Until We Meet Again

Join us in our discussion of true stories of angelic appearances, afterlife experiences, and divine occurrences from a special care unit nurse. Dr. Liz Gwyn shares her life as she carries her faith through her nursing practice. 

Learn the elements of a Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) Lifestyle by two long-time healthful eating believers.  It is a proven sustainable path to a long and healthy life. Don Fries and Bev Bow from Arizona-based Healthy World Sedona share their tips to start your way on your WFPB journey to manage chronic conditions and reverse dementia and the aging process. www.healthyworldsedona.com

David McAlvany speaks with me about his thoughtful memoir and musings on the power of legacy, and what it means to create a meaningful family culture. He says loving one another, making new connections, serving our community is how we are to live.  There are many more way to leave a legacy that doesn't equate to financial gifts.  Listen for his fascinating take on the four generational family work ethic - it's quite provocative, and quite realistic. The Intentional Legacy: https://www.amazon.com/Intentional-Legacy-David-McAlvany/dp/1943217432

Carolyn Miller Parr is a retired judge, mediator, writer, and public speaker.  Her first book, In The Secret Service; The True Story of the Man Who Saved President Reagan's Life with late husband Jerry Parr, retells the story of the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, as seen by the Agent whose quick action changed history. Love's Way: Living Peacefully With Your Family as Your Parents Age with Sig Cohen, grew out of their joint mediation practice.

Pastor Tom shares the ministry of Gateway's Grief Share program which gives a safe space to have conversations about death and dying, these can be incredibly meaningful and powerful.  All are welcome, even those who do not attend Gateway Church. https://www.griefshare.org/

Elizabeth Fournier interviews fellow KKPZ-AM radio host, Mark Turnbull, in this discussion about proactive aging and the beauty of living. For more information about "Aging in Portland"  radio show: http://aginginportland.com/ For more information about ComForCare: https://www.comforcare.com/oregon/

Anne joins us to talk about her path of listening to others on the deep soul level by allowing people to look at their grief with tenderness, without fear.  Anne Richardson, M.A., is a board certified chaplain, certified spiritual director, certified Veriditas labyrinth facilitator and poet based in Portland, Oregon. Anne established Nurture Your Journey in 2016 after working in home hospice for more than seven years. What to expect when working with Anne: http://nurtureyourjourney.net/spiritual-direction-spiritual-companion

Meet Bob, a feisty and full-of-life 93 Year old Salem, Oregon man who graciously  shares his colorful life story with us.

As an author, seasoned conference speaker, and former host of the nationally syndicated television program Freedom Today, Robin Bertram brings a wealth of knowledge to the pages of her book, Hidden Treasures.

My guest today is Kristi Hugstad, a grief recovery specialist who writes for Huffington Post as well as hosting a radio show, offering public speaking engagements is the author of Beneath the Surface: A Teen’s Guide to Reaching Out when You or Your Friend Is in Crisis. Ever since her husband completed suicide in 2012, after years of struggling with clinical depression, by running in front of a train, she has dedicated her life to helping to abolish the stigma of mental illness and suicide. A certified grief recovery specialist and a grief and loss facilitator for recovering addicts at South Coast Behavioral Health, Kristi frequently speaks at high schools. She is also the host of The Grief Girl podcast and lives in Orange County, California. Visit her online at https://www.thegriefgirl.com.

Dana Trent is an author who makes our lives more bearable as we deal with grief with her tender heart and lovable personality. She is a is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and professor of World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Tech Community College. An ordained Baptist minister and former hospital chaplain, her work has appeared on Time.com, and in Religion News Service, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches, and The Christian Century. Her book invites the reader on a rich journey of considering death—our own and our loved ones’—as a sweet spiritual part of life, rather than a dreaded destination. And did I mention she is lovable?  https://jdanatrent.com/

My guests today are Baier and Anne Fine from Brave Sky Ranch in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where they believe interaction with horses is the key to solving the mystery of healing the heart. Brave Sky Ranch also believes that friendship with horses is an incredible and unsung tool to help individuals move forward, away from past trauma and pain.

Lisa Smartt is the author of Words at the Threshold, a book dedicated to the final words of the dying. When Lisa's father became terminally ill with cancer, she began recording his conversations and noticed that his personality showed some curious changes. Once a skeptical man with a secular worldview, he developed a deeply spiritual outlook in his final days — a change that was reflected in his language. Lisa came from a background of linguistics training and majored in linguistics at UC Berkeley so this provoked her to track his final words. http://www.finalwordsproject.org/

An amazing story about a very amazing little boy.

Meet a funeral singer: In her music, Kathleen Lundquist seeks the pathway to love that lasts, plunging into the ocean of human emotion to find truths of the spirit.  Her songwriting explores issues of faith, love, fear, anger, tragedy, healing, and hope. In her experience, encountering the Light is much more meaningful for those who feel their darkness. http://mystagogia.net/index/

My guest today is Dr. Shane J. Wood, the professor of New Testament Studies and Associate Academic Dean at Ozark Christian College, and author of the new book, Between Two Trees.: Our Transformation from Death to Life.... And super fan of the enneagram. www.shanejwood.com

 My guest today is Lora Jones, author of Song of a Wounded Heart. She is an inspirational speaker and lives in Liberal, Kansas.  In November 2004, Lora Jones was a happy wife and proud mother of two beautiful children. Lora and her family left for a family vacation, excited to celebrate the holidays, but sounds of music and laughter in their van were shattered by a head-on collision. Lora watched helplessly as, one-by-one, her beloved family slipped into eternity. Awake in a nightmare, all traces of laughter were replaced by the mournful cries of a wounded heart. How in the world could Lora go on alone?Song of a Wounded Heart tells the true story of Lora’s journey from death to hope. Unbelievably, God sang to her the night of the accident. https://www.lorajones.org

Melinda Gustafson Gervasi is an Attorney at Law in the lovely city of Madison, Wisconsin. She’s the author of “Middle Class Philanthropist: How Anyone Can Leave a Legacy.” During the course of her legal practice, Melinda recognized a need for clients who are working on estate planning but had no obvious heir. In this book, she redefines the conventional view of philanthropy, by providing simple and practical tools for anyone to follow to leave their own legacy.  http://gustafsonlegal.blogspot.com/

Mike wrote “Hard Way Home,” his story about the biggest things in life, which is ironic because it ends with a death. When Amy Nappa was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV-B uterine cancer, her life and that of her husband's, Mike, changed forever . For more information: www.nappaland.com

Rico discusses his books, Fire in My Bones, and Pastah! Tales From the Feet of a Street Minister. 

Author, seasoned conference speaker and host of nationally syndicated television program, “Freedom Today,” Robin Betram  shares practical solutions to the problems everyone must deal with when they are experiencing the degradation of the quality of their life or the potential loss of a loved one.  For more about Robin: https://robinbertram.tv/

My guest today is Merrit Hearing, a retired letter carrier whose life abruptly changed forever on July 3, 2007. It was on that day when his 16-year old son, Elliott, drowned at Cannon Beach after getting caught in a sneaker riptide. He writes about the whole experience in his book, “Lessons Learned from a Son’s Life…and Death.” Part 3: How to Help

My guest today is Merrit Hearing, a retired letter carrier whose life abruptly changed forever on July 3, 2007. It was on that day when his 16-year old son, Elliott, drowned at Cannon Beach after getting caught in a sneaker riptide. He writes about the whole experience in his book, “Lessons Learned from a Son’s Life…and Death.” Part 2:  Finding Your New Normal

My guest today is Merrit Hearing, a retired letter carrier whose life abruptly changed forever on July 3, 2007. It was on that day when his 16-year old son, Elliott, drowned at Cannon Beach after getting caught in a sneaker riptide. He writes about the whole experience in his book, “Lessons Learned from a Son’s Life…and Death.” Part I: The Day

My guest today is Derek Flores, a registered nurse and author who has worked with Hospice and Pediatric Patients for the past seven years. Derek and his daughters live on Colorado’s Front Range at the foot of the Rocky Mountains where he enjoys snowboarding and mountain biking. We’re going to discuss a few of his books today, as well as his ministry as a hospice nurse.  For more information about Derek:  amazon.com/author/derekflores https://www.derekjflores.com/#!

My guest today is Elaine Voci, a Life Coach, an author of 8 nonfiction books, and a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant trained in funerals. Since 2014, she has been hosting and facilitating a quarterly Death Cafe in her community.   For more information about Elaine: www.elainevoci.com

Kathryn L. Butler, MD, is a trauma and critical care surgeon who recently left clinical practice to homeschool her children.  She and her family live in the woods north of Boston. Today we will be talking about her book, Between Life and Death.

Reverend Patrick Riecke, author of How to Talk to Sick, Dying and Grieving People, and 101 Ways to Find Meaning in Suffering talks about his work as  the Director of Chaplaincy and Volunteers for Parkview Health in the Fort Wayne, Indiana Area. 

Marc Anthony Waters, a man with a heart as big as Texas. Author of Death by Suicide in Three Days in Heaven. And apparently quite a golfer.

Join Elizabeth Fournier for a conversation about near-death experience, the possible unimportance of a bucket list, and what it's like to work on the set of the Portland television show, Portlandia.

Jethro Heiko  is one of the creators of the conversational game called Hello, an easy, non-threatening way to start a conversation with your family and friends about what matters most.  Jethro learned how meaningful and surprisingly joyful these conversations about what matters most can be, and was struck that people do not have to wait until there is a health crisis to have, and benefit from these conversations .  You can find the game at www.commonpractice.com.

 Janet Haney, an author and creative journaling teacher who encourages her students to be brave and keep going! She recently wrote Write Your Way Through Change, a 21-day Devotional Journal for Grief & Major Life Transitions. 

Robert Leigh Pruitt, II is a national and internationally recognized leadership trainer and motivational speaker. He is the author of several books including It Is Well with My Soul, Watching Daddy Live! 

Angelo Merendino is a freelance photographer for Corbis News and Getty Images. Angelo’s photographs have been exhibited in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Rome, Italy.  Angelo's photo-documentary, The Battle We Didn’t Choose – My Wife’s Fight with Breast Cancer, has received worldwide recognition. Intimate, honest, and moving, Angelo’s photographs offer viewers a look inside the day-to-day life of a young couple facing breast cancer together.  To learn more: www.angelomerendino.com

My guest today is Alysha Lacey, Program Director at the Dougy Center, also known as the National Center for Grieving Children & Families is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon that offers support groups and services to grieving children and young adults. Its peer support program and network of children's grief services make the organization the first of its kind in the United States.

My guest today is Marlie Rowell, a woman trying to undo the stigma around mental illness through art after her husband died by suicide. She calls herself a suicide widow and has a website called Suicide Widow Etiquette, featuring her art and stages of grief. 

Pastor April Murchinson of Emmanuel Temple Church, a woman with a love for people and a desire for unity. I would hold her up to be a true example of a Proverb 31 woman.  

Amy Wright Glenn earned her MA in Religion and Education, she is a birth doula, hospital chaplain, and founder of the Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath, and Death. Amy is the author of Birth, Breath, and Death: Meditations on Motherhood, Chaplaincy, and Life as a Doula. I’m talking to her today about her latest book, Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go.

Her story is engaging, powerful, and heart-wrenching. Her book contains an honest look at the first year of a widow’s grief captures the immense difficulty of learning how to accept the unacceptable while transforming loss into positive change. 100% of proceeds go to the  John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. WOW! www.pinkgazelle.com

Winner of 3 international book awards, Touching, profound and poignant, this book gently and sensitively takes the child on the journey of the soul, reminding them that this life is only ever temporary and that wherever they go, the spirit of a loved one or pet always travels with them.

At 20 weeks pregnant, Lindsey R. Dennis and her husband were told the child she was carrying would not live due to a fatal diagnosis. Later, in another stunning blow, they were told the same news with her second pregnancy. They chose to celebrate both lives alongside a community, both local and online, of hundreds of thousands as she carried each child to term only to bury them 14 months apart from each other.

Experiencing the loss of a baby is one of the worst things that can happen to a parent. My guest today is Stacy Verdick Case, a spirit-filled woman whose relationship with God became very strained after the death of her very young son, Marshall. Stacy was 5 months pregnant when she gave birth to her first child, but he unfortunately was too small to survive.  You can learn more about her here: http://www.peonylanedesigns.com/

The Good Grief Devotional offers wise, honest companionship to those who struggle with the death of a loved one, a divorce, the loss of a job, or another major life transition. Pastor Brent D. Christianson's fifty-two devotions follow the ten stages of grief outlined in Granger Westberg's helpful book, Good Grief.

Aimee discusses organ and tissue donation and how easy it is to sign up through Donate Life Northwest.  https://www.donatelifenw.org/register-now

Heather Michet is a Ceremonialist, Songstress and healing guide who believes in the healing power of ceremony and music to guide and support us through our grief. Find out more at www.purplecrowsings.com

Josh Lattin, a gentle man and humanitarian who cares for the aged in his home, Heritage Elder Care, located in Damascus, Oregon, discusses his House of Love.

Jill Murphy Long: filmmaker, storyteller and brain tumor survivor. On March 28th, 1979, she was 15 years old and delivering The York Dispatch newspaper to her neighborhood of sleepy Penn Oaks South, Pennsylvania, less than 13 miles from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.  Elizabeth talks with Jill about her tireless pursuit to use story in order to spotlight environmental and societal injustices. To find out more and see how you can get involved: https://www.jmlfilms.com/

Meet the fabulous Starchild, long-term friend of host, Elizabeth. They discuss being motherless daughters, and sharing the bond of becoming motherless daughters at a very young age.

Deon opened the first alkaline hydrolysis facility in the Portland metro area, a natural water-based cremation process, that speeds up the body's natural decomposition after death. The process leaves a significantly smaller carbon footprint on the earth and uses only one-tenth of the energy of flame cremation. 

Kristin Applegate, fondly known as Nurse Apple, is a Hospice Nurse, End-of-Life Death Doula, creator of Applegate Overcrossings, and Urban Chicken Whisperer.

Meet Rob, small town mortician and musician. He shares his life as a country undertaker who has been in the professional for 35 years.

A real estate broker and land developer by trade, Ed has recently developed a green burial ground in Historic Columbian Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.

Listen as Darcy explains her passion for exploring pathways to better dialogue and to help reframe the death narrative both culturally and within the church.

Kenton Johnson, a man of the cloth, and I mean that figuratively and literally as he is a chaplain who wears a few different uniforms. 

Evangelist  Rico Kaplan shares his experience as a street preacher in some very rough neighborhoods - notably in Jamaica  where he spent a considerable amount of time.