Supporting a Loved one Through MAID: Disrupting Death with Jill Bodak

Disrupting Death

“It’s a really deep kind of love, to be willing to let someone go, that you’re not ready to see go.”

On this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri speak with Jill Bodak, author of “Loved into Being,” about her experiences grieving, loving and supporting her father following his stroke in 2020, up until his medically assisted death in 2022.

Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide

Jill Bodak is a Manual Osteopath, Writer, Speaker and Anatomy Educator in Toronto,

Ontario. Her debut non-fiction work, “Loved Into Being” is a brave and honest depiction of life after stroke through the eyes of a daughter. Jill’s writing navigates the hard and soft spots of her own interior and invites the reader into this private landscape that includes joy, terror, grief and unshakeable love.

Jill has a Kinesiology degree from Lakehead University and a Master’s degree in Osteopathic Manual Therapy from The Canadian Academy of Osteopathy. Now, she studies the Emotionally Integrated Voice pedagogy of Fides Krucker and has a ten-year history in the tradition of Zen meditation. She has taught wellness retreats across the country. Since the onset of her father’s stroke in 2020, Jill has been reading, writing, teaching, and helping him heal. She has used the things she learned on his behalf to help countless others with brain injury, cognitive delay, motor deficits and grief. She continues to run a clinical practice that she loves, helping people find a felt sense of their own bodies that lets them move through the world with more ease.

You can buy Jill’s book, “Loved into Being: Reflections on Stroke and Being Indestructible” here: https://www.amazon.ca/Loved-Into-Being-Reflections-Indestructible/dp/B0BPGPKZJW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SZE51C98WX8U&keywords=loved%20into%20being&qid=1670721158&sprefix=loved%20into%20being%2Caps%2C266&sr=8-1

Music for Disrupting Death was created by the ever lovely Sarah McInnis. Sarah is a music therapist, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist and End-of-Life Doula. In 2021, Sarah began The Legacy Song Project, writing original songs for folks at the end-of-life, and for folks who have lost loved ones. To learn more about Sarah, visit her website https://sarahmcinnis.com

This episode of Disrupting Death was edited by Sadie Mallon.