1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: What's up his way up at Angela Yee. 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 2: This is exciting today because this is an occupation I've 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 2: never heard of. But I think after reading this book, 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 2: we can see why something like this is so important. 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 2: Darnelle La Mott Walker's here and you are a death 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 2: do yeah. 7 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 3: Right now. 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,279 Speaker 1: As soon as I say that to somebody, they're like, 9 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: what is that? 10 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 2: So if you have to explain to people listening what 11 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 2: a death doula is, what would you say? 12 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, So first I just say, you know, I'm the 13 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 4: person who helps people die, so that pretty much shocks 14 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 4: the system. But then I say, you know, I'm there 15 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 4: to support the person and the family at the end 16 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 4: of life and throughout the transition, throughout the grief at 17 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 4: the core of it. That's what it is. 18 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 2: And you have a book out now called Never Can 19 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 2: Say Goodbye. The Life of a Death Doulah and the 20 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 2: Art of a Peaceful End. And you know, it's interesting 21 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 2: to me because death is something that's inevitable for everybody, right. 22 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 2: There are some things in life that we know we 23 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 2: got to do. They say, pay taxes and die and 24 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: die and those are two things that have to happen. 25 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 2: And this is something that you were a death douler 26 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 2: before you even knew what it was called for. 27 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 4: I think so many of us were. You know, I 28 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 4: learned from my grandmother who'd been doing this work for decades. 29 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 4: She had never heard the term. She died before anyone 30 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 4: used it that I knew, But back then it was 31 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 4: just this is what we do for family, this is 32 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 4: what we do for friends. We take care of each other. 33 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 4: We come from a long lineage of people who have 34 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 4: taken care of each other, and this essentially that's what 35 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 4: I do now. I don't do anything different than I 36 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 4: did when I before I heard the term. 37 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 3: So, you know, watching my mom. 38 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 4: Take care of a cousin who came home to die 39 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 4: of age, my grandmother do the same on the other 40 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 4: side of the family. That's the work too, holding someone's 41 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 4: hand and sometimes not even through death loss, but just 42 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 4: through grief, of losing a job, of losing a relationship. 43 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 3: It's all of that. So all that's the work. 44 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: You know. 45 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 2: In the book, there's one part where you talk about 46 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 2: your grandmother, who was really important in your life, absolutely, 47 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 2: and you say that she told you. She went on 48 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 2: to tell me that when Hamburger's with gravy and country 49 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 2: fry potatoes lost their flavor, and when she could no 50 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 2: longer play cards with the folks, she sit around her 51 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 2: living room table with almost daily slapping down cards and 52 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: coins while accusing each other of cheating. She'd be ready 53 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 2: to go before the old folks home gets me, she said. 54 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, and those were those conversations were so 55 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 4: important to me because it kind of I think we 56 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 4: all need to have that threshold where it's like, when 57 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 4: I can no longer do this, this is when I 58 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 4: want to leave. And you know, my wish for everyone 59 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 4: is that we leave we were able to leave when 60 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 4: we're ready to leave, But unfortunately that's not true. 61 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 3: Right. 62 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 4: But because I knew that about my grandmother when she 63 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 4: was in hospice and things weren't looking good. She had 64 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 4: stopped eating, she wasn't responsive, I knew she was ready 65 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 4: to go. And sometimes people need that permission to go 66 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 4: and thank and so I'm thankful for those conversations because 67 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 4: I knew that those things were no longer. 68 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 3: Possible, and I had to be the one. 69 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 4: I was the last person to see her in there, 70 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 4: and I had to be the one to say listen. 71 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 4: So if I said, today, it looks like a really 72 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 4: good day to die. There's no one left to come 73 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 4: see you. You've done an amazing job. If you want 74 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 4: to die today, you should do it. And I know 75 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 4: you don't want to do it. While I'm here, I'm 76 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 4: a player song. I played Cold Place, Fix You, and 77 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 4: I played it and then I left. In fifteen minutes, 78 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 4: I drove to my dad's house, walked in, the phone rang, 79 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 4: and I knew who it was. It was the hospice 80 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 4: saying she died. 81 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: Is that also somewhat being an intuitive you think? 82 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 4: I think so, like having seen it so many times before, 83 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 4: I think, you know when people are I think one 84 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 4: people know when they're going to go in many cases, 85 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 4: or at least. 86 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 3: The body knows. The body knows how to die. And so. 87 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 4: Watching what she was going through, she wasn't eating before 88 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 4: she stops talking. She talked about how her mother would come, 89 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 4: and her mother died many years ago. And a lot 90 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 4: of times I see that with a lot of clients, 91 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 4: where a spirit may come into the room and they're 92 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 4: talking to them, you know, And so all of these 93 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 4: things adding up, it's like, oh, she's waiting for something, 94 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 4: and maybe today would be the time to let go. 95 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 4: So it's kind of intuitive and just kind of I 96 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 4: want you to stop suffering too. So it's selfless in 97 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 4: a way because I love my grandmothers are global treasures. 98 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 4: We all love our grandmothers. And I didn't want her 99 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 4: to go, but I knew she needed to. 100 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 2: I always look at it too, when it comes to 101 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,479 Speaker 2: grandparents and even your parents, you always want them to 102 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: go before you do, because I couldn't imagine the pain 103 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 2: that a parent would feel, or a grandparent would feel 104 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 2: if you go before them, because of the order of 105 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 2: how things should happen. 106 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 4: No, absolutely, like we we all, none of us want 107 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 4: to lose our parents, you know, those loving you know, 108 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 4: especially when they're loving and they're supportive and they've been 109 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 4: there our whole life, but also knowing the pain they 110 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 4: would go through. And we've seen mothers lose lose their children. 111 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,559 Speaker 4: We've seen it, oh, and we see it too often. 112 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 4: That's the grief we constantly live in, especially as black folks, 113 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 4: and we know that pain. 114 00:04:58,200 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 3: So it's let me let. 115 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 4: You go if you have to. And because I have 116 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 4: a son now he's twenty one, I could not. 117 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 2: Imagine you, yeah, could not, and he would never want 118 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 2: you to have to go through something like that. Another 119 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 2: thing that you talk about is how black men when 120 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 2: it comes to a death do Usually somebody will refer 121 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,919 Speaker 2: you because it's not something they seek out necessarily. 122 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 3: It's sad to see. 123 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's always a family member, always someone who calls 124 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 4: me for them because what I found and we heard 125 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 4: is so we've heard it so many times. I got 126 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 4: to be the rock of the family. I have to 127 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 4: be the strong one trying to run from those emotions, 128 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 4: all the things that black men avoid in life. Like 129 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 4: my dad even will not talk about death. We will 130 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 4: not talk about it. And so when I get called 131 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 4: in the first thing I have to do is try 132 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,799 Speaker 4: to create a space where they can feel safe enough 133 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 4: to be able to express these things. And it doesn't 134 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 4: take long. Sometimes it just takes a hug or the 135 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 4: touch that they can't that they haven't received because they've 136 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 4: pretended to be the strong person for so long. But 137 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 4: and in that they don't get to grieve themselves, you know. 138 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 4: So they die and they never got the chance to cry, 139 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 4: never got the chance to be held, never got the 140 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 4: chance to be touched the way they needed to be touched. 141 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 4: And so a lot of my work is trying to 142 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 4: fix that. 143 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 2: You know, you have some extraordinary stories in this book 144 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 2: of situations that have happened. And one of the stories 145 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 2: that you talk about is leon and you talk about 146 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 2: going to Burning Man, which I commend. 147 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: You for that. 148 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 2: Have you been no, it's not for you, Well yeah. 149 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 3: I think it's for everybody. I was just think it's 150 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:41,799 Speaker 3: for everybody. 151 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: I want to hear about bird. 152 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 3: Man. 153 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 1: Why is that something that you feel like, thank you 154 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: for everybody? 155 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 4: For me, it's like this, it's this chance that we 156 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 4: we create this society that's just perfect. Money doesn't exist. 157 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 4: It's just love. 158 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 3: It's bartering, people feed you. You know. 159 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 4: It's like and it's you walk you walked through the 160 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 4: desert at night and somebody's like, hey, do you need 161 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 4: a hug? Absolutely I do. And I have this little 162 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 4: bracelet I love to give you. 163 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 3: Do you need a shirt? I have this too. And 164 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 3: it's like an amazing time. 165 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 4: It's art, it's music, it's DJ's from night till the 166 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 4: break of dawn. And if you want to sleep all day, 167 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 4: or if you want to go out during the day 168 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 4: and look at the art and just connect with the people, 169 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 4: it's it's all of that and I have a great camp. 170 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 4: And and yes, that is where I met Leon, who man, 171 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 4: he's a kid in his twenties. He came over and 172 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 4: it was you probably heard about the mud year, the 173 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 4: year it rained and poured down and everyone was trying 174 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 4: to escape but we couldn't. 175 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 3: We were stuck there for a few days. 176 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 4: Still still a great I think Chris Rock got a 177 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 4: helicopter out of there, but we he came over. Is 178 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 4: there something the toilets for bakdupt? So I'm not I'm 179 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 4: not selling it to you, but yeah, so he comes 180 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 4: over and he's one of those guys who he's a 181 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 4: lot of fun, you know. 182 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 3: He we'd all been drinking. 183 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 4: We said, we're having a good time in the desert 184 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 4: and me and him are going back and forth with 185 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 4: like fun like he was asshole kind of but a 186 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 4: fun one, you know, like my like my best friend, 187 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 4: I know these people, you know what I mean. So 188 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 4: we having a good time. And then I had to 189 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 4: go to a whitting Houston party, me and some friends. 190 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 4: So we were like, oh yeah, I talked to you later. 191 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 4: But right before I left, this guy came up with 192 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 4: his bike. We couldn't ride. It was mud and Leon 193 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 4: helped the guy change out of these wet clothes that 194 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 4: he was in, and I just thought, like, after all 195 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 4: these after all this asshole ness and jokes and whatnot, 196 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 4: I thought that was such a beautiful moment. And so 197 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 4: I just snapped a photo and the light was hitting 198 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 4: just right, and I snapped a photo and we walked 199 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 4: and came back, and everyone at the camp was, you know, 200 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 4: pretty down about something. 201 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 3: I'm thinking, you know, what happened, And they're. 202 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 4: Like, oh, well, someone died here, not a part of 203 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 4: our camp, but just died right over here. And I'm 204 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 4: going through and I show up in a lot of 205 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 4: places where I'm not a deathdol in a space, but 206 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 4: I turn into that. And so I find myself going 207 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 4: to you know, camp mats and consoling them and talking 208 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 4: to them and figuring out what happened. And one says, oh, 209 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 4: you know the guy. You were talking to him right 210 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 4: before you left, the young guy. And I'm like no, no, no, no, 211 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 4: no no no. And instantly I thought, man, when will 212 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 4: his parents get this news? When will his family hear 213 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 4: about this? We're stuck out here is the body. It's 214 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 4: like all of that, you know, And back to the 215 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 4: parent in me, it's what would I want to know 216 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 4: about my kids last moments? 217 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 3: And hadn't thought about the photo. I got to. 218 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 4: Bed that night and I'm going through my phone and 219 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 4: I'm thinking, oh, I think I have the last picture 220 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 4: of this guy. And immediately when I got back to civilization, 221 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 4: it was I have to find his people. They created 222 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 4: a GoFundMe is how I found a cousin of his 223 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 4: who led me to face book that led me to 224 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 4: his mom and I said, you know, if this was 225 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 4: my child, this is what I would want to know. 226 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 4: And I reached out to her and she and it 227 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 4: was just this for hours, going back and forth just 228 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 4: to you know, thank you so much. And it's sometimes 229 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 4: it's what we need to hear. 230 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 3: It. 231 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 4: It's the closure we need sometimes because we don't know 232 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 4: someone's last moments, and if someone was there for those, 233 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 4: it can be shared and I think, you know, it 234 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 4: should be and I'm so grateful that we were able to. 235 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: Do that for her and her family right and share 236 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: that picture. 237 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 2: And I think it's also nice to know, like because 238 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 2: I think when somebody dies in there alone and nobody 239 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 2: knows what those last you know, moments were like, and 240 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 2: I know they share with you my brother. 241 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, I need a minute. 242 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 3: Oh, thank you time please. 243 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: And so my brother was by himself. 244 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 2: He had an aneurysm, and it was so sudden, and 245 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 2: I'm like, what happened, Like was he suffering for a 246 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 2: long time? Was he laying there? So it was nice 247 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 2: that a lot of people were sending me messages about, 248 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 2: you know, just how amazing he was. Even people I 249 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 2: never met, like the woman where he parked his car 250 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:28,839 Speaker 2: was like, oh, it's the first of the month. He 251 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 2: would always bring me cake and he didn't come, and 252 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 2: I had no idea what happened, and you know, so 253 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: I was missing that. And then people in the neighborhood, 254 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 2: you know, his landlord, like everybody was just showing up 255 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 2: and talking about how great he was. One of his 256 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 2: neighbors was telling me about she sent me an email 257 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 2: about how which he moved in the building and she 258 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 2: was really nervous to move to New York and how 259 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 2: helpful my brother was in that process. And she had 260 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 2: like a date with somebody she met on an app 261 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 2: and he went with her and sat at the bar 262 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 2: while she had the date, just to make sure she 263 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 2: was okay, you know. And then when it was over, 264 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 2: he made sure she got back, you know, just really 265 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 2: nice things that. 266 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: He never told me about. 267 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 2: But I got to hear those stories from other people, 268 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 2: and it didn't really. 269 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: Help me a lot. 270 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 3: I love that so much. Can we say your brother's. 271 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: Name, Brian right on? 272 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Thanks for sharing that. 273 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 4: I talk so much about how everyone has to show 274 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 4: up for the funeral, right and that it doesn't have 275 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 4: to be the actual funeral. 276 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 3: But we need those stories. 277 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 4: We none of us you know, we don't, we know 278 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 4: we none of us know someone completely. You know that 279 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 4: reducess to life so much to say, oh I know 280 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 4: everything about them, No, we don't. And so it's good 281 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 4: to know that he brought that lady a cake, you know, 282 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 4: at the beginning, to sit on a date with this woman. 283 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 4: It's like, oh, he was that too, and so we 284 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 4: need that and it's so it's so important. Yeah, thanks 285 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 4: for sharing that about. 286 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: Him, you know. 287 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 2: And even like with my parents, my brother is a 288 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,319 Speaker 2: really thoughtful person and so he's always doing stuff for them, 289 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:03,199 Speaker 2: and I'm like, dang. 290 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: I can't I can't compete with like the little. 291 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 2: Things that he would do, like showing up at my 292 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 2: mom's job and bringing her like, you know, some special 293 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 2: bread that she likes. 294 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: I don't even know what that bread is. I have 295 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: to tell my mom. 296 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 2: I was like, listen, just getting ready for a downgrade. 297 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 2: Bring some wonder over to the it's not going to happen, 298 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 2: some you, some cupcakes, whatever it is I need to do. 299 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 2: But you know, I also it was when I was 300 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 2: reading this boocause I actually was reading it on the 301 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 2: train and I was like, I gotta. 302 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: Put it down because it was her. 303 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 2: Because I was like, I'm reading all these different stories 304 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 2: and I'm imagining the pain that people feel when they're 305 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 2: going through circumstances, like you had a friend who lost 306 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,719 Speaker 2: his girlfriend, and you know when that happens and it's 307 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 2: so sudden and it's like she's not answering the phone 308 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 2: and you're you don't think anything of it, and then 309 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 2: that's always like the worst case scenario of something like 310 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 2: that happened. But I also think it matters how it happens, 311 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 2: because I remember when we went to my brother's apartment 312 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 2: and we were waiting for the police to come and 313 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 2: they were like, it's still an open investigation until they 314 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 2: can get the cause of death. 315 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:09,719 Speaker 1: That was something that I. 316 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 2: Hadn't even thought of. I was like, did somebody break 317 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,079 Speaker 2: in here and kill you know, because. 318 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 3: You get all kinds and you have to think about that. 319 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 2: And I was like, that would have been awful because 320 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 2: I would hate for it to have happened that way. 321 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 2: And I think about how much worse it is when 322 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 2: when people die, these tragic deaths, you know, in that way. 323 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 4: Absolutely, and you know, it leaves us with so many questions. 324 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 4: It leaves us with so many things that we just 325 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,240 Speaker 4: may not ever know, and it's and that's hard, but 326 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 4: I do, you know, I do love and I believe you. 327 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 4: You spoke about it on your show, you know, following 328 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 4: that following your brother's death, of how important it is 329 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 4: to plan and having these conversations now because waiting, we 330 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 4: know what. We all know what happens when we wait. 331 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 4: You know, families have fallen apart. We're left with before 332 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 4: we can get to the grieving, before we can get 333 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 4: to the our real emotions and be held and be 334 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 4: in community with people, we have to go through the 335 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 4: logistics of holl let me go back to the police 336 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 4: station and talk to the funeral home. And now I 337 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 4: got to get this and especially if we don't have 338 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 4: much help, especially if we haven't already built that community, 339 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 4: and it's just us, which sounds like that was a 340 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 4: lot of that is yours, uh, that you were going 341 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 4: through your responsibility and so, you know, stressing the importance 342 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 4: of talking to whoever I loved ones are and sometimes 343 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 4: that's not family. I tell these things all my friends. 344 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 4: My friends probably know how I want to die more 345 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 4: than my family know how I want to. 346 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 3: Die, because we have to do it now, and because 347 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 3: we don't know. 348 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 4: I get on social media every day and someone you know, 349 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 4: on my way here, I get on there and I 350 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 4: see that someone I knew died right, and you know, 351 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh. 352 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: And literally like all the time, all the time, and. 353 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 3: So and it could be any of us on the 354 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 3: way to work and we want to die. I was 355 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 3: gonna ask you that first. But for. 356 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 4: Me, I want the deathbed. I want the I want 357 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 4: to be there surrounded by people I love coming in 358 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 4: one at a time. I got music lined up, I 359 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 4: have a playlist, I have the foods. Well, my granddad 360 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 4: was dying a big I was there for him, and 361 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 4: a big part of what we did was finding all 362 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 4: those foods he loved as a kid, and he's like, 363 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 4: you remember those pe cam pin wheels. 364 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 3: You remember I used to eat grabs. I used to 365 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 3: do this, and I'm like, I can find it. 366 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 4: I can find that somebody has it, and I'd go 367 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 4: out to these little corner stores and bring them back 368 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 4: and we would sit there and eat snacks. 369 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 3: I want that. 370 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 4: I want to have those final moments where people can 371 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 4: say or ask me anything they want to ask, and 372 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 4: we're all just honest. I think that's important. I know 373 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 4: so many people wanted to be instant or in their sleep. 374 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 4: I think that. I think that's beautiful too. I think 375 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 4: death is just can be a beautiful thing. But I 376 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 4: want that that dramatic ending that we see on TV 377 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 4: and seeing movies and reading books. 378 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think it's I would like to 379 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 2: know it's coming so that I can be as prepared 380 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 2: as possible and everybody else can to. I always think 381 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 2: about what I want my funeral to be like that, okay, 382 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,600 Speaker 2: because I definitely would like to have like a DJ 383 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 2: open bar, you know, I want it to be fun, right. 384 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 4: I always ask people, what, what's the what song do 385 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 4: you want to play at that moment, at the moment 386 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 4: of death. 387 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 2: You know, interesting because I did a playlist for my 388 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 2: brother's funerals, okay, and people were appreciative of it, but 389 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 2: sometimes when them slower songs came on, it was really depressing. 390 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 2: I was like, maybe I should have made it a 391 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 2: little more upbeat, because it feels like it's supposed to 392 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 2: be wrong to be doing that, even though I know 393 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 2: we have repass and things like that. So I think 394 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: I now that I have to look back in retrospect, 395 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 2: I probably wanted to be a little more upbeat. 396 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: Okay, you know, then I had it right though. It's 397 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: fun and. 398 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 2: Then I definitely I think the drinks were good. My 399 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,479 Speaker 2: aunt told me, she said, this is the best funeral 400 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 2: I've ever been to. Well, the wake, she said, the wake, 401 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 2: which I thought was interesting. 402 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: But I know my brother would like that. 403 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 4: I love that, like we know people, we know how 404 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 4: people and what they want, and it doesn't have to 405 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 4: be that sad because. 406 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 2: We think about traditionally, you know, everybody's crying, everybody's sad. 407 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 2: But this in particular didn't feel as heavy. It felt 408 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 2: like people were happy to see each other. You know, 409 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 2: it had its moments, but it also was a lot 410 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 2: of chatter and a lot of people came out, and 411 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 2: I think that was nice too, to see all different 412 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 2: kinds of people, whether it was for my parents, my family, 413 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 2: it was for me, and then it was for my 414 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,160 Speaker 2: brother also, and I think all my really good friends 415 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 2: were also friends with my brother, you know. 416 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: So people were like flying in just seeing that. 417 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 2: And I also understood when people couldn't make it, because 418 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 2: I'm not the type of person to be like, oh 419 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 2: my god, I can't believe you didn't come. I was 420 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 2: fine with that, you know, And so I just think 421 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 2: it's just the time that I also wanted to get past. 422 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 4: No, absolutely, and I love what you said about just 423 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 4: you know, traditionally we sit in sadness, right because a 424 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 4: lot of times we feel guilty for and I think 425 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 4: it's important to let people know that so many so 426 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 4: often we feel guilty for being happy. We feel guilty 427 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 4: for the joy that we're experiencing, and we shouldn't like 428 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 4: that's that's important. We feel that that's real, and we 429 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 4: know the person your brother would have appreciated that, you 430 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 4: know that. So it's good to laugh and and not 431 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 4: sit in that funk. 432 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 3: You know. 433 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I got one I thought about to kill. 434 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 4: That was like. 435 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 3: Trying to find it. 436 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: You know. 437 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 2: Another thing, there's a story you tell early on in 438 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 2: the book and it is about Larry. 439 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Maurice. 440 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 4: I think that's my favorite story more so because it's 441 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 4: about the loneliness and people not being able to one 442 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 4: love who they want to love but also express their love. 443 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,399 Speaker 3: And it's it's I see it so often. 444 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 4: And we were raised in generations, but we were raised 445 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 4: by generations that had the these special. 446 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,360 Speaker 3: Friends and you know, and all that. 447 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 4: And to see this man sitting in the back of 448 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:10,239 Speaker 4: this funeral for a man that he couldn't grieve and 449 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 4: he would have to go home alone and go through 450 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 4: this by himself, when everyone else there had someone to 451 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 4: hold them to get them through. That was gonna that 452 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 4: was going to be a painful, painful experience, you know. 453 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 4: And just to go through that story quickly for those 454 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 4: who haven't read the book or may want to get it. 455 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 4: But I went to a funeral as a photographer and 456 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 4: ended up being a death doula in a way to 457 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 4: a man who was the partner of the man who died, 458 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 4: and they were in there. The man who died was 459 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 4: in his eighties for sure, and Larry may have. 460 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: Been ten years younger, and people didn't know. 461 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 4: And people didn't know, and because even in the story 462 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 4: she's telling at the mic during the eulogy, she's like, 463 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:55,479 Speaker 4: you know, I'm just thankful for Larry for helping him 464 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 4: take care of this place as the groundskeeper for the 465 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 4: last you know. And I'm sitting there looking at Larry 466 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 4: in the back, like, oh, no, it's more. It's more 467 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 4: than And even if you know, I wasn't one hundred 468 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 4: percent short, but it was pretty obvious, and so I said, 469 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 4: I need to stay behind and just talk to him 470 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 4: and at least offer him a hug in the end. 471 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 4: And it's exactly what he needed. And I'm glad I 472 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 4: could do that for him, but so many of us. 473 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 4: I just got a call two weeks ago now from 474 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 4: a friend whose sister was with her boyfriend when he 475 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 4: when he died, and she's like, what can I do 476 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 4: to be there? And I'm giving her ideas and what 477 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 4: I do, and I'm like, well, maybe your sister, you know, 478 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 4: helping with the funeral. That helps with closure and doing 479 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 4: this and talking with the family and building community. And 480 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 4: she says no one knew about their relationship. He was 481 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 4: separated from his wife, and I'm like, oh, and so 482 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 4: now she this man she was with for three years, 483 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 4: she has to hide. She can't go to the funeral. Wow, 484 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 4: she can't like none of the things that we are 485 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 4: usually able to do. And it's how do you what 486 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 4: should she do it? I was like, just go there 487 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 4: and hold her, Go there and be present, Go feet her, 488 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 4: put lotion on her feet, whatever that is. 489 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 3: But it's about being present. 490 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 4: And I think if we are witnesses to people's lives 491 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 4: and we know people. You knew your brother, and it's 492 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 4: if we watch people, we know what they need. 493 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 3: You know. 494 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,439 Speaker 2: It's interesting a story like that because it makes me 495 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 2: think of someone had told me a story about their 496 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 2: father passing, and their father had like a double life 497 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 2: and he had like a whole nother woman that he 498 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 2: was involved with, which they didn't find out until he 499 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 2: was dying, okay, and he had cancer. While he was 500 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 2: in the hospital, he actually asked his wife, can this 501 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 2: other woman come and see me before I die? Because 502 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 2: I love her too. His wife said no, absolutely not. 503 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 2: And she also had children not by him, who were 504 00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 2: very affected by that. And that's a really interesting situation 505 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 2: and difficult one to navigate. 506 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 3: It's hard. It's hard to navigate. And it's. 507 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 4: What I think, you know, it's all it's up to 508 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 4: whoever's in that situation. I think we have to honor 509 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 4: the person who's at the end of their life. I 510 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,640 Speaker 4: truly believe that in the work I do is I'm 511 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 4: here to honor the person who is actively dying or 512 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 4: the person who called me in. And in that case, 513 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 4: she should have called that woman and had her there 514 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 4: and so she could have closure too, because now she 515 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 4: won't get you know that, and he and he loved 516 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 4: her also. You know. 517 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 2: One thing that the wife also said was the fact 518 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 2: that she found this out helped her be able to 519 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 2: move on after he died, because she would have felt 520 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 2: really guilty moving on, but because she knew while he 521 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,440 Speaker 2: was alive this because it was like a decades long deception. 522 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's what was really hard. 523 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 2: And I think as the wife, she felt like, you 524 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 2: knew he was married, you knew you were a secret 525 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 2: all this time. 526 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: You know how I dare you? 527 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 3: Yeah? 528 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 2: Right now, it's really I mean to me and we 529 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 2: see all this all the time, right, somebody dies and 530 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 2: then it comes out that they had this going on. 531 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 2: They had that going on also, and it's such a 532 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 2: delicate time for these secrets to be revealed. 533 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 3: Oh. Absolutely. 534 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 4: There's even this one obituary I share often. This man died, 535 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 4: I can't tell you Pennsylvania, Ohio. But there are two 536 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 4: obituaries right next to each other, one that the wife 537 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 4: put in and one that the girlfriend put in. And 538 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:38,719 Speaker 4: it's the same photo, same photo, and it reads like, oh, 539 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 4: he leaves behind his loving wife and his kids and 540 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 4: so and so, and then the other is like he 541 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 4: leaves behind his special friends, and. 542 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 3: You know, it's like okay. 543 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 2: But that's why another reason why getting your affairs in 544 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 2: order is important, because if you have this double life 545 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 2: that you live and you want to make sure both 546 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 2: people are taking care of, it won't happen. 547 00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, unless you know. 548 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 4: You have to talk about But I had a you know, 549 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,360 Speaker 4: not to take a much more time, but I had 550 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 4: a brother who died doing something he absolutely had no 551 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 4: business doing with his fiance's sister. 552 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 3: Whoa die and we're all And he didn't die right away. 553 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 3: He was in a coma. 554 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 4: So I get to the hospital and the sisters, you know, 555 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 4: the fiance is there and she's telling me this story 556 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 4: and I'm like, Okay, you know she has one version, 557 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 4: but I know the honest version is that everyone else 558 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 4: And it's like, you don't want to die that way, 559 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 4: you don't want to die that way, but also you 560 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 4: want to plan. 561 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:35,640 Speaker 3: We are. 562 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,880 Speaker 4: Whatever that is, and we are seemingly I hope everyone, 563 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 4: me and you and everyone here has years left, but 564 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 4: we don't know. 565 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 3: So why aren't we talking about it with the people 566 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 3: we love? Now? 567 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 2: You know in this book you also say death for 568 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 2: many black folks is a subject often left on the 569 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 2: table in touch. There's not even so much as a 570 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 2: whisper about it. I've been a conscious witness to this 571 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,360 Speaker 2: avoidance since I was nine years old, and maybe long 572 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 2: before that. After more than three decades, it no longer 573 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 2: baffles me. But I would love to see that change. 574 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 2: So what are the changes that you are seeing? And 575 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 2: how can we help make that change? 576 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 3: Oh? 577 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 4: The changes, the changes that are happening are beautiful. I mean, 578 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 4: even being here now, this wasn't happening ten years ago. 579 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 4: People weren't talking about death. What I was seeing then 580 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 4: was just it was I come from a big family, 581 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 4: but it was just me and my grandmother. On my 582 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 4: dad's side, they would talk about it, and me and 583 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 4: my mom on my mom's side, they would talk about 584 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 4: it even though people were dying constantly. Now we're having 585 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 4: these conversations we are we're at brunch talking about, oh. 586 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 3: Well, how you know, how do you want to die? 587 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 4: There are games now, card decks like the death Deck, 588 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 4: where people can go and just sit around and play 589 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 4: fun games, asking questions about how do you want this 590 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 4: to happen for you? We even, you know, like we're 591 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:56,679 Speaker 4: talking sharing recommendations for therapy at brunch. So you know, 592 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 4: it's like, these are real conversations because we want to 593 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 4: be different, We want to we are so much more 594 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 4: open and I want us to and we're so much 595 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 4: more vulnerable than generations before us. And so you know, 596 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 4: I'm just happy to be a part of the group 597 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 4: of folks who are creating these conversations. Like even my dad, 598 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 4: like I said, my dad does not want to talk 599 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 4: about death. Ever I find ways to sneak him into 600 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 4: the conversation. He had a friend and his best friend 601 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 4: was in the hospice with pancreatic cancer, and I was like, 602 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 4: are you going to see him? 603 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 3: He's like, you know, I can't go up there. 604 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 4: I was like, this is your best friend. What do 605 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 4: you want people to do when you are in this situation? 606 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 4: You know, And but so many people thought, you know, 607 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 4: just talking about death will bring it, bring it on, 608 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 4: and so you know, bringing people into these conversations and 609 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,600 Speaker 4: saying listen, planning is love. The more we talk about this, 610 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 4: the more we plan it, the more we can actually 611 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 4: get to the holding each other in the community building. 612 00:27:58,160 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 4: But we have to be able to talk about it. 613 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 4: There families now putting their wills together. They advanced directives 614 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 4: because they saw what happened when their mother, when their 615 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 4: mother and father died, and it's like we fell apart. 616 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 3: You know, I haven't seen cousins in years. You know. 617 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 4: I did my even me, I did my launch for 618 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 4: this book at my hometown. A few family members showed 619 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 4: up because most of them don't want to talk about this, 620 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 4: have this conversation, and so it's let's just do it 621 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 4: really fast. Let's spend the day talking about it, planning 622 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 4: it out, and then we can get to the rest 623 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 4: of our life if we like. You know, I'm a 624 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,199 Speaker 4: person who's fortunate enough to I say fortunate enough, but 625 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 4: I was diagnosed with the blood clotting disorder that almost 626 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 4: killed me when I was twenty two, and so now 627 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 4: I take a pill every day for it. But every 628 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 4: time I take that pill, I also have to realize 629 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 4: that I'm going to die one day, and with that 630 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 4: thought comes, well, I need to do a lot of 631 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 4: living before that. As long as I taken this pill, 632 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 4: that means I still have life. 633 00:28:58,360 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 3: Cool. 634 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 4: Let me do a lot of living today while I 635 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 4: still have it. And so that's where we're going. It's 636 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 4: people who are open to facing that mortality and realizing 637 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 4: that it's helping shape how they live. 638 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 2: And you know, I want to say, another thing that's 639 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 2: important is supporting people who are dealing with a loss 640 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 2: close to them because a lot of us don't know 641 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 2: how to do that too. 642 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: And that's how really you got started in this in 643 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: this business. Yeah, and it is a business too. 644 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,959 Speaker 2: So for somebody that's listening and they're like, Okay, Like 645 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 2: my friend Tella, her mother just passed and the funerals 646 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 2: actually this weekend, and I told her, I said, what 647 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 2: do you need? And I know you've said, like a 648 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,719 Speaker 2: lot of times, people don't know what they need until 649 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 2: you know there's so much going on, they're not even 650 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 2: sure where to start. What are some things you would 651 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 2: tell people that they can do to be supportive in 652 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 2: that situation. 653 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 4: Well, absolutely, it's being present, Like being present is the 654 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 4: most important thing. Showing up knowing that you're not there 655 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 4: to fix anything you don't. There's no right thing to say, 656 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 4: wrong thing to say. You know, it's I'm here and 657 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 4: being We all want to be loved, but we all 658 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 4: want to be witnessed also, and so I'm here for you. 659 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 4: If we don't even talk, I will sit on the 660 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 4: other end of the couch. That's fine, But it's also 661 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 4: holding a hand, grabbing the drink. My friend Michelle I 662 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 4: talked about her in the book, her mother, Delphine died. 663 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 4: You know, we all went to school together, and so 664 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 4: a bunch of us got together and just bought gift 665 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,840 Speaker 4: cards for restaurants because we were like, she's probably not 666 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 4: eating the way she should be. We got her a 667 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 4: spa day. You know, all of that. That's doing the 668 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 4: work too, but really just showing up saying I don't 669 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 4: know how to fix this either, but if you want 670 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 4: me to fall apart with you. When my and when 671 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,239 Speaker 4: my fraternity brother's girlfriend died, I didn't even tell him 672 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 4: I was coming to Saint Louis. I showed up at 673 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 4: the door with the bottle of rum and was like, listen, 674 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 4: I don't know why I'm here, but we got a 675 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 4: week and a. 676 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 3: You hear me? Youar mean so? And it was like 677 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 3: He's like, oh okay. 678 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 4: And it was us in an apartment drinking rum, just 679 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:09,760 Speaker 4: falling apart because this is what this is all we 680 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 4: can do right now. But it's all of that, it's 681 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 4: all of that, but knowing that you don't have to 682 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 4: go and figure out, oh, I'm not going to say 683 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 4: the wrong right thing. 684 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 3: It's just showing up, just showing up. 685 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 2: I just think about like when I for me, like 686 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 2: with my brother, I announced what happened because I knew. 687 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 2: The first thing that happens is everybody calls you and 688 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 2: they're like, what happened? And I was like, I don't 689 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 2: want to say what happened over and over five thousand times. 690 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 2: You know, here's what happened. So I made sure that 691 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 2: I said it one time so everybody knew what it was. 692 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 2: And I think depending on what happens, sometimes there is 693 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 2: shame for people around how you know, people like they'll 694 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 2: feel like, oh, he was doing this, and you know 695 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 2: he overdos see this, see that. Sometimes people are are like, 696 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 2: look at that, and it's hard for them to talk 697 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 2: about it in that way too. 698 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 4: It is, and but we have to realize like people live, 699 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 4: people live complex lives, and there is no shame in that. 700 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 4: We've all done it, but some of us have hit it, 701 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 4: you know, so much better than the others. But I 702 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 4: think it's worth telling a person's whole life. I remember 703 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 4: when may Angela died and people make, you know, honoring her, 704 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 4: but you know they're saying, you know, when she was 705 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 4: in sex, when she was doing sex work for this 706 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 4: and this, and when she was a kid she did this, 707 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 4: and people were offended. They were like, why would you 708 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 4: say that about doctor Mayangela. It's like, she wrote about it. 709 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,120 Speaker 3: She's proud of the life that she came from. 710 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 4: This happened, And so because people are afraid ashamed of it, 711 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 4: we get these bad biopics because it's like, well, that's 712 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 4: not the full story. 713 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 3: How did Tina turn her in? 714 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 4: That with four kids at the end of the movie, 715 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 4: but we only see three in the in the middle, 716 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 4: and so it's like, oh, they didn't want to talk 717 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 4: about the kids she had first, you know. And so 718 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 4: we get these stories, but we have to tell the 719 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,080 Speaker 4: full story. We deserve that, you know. And I tell 720 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 4: people all the time when I die, come to my funeral. 721 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 4: Whatever stories you have of me, you could say, right 722 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 4: in the mic, as loud as you want, post it, 723 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 4: because people deserve to be full, they deserve to be complete. 724 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 4: We have like I read bad obituaries and there, you know, 725 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 4: paragraph long, you know, and it's like, there was more 726 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 4: to this person's life, even the obituary I wrote in 727 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 4: the book for a friend. Her mom wasn't really there 728 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 4: for her much growing up. She was raised by a grandmother, 729 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 4: mom had a drug addiction, and so when it came 730 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 4: time to write her obituary, she's like, I want to 731 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 4: tell the truth about all of it. She's like the 732 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 4: hard stuff, the good stuff, she said, because that makes 733 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 4: a full story for my mom. And she deserves to 734 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 4: be a full person now when she couldn't be in life. 735 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 4: And so I really want so a lot of the 736 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 4: work I do as a death dealer, I do come 737 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 4: in and I help people transition and I help families 738 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 4: through the grief. But because I'm a writer professionally, I'm 739 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 4: a writer. My goal is to help people tell their story. 740 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 4: And so I come in and I say, I asked 741 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 4: questions about their childhood. I asked questions about when they 742 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 4: grew up, your most memorable moments, and we or what 743 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,920 Speaker 4: do you want to leave behind for your children or 744 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 4: for the people who are left here? And they are 745 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,200 Speaker 4: so open at the end, And so many families have said, I, 746 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 4: you know, have asked their kids or told their kids, 747 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,839 Speaker 4: ask me everything you want to know. I will be 748 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 4: very honest with you. And I urge people to do that. 749 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 4: You know, even if they don't tell you to ask 750 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 4: them everything, ask them anyway. If they don't answer, sometimes 751 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,879 Speaker 4: they won't, but they might, and then you have more 752 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,919 Speaker 4: of your mom or your your dad, or your brother 753 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 4: or your sister than you had before. 754 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: What about your experience with your spiritual journeys and doing 755 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: things like let's get it. 756 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 2: To that, I want to talk about that. It's something 757 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,439 Speaker 2: I haven't really experienced. Oh, absolutely, so kind of delve 758 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 2: into that for me. 759 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:52,359 Speaker 4: So like ayahuasca mushrooms, it's been in every journey has 760 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 4: been incredible. I'll say with ayahuasca, especially the first time 761 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 4: I did it, I felt so cared for one by 762 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,319 Speaker 4: the community I was with, the shaman I was with, 763 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 4: but also just this spiritual feeling of this is what 764 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 4: love feels like. And I go in with my intention of, 765 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,360 Speaker 4: you know, I want to know what true love feels like, 766 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 4: and I want to know why I'm not where I 767 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,400 Speaker 4: feel like I should be in this life. And my 768 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 4: mom shows up first, and she's like, give me a hug, 769 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 4: and she's not really there, but I see her and 770 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 4: I hug her, and I just break down in tears, crying, 771 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:31,280 Speaker 4: and it's like, this is what real love is. It's 772 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,719 Speaker 4: a mother's hug. And I thought, what about the people 773 00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 4: who don't have their mother or not close to their mother, 774 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 4: where do they get it? And then suddenly my cousin 775 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 4: who came home to die in ninety four showed up. 776 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 4: Hadn't thought about him in decades at that point, and 777 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 4: he says, I never got the chance to thank you 778 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 4: for being one of the only two people I felt 779 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 4: loved me in the end. And it was just this 780 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 4: moment of oh my god, you know. And then after that, 781 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 4: many times i've done mushrooms or ayahuasca, it's been about 782 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 4: like there's always a theme of grief. There's always a 783 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 4: theme of you know, living things can still be supported 784 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 4: by dead things. So we're talking about family who've died. 785 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 4: Your brother, it's like, yes, but you have these stories 786 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 4: that can go on and you will do great things 787 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,439 Speaker 4: because of what you've heard about him. And so that's 788 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 4: still that support from people who've passed before. I've seen 789 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,799 Speaker 4: countless black men have come back to me and said, 790 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 4: I just want to cry because I've never got the 791 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:38,200 Speaker 4: chance to experience. I'd never got the chance to grieve 792 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 4: myself in the former life. Can I just use you 793 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:43,319 Speaker 4: to cry and that's the last thing I need to 794 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 4: do in this earthly realm. 795 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 3: And I'm like yeah. 796 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 4: And so there was a night where I sat on 797 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 4: the floor and just balled for hours because black men 798 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 4: just never got the chance to cry. And having those 799 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,440 Speaker 4: experiences have really come into my work but also my life. 800 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:03,240 Speaker 4: I make sure that my son, me, anyone my friends, 801 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 4: whether they want to talk about it or not, We're 802 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 4: going to have these conversations, even if it's for a 803 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 4: couple of minutes, even if it's for a second, because 804 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,280 Speaker 4: I don't want you to end up like that. And 805 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 4: so the plant medicines have really helped me pull those 806 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 4: things out. 807 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,680 Speaker 2: You've even been able to contact people that if somebody 808 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:21,319 Speaker 2: asked you, like. 809 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,840 Speaker 4: Rob for me, Yeah, oh yeah, you're able to absolutely. 810 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,600 Speaker 4: My friend she asked me to content and she's a medium. 811 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 4: I very reluctant on using that title. 812 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,120 Speaker 3: But she's a medium. And she said, he won't come 813 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:37,319 Speaker 3: to me. 814 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:39,640 Speaker 4: Could you see it that at that point, I had 815 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:43,359 Speaker 4: never asked anyone to come. They've just come. And I said, 816 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:45,759 Speaker 4: all right, I'll do it. And so that night all 817 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 4: the black men came. Is when he came, and he said, 818 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 4: tell she and I'm okay, I'm in a really good place. 819 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 4: I just want to cry. And I mean I was 820 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,319 Speaker 4: stretched out on the floor balling. And I talked to 821 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:57,960 Speaker 4: her the next day and she says, did you see him? 822 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 4: And I said, he came. She said, you know, he's 823 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:02,880 Speaker 4: very dramatic. Was he like all over the floor crying? 824 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,400 Speaker 4: I was like, yes, said that's John. I'm like, okay, 825 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:10,399 Speaker 4: I'm glad. I'm glad he had his chance. But yeah, 826 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,200 Speaker 4: that's kind And looking back, like I've had those experiences 827 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,279 Speaker 4: since I was a kid. I remember being a kid 828 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 4: seeing these spirits and now it's so heavy and I'm 829 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 4: so grateful to be able to share those messages and 830 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 4: to be able to use them. I think it's so 831 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 4: much wisdom in that, and to be able to use them. 832 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 4: Pass that forward to anyone who needs to hear that. 833 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 2: How long have death doula like when you found out 834 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,799 Speaker 2: about it? How long has this been something that's been like, 835 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 2: I've never heard of it before this. 836 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:51,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, I heard about it in twenty fifteen. I couldn't 837 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 4: tell you how long people have been using that term 838 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,359 Speaker 4: before that. I heard about it from a hospice nurse 839 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 4: who said, oh, you're a death. 840 00:38:57,239 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 3: Of I'm like, okay. 841 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 1: But before that, like. 842 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:07,719 Speaker 4: Until probably twenty twenty, honestly, so those five years, I 843 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:12,200 Speaker 4: had never heard it again. And it wasn't until twenty 844 00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 4: twenty that I heard of like a Lita author who 845 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 4: was doing amazing work as a death of little Black 846 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 4: woman death who created Going with Grace. But that was 847 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 4: five years between that, and so now it's becoming more 848 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:27,920 Speaker 4: and more in the in the public language, thankfully. 849 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:29,560 Speaker 3: But still, and you. 850 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 1: Said twenty twenty, that was the. 851 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:32,360 Speaker 3: Pandemic, That was the pandemic. 852 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,040 Speaker 1: What was what was work like during that time? 853 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 4: It was heavy because for me I was in New York. 854 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:40,520 Speaker 4: I was living in New York then up in the 855 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,680 Speaker 4: Bronx and you know, New York. And during the pandemic, 856 00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:46,120 Speaker 4: we were seeing trucks go up the street with bodies. 857 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:50,799 Speaker 4: There were worldwide. We're watching videos of families that were 858 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 4: separated by a glass wall at a nursing home, and 859 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 4: it was like, what can we do. I had no 860 00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 4: clients at the time because we were we're all so separated. 861 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:06,759 Speaker 4: But I was with friends. I was with family building community. 862 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,000 Speaker 4: We were taking care of each other uptown, you know, 863 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 4: and that's part of that work. It was like, okay, 864 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:14,040 Speaker 4: well if we die, what what do you want? 865 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:14,319 Speaker 3: My friend? 866 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,120 Speaker 4: We were getting COVID, you know, and I think I 867 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,600 Speaker 4: had it twice. I had a friend who had and 868 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,799 Speaker 4: it was like, okay, if this is it, how do 869 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 4: you want this to happen? And it's make sure you call. 870 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:26,160 Speaker 4: Here are the numbers you need to call. So we're 871 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,440 Speaker 4: all putting numbers in our phone, we're all sharing information, 872 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:32,680 Speaker 4: we're all sharing our locations because that's what needed to happen. 873 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:35,200 Speaker 4: And it's no different now that's what still needs to happen. Yes, 874 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:36,440 Speaker 4: we still have to do that. 875 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,720 Speaker 2: You know, during that time. Doing those virtual funerals was awful. 876 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 2: My grandmother and my uncle. I just was on the 877 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,040 Speaker 2: zoom watching yeah, and. 878 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,080 Speaker 4: It's so disconnecting when you need someone like I just 879 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 4: need to hug, you know, I want to hug somebody 880 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,839 Speaker 4: that's there. I want to see that body up close. 881 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 4: But it just wasn't possible. And so now we need 882 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 4: Everything we were doing was everything we did then we 883 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,640 Speaker 4: need to do now without that threat because we we 884 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 4: all wait till the threat happens. We all wait till 885 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,319 Speaker 4: the until it's too late to do it and we 886 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 4: don't have to. 887 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,760 Speaker 2: Well, Darneld, thank you so much for coming through today. 888 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,840 Speaker 2: Never can say goodbye the Life of a death dueler 889 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,000 Speaker 2: and the Art of a peaceful and get your box 890 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:20,840 Speaker 2: of tissues next to you where you're reading this. 891 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:22,800 Speaker 1: But I was on the train. I was like whoo. 892 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 2: I know people were like, is she okay? But you know, 893 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:30,000 Speaker 2: it is like things that people will relate to. But 894 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,879 Speaker 2: I also feel like there's very useful information here. It's 895 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,200 Speaker 2: something that we all need to be I guess I 896 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,680 Speaker 2: don't know how if I would say prepared. 897 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 4: For prepared for it, and I think you touch you 898 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,880 Speaker 4: touch on that, you know, with talking about your brother again, 899 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,680 Speaker 4: you know you it's important that preparation. 900 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,239 Speaker 3: I'm grateful that you you did that to let the 901 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 3: people know. 902 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,080 Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely well, Darnell la Mott Walker. How can people 903 00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:55,440 Speaker 1: reach you? 904 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:57,280 Speaker 3: I'm everywhere Darnel Lamart Walker. 905 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,399 Speaker 4: Hello Darnell Instagram, Just yeah, type my name. I think 906 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:03,480 Speaker 4: I'm the only Darnell Lamace a lot of Darnell Walkers. 907 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:05,680 Speaker 4: I'm the only one who used the Lamart So find 908 00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:06,840 Speaker 4: me anywhere. Contact me. 909 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:07,840 Speaker 3: I am reachable. 910 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:10,239 Speaker 4: I love talking to people about this conversation about death 911 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,600 Speaker 4: and very open to these conversations. 912 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,640 Speaker 1: So all right, well, I appreciate you. Thank you so 913 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:15,640 Speaker 1: much for coming through. 914 00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:16,080 Speaker 3: Thank you