it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world. - Mary Oliver

Hospice Matters

After nine years and hundreds of essays about hospice, I stopped updating my Hospice Matters site in late 2020. It will go offline in mid-2022.

However, I am confident my thoughts on dying, death, and grief remain relevant. The book I published in 2019 (A Companion for the Hospice Journey) was written equally for now and the next years. While hospice regulations will change, and for-profit (rather than non-profit) hospice agencies keep popping up like proverbial weeds, the concerns/questions about end-of-life choices are similar in each generation of patients and caregivers.

With that in mind, I decided to post “old” essays on Substack. A newly revised one will appear on a weekly basis. My book is available on Amazon. I occasionally publish hospice-related articles elsewhere.

Finally, one of the posts I published in 2016 received, and kept receiving, comments since it first appeared. Why Hasn’t He Died Yet?, my thoughts on lingering deaths, impacted readers who felt isolated, angry, and uncertain as a dying loved one seemed to keep living. I have posted that original essay on my blog page. It is HERE.

Some of Larry’s hospice-related articles in other publications:

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

Hospice Matters on Substack

What is Substack?

Simply put, it’s an email newsletter platform. I will be posting hospice-related essays through Substack. Since writers can charge for subscriptions, I have now (as of February 2023) added a paid subscription option. The other option remains free. Yup, I’d like to earn a little $$$ for my work. But even more important than money is getting helpful information out there! The $$$ is your choice!

My introductory essay is HERE.

This week's Hospice Matters on Substack.

Hospice Disappointments

Yeah, even I made mistakes…

A Companion for the Hospice Journey

I wrote this book for a very specific audience:

• For current and future hospice patients
• For current and future caregivers of hospice patients
• For current and future grievers
• For hospice professionals to have a reliable resource they could recommend

Put Me to Sleep, Doctor

Far and away, the most comments at Hospice Matters were from those whose dying loved one didn’t die. They lingered. In 2016, I wrote Why Hasn’t He Died Yet? Responses from readers, many with heartfelt and anguished caregiving experiences, keep coming. That post, followed by a few sample comments, is posted here.
What If the Dying Don’t Die?