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- from Fritz Nelson, Presbyterian pastor and founder of "The Hub," a center for spirituality and story telling
"It’s one thing to write a basic training manual for Hospice volunteers. It’s all together another thing to capture the relationship between a volunteer and a patient as one helps the other die. In Gracious Living and Hospice 101 Rebecca McCurdy draws upon decades of experience accompanying the dying to faithfully portray the intense relationship between Kate, a young woman dying of cancer, and Franny, a Hospice volunteer who finds Kate to be the very person she needs at this moment in her life. It’s a story where the ending is known, but Rebecca McCurdy’s writing makes the journey worth every word. When combined with the attached training manual, Gracious Living and Hospice 101 is an invaluable resource for those led to companion others through the last stages of life."
- from Wayne Giesler, retired Lutheran pastor and hospice volunteer/chaplain-
"McCurdy’s book is laid out masterfully. The first 80% of it goes back and forth between two fictional yet true-to-life women: Kate, a hospice patient, who shares memories of her life with Fran, her hospice volunteer. In this part of the book the reader learns valuable lessons about dying and caring for the dying—in the form of a page-turning novel. In the final 20% of her book McCurdy goes to a textbook format and spells out the nuts and bolts of hospice care and hospice volunteering. This is must reading for anyone caring for a dying loved one or considering becoming a hospice volunteer."
Rebecca Spencer McCurdy
Supporting those we love in the last season of life
The Author's Journey
After 30 years of professional experience in end-of-life care, Rebecca writes about the privilege of being allowed into the lives of individuals in the last season of life.
Through narrative and practical instruction she invites the reader into the challenges of this poignant time, as well as the beauty and the love.
Rebecca has a passion for helping people gain the skills and confidence that enable them to be a real support to friends and family who are facing the journey of terminal illness.
Workshop and Retreat Topics
For 30 years Rebecca taught patient care classes to hospice volunteers. She was twice invited to make presentations at National Hospice and Palliative Care (NHPCO) conferences. Now she offers workshops and retreats designed to equip attendees for this powerful, though sometimes daunting work. Workship topics include:
Where to stand if you want to help
"But what if I say the wrong thing?"
Providing social and emotional support
Providing spiritual support for someone that doesn't believe like me
Companioning those we love through physical decline
Grief 101
From Fritz Nelson, Presbyterian minister and founder of "The Hub" a center for spirituality and story-telling -
"Want to spark conversations around death and dying in your religious group, community organization, school or support group? Call Rebecca McCurdy. Together you’ll laugh and you’ll cry, you’ll share stories, speak hard truths and unearth hidden blessings. You’ll leave better able to see the hard journey of accompanying those in the last stages of life as also a time of personal growth and renewal.”
