“I wanted to make a difference by providing the knowledge, support and insight I wish I’d had before my father died.”

The author and her father, Dr. Joseph Kanarek, in Overland Park, Kansas, a month before he died in 2020.

The author with hospice nurse Dusty King in 2024 at T. Boone Pickens Hospice Center in Dallas.

Lisa Kanarek visiting a patient in 2024 at T. Boone Pickens Hospice Center in Dallas.

This piece was previously published on HuffPost and is being shared again now as part of HuffPost Personal’s “Best Of” series.

Lisa Kanarek is working on a book about being a death doula with her dog.