual peace and understanding when it matters most. In her book, and in our conversation in this episode, Wendy offers us a beautiful, poetic, masterful meditation on the art of presence as love.

If you liked this episode, you might also like my conversation with our mutual connection palliative Dr. BJ Miller. His episode, Unnecessary Suffering, aired in Season 3.

You can find all the books featured on the show, including How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton by visiting the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch Wishlist on Bookshop.org

Visit www.wendymacnaughton.com to learn more about Wendy, and if you want weekly drawing lessons and assignments from Wendy delivered directly to your inbox, you can join the Grown-Ups Table.

Watch her TEDx Talk The Art of Paying Attention here: https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_macnaughton_the_art_of_paying_attention?language=en

Host Lisa Keefauver’s forthcoming book Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org.

Visit www.lisakeefauver.com to learn more about Lisa, sign up for her Not-So-Regular Newsletter, register for an upcoming online grief workshop or watch her TEDx talk, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYtwSU-qaWc

Oh, and this season, if you want to WATCH the show, you can now watch it on YouTube @lisakeefauvermsw

Recorded September 16, 2023

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