A Death Positive Approach to Children and MAiD: Disrupting Death with Cynthia Clark

Pajama party at a funeral home! Painting a coffin in a schoolyard! In this episode, Cynthia Clark talks about how she “included, consulted and considered” her children in the process of her husband’s medically assisted death and her writing project, “The Many Faces of MAiD.” 

 

Trigger warning: Themes of death, dying and suicide

 

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Cynthia Clark guided her family through the MAiD experience in 2019 when her husband

was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. For nearly a year she was his caregiver &

advocate, while simultaneously guiding her children, then 6 and 8 years old, through his

decision to have a medically assisted death. It was their family’s mission to normalize death,

include the children, and live until it was time to “quit while it was still fun”. Cynthia and her

family shared their journey very openly and publicly and continue to use their experience of

illness, MAiD, and celebrating death with kids, to help others navigating the MAiD

experience with children. Cynthia has a degree in business administration, is a trained coach

and seasoned advocate for many causes that she is passionate about. She is a board

member of The MAiD Family Support Society (formerly Bridge4you), a member of the

planning committee for her local dying with dignity chapter, and an author of an upcoming

support book for loved ones living a MAiD experience. In her free time Cynthia enjoys cross

country skiing, hiking, writing, and watching her kids play sports.

 

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.