This week on Hope, Healing, and WellBeing, Mary Treacy O’Keefe welcomes David Kessler, world-renowned expert and lecturer on death and grief. Kessler talks about healthcare, hospice professionals, the unique experience of dying, and shows off his lastest book: Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die.
Kessler starts off the interview by sharing what made him decide to write his new book. He goes on to share how the death of his mother (he was 12 at the time) affected not only his entire life, but his entire life’s work. “I came away from that somewhat scarred,” admits Kessler. “I’m really a product of that day [my mother died].”
On the subject of his new book, Kessler explains the meaning behind the title: Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What you See Before You Die. He also explains the format of the book and the type of research that went into creating it. Not only does Kessler’s latest book include interviews with doctors, patients, priests, and rabbis on the subject of “what happens immediately before death,” but he’s also included a look at death “visions” from a historical and literature perspective… and a legal perspective? Kessler explains how the “Law of Hearsay” can be bent for someone’s “dying words.”
Kessler shares his personal experiences of being with people when they’re dying and shares his advice on how to remain calm and completely at ease when faced with the death of a loved one. Kessler says, when comforting someone on their death bed, he tries to bring about the feeling of “We may see each other again and this might not be the end” and encourages others in similar situations to do the same. O’Keefe agrees, having touched upon this subject in her own book, Thin Places. And what advice did Mother Teresa give Kessler on the subject before her own death?
Listen in to what you can learn from the dying. Find out what might happen when you die. And learn how it all ties into living a life of hope, healing, and well-being.