Whether you came to this site for someone you love or for yourself, you needn’t face this alone. You don’t have to know yet what you need. That’s what the first step is for.
Some families come to me to be bolstered in their caring. They want to build a rhythm, to know they’re doing it well, to have company in it. Some people come for themselves. They want to get ready, to set things in order, to finish what still wants finishing. Most of what follows serves both.
However we work together, I won’t hand you a premade script, and I won’t tell you how to feel. I know this road and its strange turns. I’ll take my cue from your concerns, come at the hard things gently, and stay close while the light comes back.
The first step — free, ten minutes
We start with ten minutes on the phone or a video call, at no cost. I mostly listen. You don’t have to know what a doula is or arrive with the right words. Just tell me what’s been going on, and who it touches. By the end of our call, I’ll be able to tell you honestly whether a longer sitting-down would help.
Finding the path — up to ninety minutes, $150
When there’s more than ten minutes can hold, we sit down together for up to ninety — in person or by video. We come out of it with a clear picture of what’s ahead and what to do first. It’s a hundred and fifty dollars, and it’s where the real support begins.
The longer walk — $100/hour — packages available
For the rest of the journey, I will hold at least one standing hour each week for you. I’ll hold the same day(s) and time(s), so no one has to find the energy to ask about the schedule. Each appointment comes with a brief call between meetings, at no charge, so you know you’re allowed to reach out to me. The length and frequency of our meetings bend toward whatever the season asks:
- Pre-planning, while heads are clear: advance directives, a care plan, a vigil plan. I’ll walk you through clarifying the matters that are best articulated before they’re urgent.
- Legacy and completion, when the heart wants tending: the unsent letter, the honest goodbye, a voice recording, the question of who matters and whether they know it. The best of this work leaves something in the hands of those who grieve, like a costume to sew or a butterfly to release.
- The Honourable Goodbye: room for the things hardest to say, including love, forgiveness, and gratitude. By giving each its time and space, goodbye itself no longer has to carry much, because everything’s already been said.
- Vigil support, when the time is close: together, we’ll foresee a rotation of people, so the one who’s dying is attended and no one caring for them burns to the ground. I won’t sit a vigil single-handed, and I’ll make sure you don’t either. Let’s create enough space to honor this tender transition and include the rest that makes that possible.
- Grief navigation, after death: I was there, so you won’t have to explain it to me. I’ll bring a map of this lonely territory and walk it with you, and together we’ll fashion rituals of remembrance to help you move through this loss.
Whatever shape it takes, the longer walk is a hundred dollars an hour unless you’ve chosen a prepaid package of hours.
Memorials — $1,250, or $1,500 if I officiate
Crafting a resonant memorial service puts my thirty-five years as a theatre artist to work for your family. I reserve the space, create the service with your input and blessing, gather and arrange the photographs, and coordinate the butterflies (or whatever gesture is right for your family). If your tradition has a minister, a rabbi, or a celebrant, I’ll gladly work alongside them. If not, it will be my honor to serve as officiant. Because such a service is custom made, not metered, I charge for it as a whole piece rather than by the hour. Please note that outside costs, like the hall or the butterflies themselves, are yours and separate from my fee.
The family check-in after — fifteen minutes, free
After the death and the memorial, we’ll set aside a brief time to see how you’re standing and to look at what comes next. If you’d like to keep walking with me, grief navigation is there for that. If someone else should hold you next, I’ll point you toward them.
However you found your way here, the next move is small: ten minutes on the phone. Tell me what’s been going on, and we’ll find where to begin together.
