Adrianna 🇨🇦 Lady Death Doula

Come hang out with me at Civic Spark next weekend!!

Show Up TO Show Up Toronto is a hub and weekly newsletter of community organizing, mutual aid, and advocacy events from around the city.

It's been almost three months since I launched Show Up Toronto and in that time I've posted 426 events from over 200 groups, which is pretty dang cool. The fact that there are consistently 100+ events a month representing the labour of thousands validates my optimism about the city. showuptoronto.ca

We die. Get over it and (hand)write a will already. We plan for the future, why can't we plan for our death without it being weird?

New on my SubStack: open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...
We die. Get over it and (hand)write a will already.
We plan for the future, why can't we plan for our death without it being weird?
#deathdoula

A close-up photo of a person's hand holding a pen as they check off items on a checklist. Text superimposed over the photo reads, "Module 3: Preparing for caregiving at home."

#Caregiving can be a very rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging and exhausting to take on a new role as the person’s care needs change.

@virtualhospice.bsky.social has prepared a free online module to help you prepare for caregiving at home.

Learn more at buff.ly/44BVOeB

Graphic with text over photo of white paint peeling off a white wall. “If your end-of-life plan is “they’ll figure it out,” I hate to break it to you, but no, they won’t. They will cry and fight and Google things and possibly screw up your most sacred wishes. Say the thing. Choose the person. Put it in writing. That is love. —Heather Honold” [Copyright the author.] Logotype: photo-illustration of Raven [©2024] with "Raven’s Call: Aging and End-of-Life Guide, Oregon. ©2025 Raven's Call Bluesky: @EndOfLifeCare"

It's easy to put it off.

But...

Hat tip to @heatherhonold.bsky.social

New study highlights factors that support home deaths for patients receiving at-home palliative and end-of-life care Access to respite services for caregivers increases the probability of dying at home by 2.7 times, according to an evaluative study by McGill University researcher Kelley Kilpatrick and her team. Titl...

A new study highlights key factors supporting palliative patients choosing to die at home, such as caregiver respite services & timely intervention. Also included: a 4-step action plan for governments to provide equitable access to quality #palliativecare .

Learn more: www.mcgill.ca/nursing/arti...

We die. Get over it and (hand)write a will already. We plan for the future, why can't we plan for our death without it being weird?

New on my SubStack: open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...
We die. Get over it and (hand)write a will already.
We plan for the future, why can't we plan for our death without it being weird?
#deathdoula

Gatekeeping is expensive. That's why a lot of studies have shown a UBI is much cheaper for a country than piecemeal social services with administrators, offices, means testing, etc.

It's the final Planning and Housing Committee before summer break. On the line:
-Garden suites updates (no more angular plane toward your own house! But increased side setbacks)
-Kipling Block 3 affordable housing
-6 new shelter sites
-The launch of a new missing middle/midrise initiative
-And more

Today at 12PM: Will Carney stop the privatization of health care in Canada?. Join Canadian Health Coalition’s Anne Lagacé Dowson for an online conversation about the privatization of health care with Ontario Health Coalition’s Natalie Mehra, Andrew Longhurst and Canadian Doctors for...

420. annemieke wade This week on Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby welcomes annemieke wade, Executive Director of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). annemieke shares insights from her first six months in t...

New on Stageworthy: Phil talks with @miekechu.bsky.social, Executive Director of TAPA, about her vision for a sustainable, inclusive theatre sector, the Dora Awards, ADHD, and building frameworks of care in the arts.

Listen now at stageworthy.ca/420-annemiek...
#theaTO #canadiantheatre

This week I am supporting a family where their deceased loved one doesn’t have a will. Even if you write out your wishes and declare your Executor it can save so much time and worry and grief.

My workshop about the Celtic pagan Turn of the Wheel: Lughnasadh is part of the Signs and Seers Mystic Arts Fair happening at The Plant Mystic next week: www.theplantmystic.com/mystic-arts-fair.html

Things I heard this week as a #deathdoula

Inbox: Toronto's latest "street needs assessment" finds that homeless population doubled between 2021 and 2024

Have I loved Phantom more than life since I was 7 years old? Yes. Will I risk life and body to see Masquerade on Broadway. Hello no. I used to make the trek to NYC for shows but as soon as orange Cheeto had power again all trips are off. Sorry Jinx, I would have loved to see you in Pirates.

My hopes and prayers and spellcasts are a movement away from hard to navigate targeted programs and the creation of UBI… but also I’m nervous for all this

Canadian family physician here. The US war on vaccines is hurting infants and children beyond the US border. We, too, are seeing an unprecedented increase in measles and other vaccine preventable diseases due to disinformation and to travel of unvaccinated populations.

Wish Canada could sue RFK Jr.

Do you listen to ghosts? Being a Death Doula, I get asked a lot if I believe in ghosts...

Being a Death Doula, I get asked a lot if I believe in ghosts. Have I encountered them? Have I SEEN one? And the answer is yes, and then no….

open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...

Firefox extension for those who are interested.

Dear @cbcnews-rss.bsky.social the phrasing of this reporter used was really awful regarding the Diddy trial… Framing it that “worst case scenario” is he goes to jail when he just now a convicted abuser is really offensive!? It’s not worst case: it’s *justice*

So much love to you and your family 🤍

Grief is a sneaky bitch. It creeps up in the oddest of places. Most especially ambiguous grief and disenfranchised grief. Going to my 20 year University reunion was a mix of joyful connections and waves of both ambiguous and disenfranchised grief:
open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...

UBI as a military expense.
Free socialized housing as a military expense.
Universal dental care as a military expense.
Properly funded schools as a military expense.

We can have nice things and meet our stupid NATO commitments within little creative bookkeeping.

Christ on skates…..we know how to rebuild a country:
You look after people, you educate people, you house people and have meaningful employment (meaningful
Is key).

We also know the UBIs actually work, but the mega wealthy hate the idea of sharing when they’d much rather steal and hoard.

McFly sends his barks of support and encouragement 🤍

Birth & Death Doulas: The Collaborative Doula Conference When you get a bunch of practitioners that hold liminal space on the regular, it quickly becomes a party for deep conversations and speaking truths.

Latest Substack: Birth & Death Doulas: The Collaborative Doula Conference

When you get a bunch of practitioners that hold liminal space on the regular, it quickly becomes a party for deep conversations and speaking truths. A look at my con experience:
open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...

#deathdoula

I have an international end of life starter pack - please let me know if you want to be included. End of life doulas, researchers, palliative care workers, specialist medical, writers, poets, art therapists - anyone working with the dying and their networks.

go.bsky.app/5t3et7q

This is ✨Senator Kim Pate✨

Canada's champion for Basic Income in Parliament

She just gave one of the most iconic speeches ever
- it's cheaper than poverty
- encourages work and entrepreneurs
- cuts crime and helps victims of abuse

We break it down🧵

Birth & Death Doulas: The Collaborative Doula Conference When you get a bunch of practitioners that hold liminal space on the regular, it quickly becomes a party for deep conversations and speaking truths.

Latest Substack: Birth & Death Doulas: The Collaborative Doula Conference

When you get a bunch of practitioners that hold liminal space on the regular, it quickly becomes a party for deep conversations and speaking truths. A look at my con experience:
open.substack.com/pub/ladydeat...

#deathdoula