In this episode we have the great privilege to speak with Christopher Rhoden. We recorded our conversation on April 4th 2025. Twenty-one days later, on April 25th, Chris died of glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer of the brain. We are so honoured to have met Chris and share this time with him and we offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

At this point in Chris' journey his cancer was quite advanced and can be evident as our conversation floats and meanders in and out of a clear direction. We ask you to stay with the discussion because if you do, like Hansel and Gretel, you will be gifted with the little crumbs, or gems of wisdom, that Chris drops to guide you to deeper understanding and connection to yourself, others, and the greater world.

Chris is and was thoughtful, philosophical, courageous, grounded, soulful and deeply human. This is a wonderful and enlightening conversation with a man who leaned into the reality of his life, his joy, his suffering, and his dying, and had the courage to share it all with us and the world.

If you would like to read more about Chris' journey and glean the insights and wisdom he so freely shared, you can visit his blog, With and Wonder.

Peace and gratitude, Chris.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

We're thrilled to welcome grief expert, trauma psychotherapist, and author Meghan Riordan Jarvis to the podcast. In 2024, Meghan released her book Can Anyone Tell Me? Essential Questions about Grief and Loss. Developed from both personal and professional experience—especially after the heartbreaking loss of her mother—Meghan set out to find a book that could answer the many questions grief brings. When she couldn’t find one that fit, she wrote it herself!

In this episode, we dive into the many ways grief shows up in our lives—including ones that might surprise you. Meghan shares her insight with both passion and expertise, offering wisdom that resonates.

Because loss touches all of us at some point, this conversation is for everyone.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

We are thrilled to once again have the opportunity to speak with Dr. MaryCatherine (MC) McDonald. Listeners will remember MC from Season 2 Episode 2, When Grief and Trauma Meet, when we spoke with her about her book Unbroken, The Trauma Response is Never Wrong. MC is back to speak with us about her soon-to-be-published second book, The Joy Reset, Six Ways Trauma Steals Happiness and How to Get it Back.

MaryCatherine speaks about cultivating true joy, a joy that is very different from the "positivity” recently popularized in our culture that tells us we need to be optimistic or think positively when we are feeling distressed. MC helps us understand that living joyfully requires attention and practice, but if we put in the time and effort, we can learn to see small little joys every day even when we feel the pressures and stresses of life closing in on us.

MaryCatherine explains how we can sabotage our happiness with different strategies that may initially feel protective, but in practice act as “joy thieves”. She reminds us that joy can be messy but can be found in the shadows if we know how to look for it.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

The relationships we have with our pets has changed over the past several decades. The attachment we share with our pets has elevated their position to where they are often considered a valued member of the family. In this episode we speak with Dr. Lianna Titcombe, Palliative Veterinarian and Melanie Savage, Registered Social Worker specializing in pet loss.

Lianna and Melaine are both pioneers in their respective fields. Lianna specializes in supporting her patients to have a pain and symptom free death surrounded by loving family in the familiarity of their home environment (and she also educates other veterinarians to provide this care). Melanie specializes in supporting grieving individuals and families during the palliative and grief process for when a beloved pet dies. They bring insight and compassion into understanding why the palliative journey and death of our pets can be such a deep experience of grief and loss.

Please have a listen or send to a friend whose life has been changed and enriched through a relationship with a pet. If having a pet isn't part of your world, you may still want to listen as it may increase your understanding of others grieving the death of a pet.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

We are honoured to be speaking with Dr. Sheldon Solomon, one of the founders of Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT suggests that the dawning of the awareness of our own existence is quickly followed by the awareness of our eventual and inevitable demise. This awareness of being alive and knowing it, creates a state of awe and wonder. Conversely, the awareness of our mortality also causes us to experience dread, anxiety and terror. TMT suggests that we use culture as a buffer to soothe and protect from our death anxiety.

But what happens to the buffering effect of our cultural worldview when we are challenged by reminders of our mortality? How does it inform our actions and attitudes, our conscious and unconscious behaviour? To answer these questions, Sheldon explains TMT and walks us through the decades of research from colleagues around the world. He also paves the way and gives a nod to where the future of his research is headed.

In a style that is both humorous and academically serious, and with a command of the English language this is uniquely Sheldon's, this episode is rich and dense with information. You may need to listen more than once... but it's worth it!

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

The death of a child is a traumatic event for any parent and a death by suicide carries its own unique challenges. As Sharon MacLeod shares her story, we hear a difficult journey of a family’s struggle to support, manage and seek help for their exceptional yet complex son Alexander. We are honoured to have Sharon join us and thank her for her openness and courage. We hope this recording honours Alexander’s life; as David Kennedy often says, a person should be remembered for their life in its entirety and not for just how they died. May Sharon's story also serve and support others who travel these hard roads.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

In Season 2 we offered "The Written Word": which was an episode dedicated to sharing poems, lyrics and quotes that speak to us. We had positive feedback from the original episode, so we decided to do it again this season. We hope some of these words will resonate with our listeners and we welcome your feedback!

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org

In this episode we engage in a lively discussion with our colleague and friend, Dr. John Beamish. Together, we explore what it means to face our own mortality and work toward finding moments of acceptance and peace with the inevitable reality of death. Our conversation explores how we and John have worked with death anxiety and grief within ourselves over the years. It's a treat to have Dr Beamish join us and we thank you for joining our discussion.

Have feedback about the podcast? Have an idea for a future episode? Get in touch with us: whatnow@hospicepeterborough.org