The Last Chapter Deathcare

Things that gave me life this summer: Death Doula Edition 🌻

I’ve found that working in end-of-life care fosters a greater appreciation for life itself. Death cultivates my wonder, strengthens my sense of awe, and paints my world in brighter colors.

My capacity to carry life’s heaviness has stretched my ability to hold what is tender, fleeting, and precious. 🎨

Thank you, summer. Thank you, death! ☀️🌙

As both a Person with a Plan™️ and an Avoider of Tedious Tasks™️, I understand the tendency to put off end-of-life planning. My first homework assignment after death doula training was to create my own EOL plan. I understood how important it was, but it also sounded . . . boring. And long. And difficult. And there were a lot of prettier butterflies asking for my attention. 🦋

So I let the butterflies lead and found a way to introduce some play into my EOL planning. A dull binder full of legal documents and detailed instructions became something I could paint with sparkles, fill with dreams of plane tickets, plans for costume parties, and curated playlists. 🪩

Today’s Substack article covers the basic pillars of EOL planning and shares some ideas for how to approach it with a bit of play! Take a look and let me know: How might play show up in your EOL plan? 🎠

Read here: https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/add-a-little-play-to-your-end-of

And as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community. 🥀

Let’s talk end-of-life planning archetypes! ✏️ 🎈 💸🔧 💌

End-of-life planning can feel big, intimidating, and complicated (not to mention confusing). But when we play to our strengths and sprinkle in an element of wonder and creativity, it suddenly becomes a lot more approachable!

Which type of planner are you? Click through to see tips on how to bring a little play into your planning! 🤸‍♀️

My Death Quests workshop with Village Meeple Board Game Cafe is only a couple weeks away: Wednesday, 8/19 from 6:30-8pm! End-of-life planning is one of those things that can feel kind of scary or intimidating, but that’s why we’re approaching it with a sense of play! 🤸

Click through to see my answers to some of The Death Deck questions. 🚀

Admission is just $5 and includes a seat at the workshop and access to Village Meeple’s game library for the day! 🎲

Sign up here: https://www.villagemeeple.com/store/p/workshop-wednesday-creative-gameplay-combat-n5ecc-2ebcw-2fbtx

If you’ve ever struggled with what to say or how to help after someone dies, today’s Substack post is for you. My advice is to say the obvious thing (bonus points if you throw in a curse word!), and start by doing nothing. This post was inspired by my recent rewatch of Please Like Me, a brilliant and hilarious Australian show that depicts death and its subsequent feelings of uselessness with a rare kind of honesty and absurdity.

Tell me: What’s something you wish you would’ve heard after a loved one died? For me, it might've be something like: “I wish this weren’t happening to you.” Alternatively, it could've been something more like: “This is completely and utterly f**ked.”

Read the article here: https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/burrito-bowls-and-the-mundanity-of

And as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community. 🥀

Happy 73rd birthday to my dead dad! 🎉

I believe the dead still deserve a slice of cake on their birthday. Or in my dad’s case, a stack of Entenmann’s chocolate donuts. 🍩 And that’s exactly how I’ll be remembering him today: Blowing out a candle, eating some strangely delicious wax that resembles chocolate, and singing along to 60s music. 🪩

I can picture him licking his fingers to get the crumbs off the table (which always grossed me out) and doing his little one-finger disco to dance along. Party on, Bruce. Party on. 🕺

♟️Come play with me at Village Meeple Board Game Cafe on Wednesday, August 19th from 6:30-8pm! We’ll use The Death Deck to spark lighthearted conversation about topics like burial options, memorial planning, and the afterlife (or lack thereof!). Then I’ll share some ideas for how to approach end-of-life planning with a sense of play. 🪁

Admission is just $5 and includes a seat at the workshop and access to Village Meeple’s game library for the day! 🤸‍♀️

Sign up here:
https://www.villagemeeple.com/store/p/workshop-wednesday-creative-gameplay-combat-n5ecc-2ebcw-2fbtx

It’s never too late to create a remembrance piece for a loved one. ⏳

The crusty old kitchen witch pictured on the right side of the post photo followed my family around each time we moved. 🧙 If you’re not familiar with the lore, kitchen witches are good luck charms originating from Germany and Scandinavia, meant to protect your hearth and keep watch over your cooking. 🍠🍳🫚

She certainly didn’t keep our pots from boiling over or our toast from burning, but she became part of the family nonetheless. My sibling and I decided not to adopt her as we sorted through our dad’s things (she was ✨nasty✨), but when I stumbled upon Gilded Moth Studio at Arts Fest, I had an idea. Maybe I could bring a version of her into my kitchen after all.

I sent Gilded Moth Studio a photo of the original and she created this beautiful stained glass homage to my mom’s kitchen witch (left side of photo). She’s a reminder of the chaos and heart that was our family kitchen, and she’s also a daily wink from my mom.

Let this be a silly little reminder that there’s still time to bring your loved ones back home to you, no matter how long they’ve been gone. ❤️🖤

p.s. An eternal thank you to Jessica at Gilded Moth Studio!

This month’s Substack post may contain hope! I’m sharing the story of how a recent ride at Sit And Spin Studio helped me recover hope amidst my ongoing grief. When grief feels like a flat tire, like it's knocked you off your path and left you heaving in the middle of a hill, where can you go? The only answer I’ve found is to get back on the bike and continue the climb. It’s slower, harder, and unbearable at times. And as much as you wish you could simply bounce back, grief asks you to overcome.🚴‍♀️

I’m curious to hear about a time when grief stopped you in your tracks. Which was more challenging for you, the stopping or the getting started again?

Click the link below to read, and as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community. 🥀



https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/this-bike-ride-may-contain-hope

This month’s Substack article is the final article in my Rituals for Remembering series. Media, in my opinion, is the most accessible tool for continuing bonds. In today’s post, I share the story of how rewatching Poltergeist has become a strangely uplifting ritual for remembering my dad. Plus, I give you a sneak peek at a list of films, shows, books, and albums I’d like to be remembered by. 👻📺🎞️📚💿

Is there a piece of media that reminds you of a loved one?

Read the article at the link below, and as always, thank you for being part of this mortally-curious community. 🥀

https://cecilyrobertson.substack.com/p/rituals-for-remembering-part-4