1: “Why is it so hard to let go?” Marilyn said.
Marilyn was ninety-six years old. A naturally curious person, she had engaged Diane Button, an end-of-life doula, because she wanted to die well.
“She was willing and even excited to do the work to make that happen,” Diane writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
Initially, Marilyn told Diane … continue reading
1: “Our conversations started out funny and just got funnier,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
Diane and Franck Battelli, both end-of-life doulas, were meeting with Greg, 53, who was dying from ALS.
Before proceeding, Greg wanted to make sure it would be a good fit.
“He let us know in a very serious tone of voice that … continue reading
1: “We live as if we can control the hands of time,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
“We spend time, waste time, lose time, save time, kill time, and buy time,” Diane notes. “We live as if the clock ticks based on our own needs and desires.”
And yet, time is finite. And we never know how … continue reading
1: Diane Button had been living in Nashville for only a year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Whether it was divine providence or sheer luck, during a time when our family truly needed help,” Diane writes in her book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living, “people showed up from almost everywhere.”
One afternoon, while recovering from surgery and starting chemotherapy, Diane heard … continue reading
1: Bo had Parkinson’s disease. He was sixty-one years old.
“He lived alone for two decades until he needed extra care, and moved back to the town where his kids and ex-wife still lived,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
Bo went to live with Joon, his youngest daughter, whose husband was in the army and was deployed … continue reading
1: Eleanor Brown took out her journals and sighed.
“There were some good times,” she said, “but mostly these journals are filled with over fifty years of dreams that never came true.”
She confided this to Diane Button, her end-of-life doula.
Eleanor was seventy-two years old. She had been journaling since she was 21.
She flipped through the pages, reading entries aloud, as Diane recalls in her powerful book … continue reading
1: Something seemed off, Diane thought when she arrived at her client, Amanda’s house.
“I noticed immediately that there were no paw prints at the front door. Her house was spotless. The kitchen was uncluttered, no clothes on the floors, nothing out of place,” Diane Button writes in her powerful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
Diane is an end-of-life doula. She sat with … continue reading
1: Ever experienced a sleepless night?
Ever lie in bed “contemplating the end of a relationship, a job transition, our physical health, or concerns about children and family members?” Diane Button asks in her powerful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
The next morning, we typically get up and start the next day. When we stop to pick up our coffee, the barista … continue reading
1: Floyd Barker was 88 years old. He lived alone in a rustic farmhouse he had shared with his late wife Ruth, who had passed away six years earlier.
“You couldn’t tell from his gregarious smile and inquisitive eyes,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living, but “Floyd was lonely. . .
“He was also dying from kidney failure,” … continue reading
