End of Life Conversations cover art

End of Life Conversations

End of Life Conversations

By: Rev Annalouiza Armendariz & Rev Wakil David Matthews
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About this listen

We are now posting a monthly newsletter on Substack. It contains announcements about end-of-life classes and events, previews of our upcoming episodes, and many resources for planning and learning. Articles and POETRY, of course.


You can subscribe to our Substack here: https://endoflifeconvos.substack.com

We will also be asking our readers (that’s YOU!) for articles, poetry, or event listings.

If you would like to be added to our list (can cancel anytime), please contact us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com


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Annalouiza and Wakil offer classes on end-of-life planning, grief counseling, and interfaith (or no faith!) spiritual direction. If you are interested in any of these, please don't hesitate to contact us via email at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

In this podcast, we'll share people’s experiences with the end of life. We have reached out to experts in the field, front-line workers, as well as friends, neighbors, and the community, to have conversations about their experiences with death and dying. We have invited wonderful people to sit with us and share their stories with one another.

Our goal is to provide you with information and resources that can help us all navigate and better understand this important subject.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. Additionally, we would appreciate your financial support, and you can subscribe by clicking the Subscribe button. Subscribers will be sent a dynamically updated end-of-life planning checklist and resources document. They will have access to premium video podcasts on many end-of-life planning and support subjects. Subscribers at $8/month or higher will be invited to a special live, online conversation with Annalouiza and Wakil and are eligible for a free initial session of grief counseling or interfaith spiritual direction.

We would love to hear your feedback and stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

We want to thank Wakil and his wife's children for the wonderful song that begins our programs. We also want to acknowledge that the music we are using was composed and produced by Charles Hiestand. We also acknowledge that we live and work on unceded indigenous peoples' lands. We thank them for their generations of stewardship, which continues to this day, and honor them by doing all we can to create a sustainable planet and support the thriving of all life, both human and more than human.

© 2025 End of Life Conversations Social Sciences Spirituality
Episodes
  • Feeding Love - Caring for Seniors with Food with Chef Dave Dekker

    Feeding Love - Caring for Seniors with Food with Chef Dave Dekker
    Aug 27 2025

    Send us a text

    In this conversation, Chef Dave Dekker shares his profound experiences with death, caregiving, and the importance of compassion in senior living. He reflects on his personal encounters with loss, the impact of his mother's decline, and how these experiences shaped his approach to culinary caregiving. Dave emphasizes the need for dignity in elder care, the significance of nutrition, and the role of care staff in creating a supportive community. He concludes with reflections on finding purpose in service and the importance of caring for others.

    Support the show

    You can find us on SubStack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. You are also invited to subscribe to support us financially. Anyone who supports us at any level will have access to Premium content, special online meet-ups, and one on one time with Annalouiza or Wakil.

    And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.
    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • Expert Advice - How to be Buried in a Forest!

    Expert Advice - How to be Buried in a Forest!
    Aug 20 2025

    Send us a text

    You can view the video version on YouTube here.

    In this episode, Mel Bennett, co-founder of Life Forest Cemetery, shares her journey in the death care industry, emphasizing the importance of compassionate care, innovative burial practices, and community support. She shares her expertise in creating Life Forest, a mapped forest cemetery. Mel highlights the significance of cemetery mapping and deeded burials, ensuring families have access to their loved ones' resting places. The conversation also touches on the emotional aspects of death care and the need for resources to support grieving families.

    Life Forest's website: https://www.thelifeforest.com/

    Video: The inspiration that created Life Forest https://youtu.be/8-J2SPcRVOs?si=ElC0VHz0LIuKyyxZ

    Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer



    Support the show

    You can find us on SubStack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. You are also invited to subscribe to support us financially. Anyone who supports us at any level will have access to Premium content, special online meet-ups, and one on one time with Annalouiza or Wakil.

    And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.
    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
  • Traditional Irish Revenant Songs with Elizabeth Healy

    Traditional Irish Revenant Songs with Elizabeth Healy
    Aug 13 2025

    Send us a text

    In this conversation, Elizabeth discusses her deep connection to Irish music, particularly revenant songs, which explore themes of death, grief, and resilience. She shares personal experiences with death and how they shaped her understanding of life and loss. The discussion highlights the importance of community in the grieving process and the therapeutic role of traditional songs in coping with grief. Elizabeth also reflects on her journey as a singer and the significance of music in her life, emphasizing the interconnectedness of life and death.

    Elizabeth joined us all the way from Westport on the west coast of Ireland, for this episode!

    Recently, Elizabeth developed a fascination with an important, though largely unexplored aspect of Irish musical and cultural heritage: the genre of traditional songs known as Revenant Songs. These songs, deeply rooted in Irish and international folklore, narrate tales of the dead returning, mostly in their full human form, to resolve unfinished earthly matters.

    Here are links to two of the songs, as examples

    1) The Unquiet Grave, sung by Luke Kelly

    Luke Kelly: The Unquiet Grave

    2) The Wife of Usher's Well, sung by Karine Polwart

    The Wife Of Usher's Well by Karine Polwart


    Book - My Father’s Wake: How the Irish Teach us to Live, Love, and Die by Kevin Toolis

    The Keening Festival in Mulranny, about an hour's drive north of Westport, Ireland.

    Support the show

    You can find us on SubStack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. You are also invited to subscribe to support us financially. Anyone who supports us at any level will have access to Premium content, special online meet-ups, and one on one time with Annalouiza or Wakil.

    And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.