About Your End of Life Choices
“Preparing for death is one of the
most empowering things
you can do.
Thinking about death
clarifies your life.”
—Candy Chang
Fear of death and the impulse to deny one’s mortality are common human responses. Two out of three American adults have no advance care directives. This results in painful and chaotic end of life conditions for the patient, health care givers, and family.
Studies show that grief is compounded when the dying person has not shared their End of Life choices with loved ones or health care givers. Before a health crisis strikes, bring peace and clarity to your loved ones by making and communicating your end-of-life choices in advance.
The Good Death Programs’ Facilitator
The Good Death programs are facilitated by Marti Beddoe who has 55 years’ experience equipping individuals and groups with the practical and emotional skills and resources to make informed and harmonious life choices about their community, career and family life, spiritual and creative practices.
Marti Beddoe grew up hearing her parents discuss the mystery of death at family dinners. She often visited her dad, Forensic Pathologist Hal Beddoe, M.D., at his office in the morgue where he worked as a Medical Examiner. Her parents’ openness about death gave Marti the priceless gift of comfort and ease with the natural event of dying. Her experiences confirmed that death, like birth, can be beautiful and sacred, and is nothing to be feared.
Founder of Designs for Peace, she is a meditation teacher, leader of spiritual circles, an artist, and SoulCollage® Facilitator and now an End of Life Educator and Doula trained at the
University of Vermont.
Marti is the matriarch of a blended family of five adults, seven grandchildren and four great-grands. Marti and her beloved husband Harry Hitzeman have lived in Naperville since 1990.
For more information about the programs, please use the Contact page so Marti can answer your questions and concerns.
Beginning an End of Life Conversation
“A well-spent day brings happy sleep;
a life well-spent brings happy death.”
—Leonardo da Vinci
The program, A Good Death: Beginning an End of Life Conversation, is facilitated by Marti Beddoe. Marti will co-create with you a peaceful, reflective, and safe space in which you will be able to …
- Pause and listen to the guidance of your own mind, heart, and soul.
- Begin to define what you might consider a Good Death—Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Financially/Legally, and Spiritually.
- Receive practical resources to help plan and discuss your Good Death choices with your loved ones and health care team.
The Good Death Conversation Series
“Death is not the opposite of life,
but a part of it.”
—Haruki Murakami
The Good Death Conversation Series is a 5-session program where you can take a more comprehensive, in depth look at the 5 important aspects of a Good Death—Physical, Mental, Emotional, Financial/Legal, and Spiritual.
Experts experienced in each of these 5 aspects will address your concerns and answer questions. Participants will leave with specific resources for each session. Though the 5 sessions complement each other, you may attend only one or all five sessions.
Resources
Marti has compiled a list of over 50 books on death, grieving, and caregiving to the bereaved. You can download this list using the button below.