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Meet Diana

Woman with leafy crown outdoors by a pond.

  

 

It would truly be my honor to accompany you on your dying journey by holding space for you and your family, being fully present, listening deeply and with empathy, and honoring your choices, beliefs and wishes, and to provide practical assistance as needed.

Being an end-of-life guide is an absolute privilege; it is a heart-centered service that I value deeply. You are putting your trust in me and I’m sure you’d like to know about me and how I chose this practice.

I am a gentle soul who listens and enjoys helping others and learning from them. I feel humbled with each extraordinary person I meet and realize there is still so much more to learn and explore in this lifetime.

The calling of becoming an end of life guide chose me...

The calling of becoming an end-of-life guide chose me and I honored my inner voice and accepted the invitation- that is the type of passion and purpose it is. It developed gradually over my lifetime starting with my curiosity of death as a child; I was wildly imaginative and never afraid of topics surrounding death and enjoyed learning about it. My earlier career, marriage, friendships, and motherhood all played important roles leading up to this point.

My neighbor, Sally, was helping Mia, a new neighbor whose husband had recently died. Mia was suffering from terminal cancer and did not have a nearby support system. I joined Sally in helping out with driving Mia to medical appointments and helping her with simple daily living tasks that she was too weak to handle on her own.

Mia gave me a gift I never expected...

I had never heard of a death doula or end-of-life guide at that point.

Mia gave me a gift I never expected- we developed a strong friendship in the six short months I knew her. Despite her extreme discomfort, she rarely complained, often maintained a positive attitude and radiant smile, and treated the medical professionals with such kindness and appreciation, even when she received bad news.  This is somewhat unusual and unexpected in end-of-life situations. There are NO wrong emotions when it comes to the end of life. Anger, sadness, and irritability are also valid feelings that should be acknowledged and accepted and I welcome bearing witness to these feelings with equal regard.  Mia was not defined by her illness; she was an extraordinary woman and I savored listening to her life story and learning from her.

Mia provided me with so much wisdom that I yearned to do more in this field.

A woman plays a harp in a sunny field surrounded by wildflowers and greenery.

Around the same time I was helping to care for Mia, my daughter was volunteering at a local memory care center by playing her harp for residents.

One day, she was asked to play her harp for a woman actively dying whose family was unable to be present at the moment. My daughter and I were so touched by her sacred and meaningful dying process; the woman looked completely serene and at peace as the harp music played and we even observed a positive response.  I was in awe by the way the Director of Life Enrichment, one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, held her hand and whispered kind words into her ear, assuring her that she was loved and not alone.

It was truly a beautiful moment to behold and we asked the Life Enrichment Director if we could volunteer in this capacity more often. She suggested we look into End-of-Life Doula training and that is when I first became familiar with death doula work.

I shortly thereafter received End-of-Life Doula certifications through both INELDA and the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.

 

After completing these programs,
both my father and my father-in-law
passed away within a year of each other.

 

The wisdom I gained from these trainings empowered me and gave me the tools to help my own family through these very difficult times. And when I realized first hand that death wasn't as scary as our culture imagines it to be, I became even more eager to contribute to this emerging field and make the dying process easier and less fearful for people.

The training I received was invaluable for my own family... including my beloved pet.

Woman with long hair holding a fluffy dog while sitting on a couch, both facing each other in a cozy, intimate setting.

 

 

 

I also received End-of-Life Doula training for Companion Animals and this helped make my 16-year old toy poodle’s death much more manageable.

The power of ceremony, vigil, and leaving a legacy made her dying process so sacred, memorable, and beautiful.

I love shifting someone’s experience of death from being a medical event to a sacred passage ...

Connect with me
  • Waking up and doing yoga as the sun rises, although I sometimes savor sleeping longer in my comfy warm bed instead, as I place an equal importance on sleep and exercise!

  • With my daughter:  taking nature walks, listening to her harp music, relaxing and watching shows with her, engaging in deep conversation, and doing fun projects together.

  • With my son:  listening and learning about his studies in Math and Meteorology, roasting our own coffee beans with his self-made roaster- formerly an air popcorn popper, listening to his surfing and travel adventures, and getting demonstrations on his board game creations and other inventions.

  • With my husband:  being married over 28 years, we enjoy working on real estate projects, watching women’s and men’s college basketball, having fun learning about mycology, and exploring places near and far.

  • With family & friends of ALL ages:  spending time at Sebago Lake, Maine with my mother and family; Spending time at the Connecticut shore in Milford with my mother-in-law and husband’s family; Spending time with my friends - my “cultural ambassadors” and walking dogs with them, frequenting farmers markets and art exhibitions, hiking, and finding humor and joy every day. A recent memorable event was visiting a Dark Sky Park in Pennsylvania and learning about astronomy!

Credentials:

INELDA End-of-Life Doula Certification, 2020

University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine End-of-Life Doula Certification, 2020 (humans and companion animals)

Pat Carver Hospice Volunteer Training Certification, 2023

University of Connecticut, B.S. Risk Management & Insurance

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, M.A. Environmental Management & Policy

The President's Volunteer Service Award for National Community Service, 2018 & 2019

Certified Level 1 Foundations of Integral Sound Healing, Sound Healing Academy

Certified Reiki Level 1 & 2 Practitioner, Traditional Usui & Holy Fire III System of Natural Healing

Penn Medicine Hospice at Home Volunteer

 

Organizations I support and have passion for:

Tourette Association of America
New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome
Womanspace
MAPS
Girl Scouts of America
INELDA

“Dying is not the end, it is just the beginning. Death is a continuation of life.”

- Mother Teresa

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