My Journey Here...
A Little Bit About me
Throughout the years, I have directly cared for the dying. Supported grieving families and friends. Written and presented life stories and ceremonies. And have had the privilege of meeting some remarkable people. All who have been anything but ordinary.” It was with this background, and passion, that my business End of Life Transitions evolved.
After spending many years as a health professional working in aged and palliative care, I was aware that whilst community and hospital healthcare teams were providing the clinical expertise for end-of-life care, there were significant periods of time where the dying person and their loved ones were having to negotiate, by themselves, the transition of dying. Often feeling quite ‘alone’, somewhat daunted and sometimes ‘scared’. This was whether the person lived at home, or was in hospital or in a residential aged care facility.
Personally I have experienced the loss of very close family members and friends — some who had expected deaths and some whose deaths were sudden and unplanned.
I have known the extreme pain felt in losing someone who was part of the very fabric of who I am as a person, and acknowledge that the sadness, sense of loss and grief I have felt was a symbol of the love that I felt for the person who has died.
These losses have allowed me time to reflect and to appreciate the uniqueness of each individual person; and my evolution to becoming an End of Life Doula. It also has made me see how very important it is to have a ceremony.
And it is through ceremony and rituals that we can capture a loved one’s ‘story’ and pay tribute to the life that has been lost.
So it is with this in mind that, if I am chosen as your Funeral Celebrant, I promise to co-create and craft a service that will resonate and depict the essence of the person who has died.
… On Being an End of Life Doula
Think of Jacqui as an end of life companion or end of life support person. But as an End of Life Doula, her role includes supporting well persons who want to proactively think about, plan, discuss, learn and document what is important to them in life and end of life. And importantly, Jacqui is also there to support and advocate for the person who has an early or advanced life-limiting illness, and she is actively ‘present’ to deeply listen and hold conversations about life, dying and death, and after-death considerations and wishes.
Jacqui offers end of life information, offers emotional support, advocacy and guidance, assists to navigate and coordinate services, helps you to explore legacy and life stories; and can also help co-craft funeral and memorial ceremonies whilst the person is alive; and officiate them – if they wish – after death.
She provides emotional, social, practical, and spiritual support for individuals and their loved ones, and ‘holds space’ with the dying person as part of natural life transitioning.
… On Being a Funeral Celebrant
End of Life Transitions also evolved from my desire to create a highly personalised funeral experience where, with the loved ones, I co-create a “story” – whether a short or long life; whether a story of sadness or celebration, or both – that leaves the bereaved with a ‘positive’ lasting memory of the life that has been lost.