Pioneering educator and researcher Dr. John Eric Baugher was just eighteen years old when his mother was murdered.  Filled with rage, John felt he was fated to join his mother's killer in life imprisonment.  Not behind bars, but behind psychological walls of unresolved grief and anger.  How he channeled his grief and discovered compassion and even humor in the face of death is at the heart of John's new book, "Contemplative Caregiving: Finding Healing, Compassion and Spiritual Growth Through End of Life Care."  Jana talks with John about how "Contemplative Caregiving" evolved from his early years as a hospice caregiver in New Orleans, at the peak of the AIDS crisis, to working with hospice volunteers at a maximum-security prison and interviewing dozens of hospice volunteers in the US and abroad.  Without sugarcoating the experience, John also describes meeting his mother's killer, who is still behind bars.  "Contemplative Caregiving" affirms John's belief that we can transform experiences of loss and suffering into a path of compassion, and that even amid the challenges of caregiving we can find joy in unlikely places.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Subscribe to The Agewyz Podcast on iTunes
Got a story to share? Email us any time at [email protected]

Visit John's website
Order John's book: Contemplative Caregiving: Finding Healing, Compassion and Spiritual Growth Through End of Life Care

Music:
“early rising” by Dlay | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive
“Wounds (remix) by Ketsa | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive