#25 – Surrender to Your Mortality (and Pass the Chicken)

When We Die Talks

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17d ago 40:52

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In this anonymous call, our caller shares the story of losing her brother and what it meant to walk alongside him as both a sister and a death doula. From the surreal moments of him “dying three times” before it stuck, to jokes over morphine doses and freezer chicken, to the signs he promised would show up after he was gone, the conversation blends heartbreak with humor in ways only death seems to invite.

She reflects on the importance of planning for death, the wisdom carried through ancestry, and the strange intimacy that comes with caring for someone at the end of life. And through it all, there’s laughter, ritual, and the reminder that even in grief, life keeps insisting on showing up.

In this episode, we discuss:

Book recommendations: Collected Poems by Charles Bukowski and The Poetry of Mary Oliver
Growing up without space for grief and finding her way into death work
Caring for her brother as he went through the dying process
The surreal experience of “dying three times” before his final death
Morphine jokes, banquet chicken, and finding levity in loss
Why she believes energy continues beyond the body
The importance of advanced care planning and making your wishes known
Rituals, ancestry, and how our loved ones live on through us

Amori - Your Mortality Companion
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Chapters

1. #25 – Surrender to Your Mortality (and Pass the Chicken) (00:00:00)

2. Sponsored by Amori (00:00:36)

3. Anonymous Caller (00:02:40)

4. Remembrance (00:39:09)

31 episodes

#Society #Zach Ancell #Death #Afterlife #Death Anxiety #Existential #Grief #Mortality #Life And Death #Conversations #Religion #Philosophy #End Of Life #Belief #Spiritual Beings