🌿 My Path

My relationship with death began early.
On my 17th birthday, my best friend’s brother died just a few days after his 20th circling of the sun —
an experience that shattered the familiar world and opened something vast and eternal within me.
In the wake of that loss, my understanding of reality changed; I began to contemplate what endures beyond form, what remains when everything we know falls away.
That moment became the quiet seed of my life’s work: to listen at the thresholds, to walk with others into the mystery that death reveals.

Years later, I found myself walking beside those at the end of life and those who loved them — as a caregiver, a companion, and a witness to transformation. Each encounter deepened that original question: how can we meet death not as an enemy, but as a teacher?

Over time, my focus evolved from hands-on care to education, mentorship, and ritual guidance. Now, I help others navigate this terrain through teaching, writing, and the creation of sacred, participatory spaces that honor impermanence and the human spirit.

I am trained through INELDA (International End-of-Life Doula Association) and continue ongoing study with Bridging Transitions, under the mentorship of Brigitta Kastenbaum and Cheserae Scala.
I also hold certifications in Morning Altars with Day Schildkret and a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training from Little Ocean Yoga in North Palm Beach, where I deepened my understanding of breath, embodiment, and ritual.

My work continues to be influenced by the teachings of
death doulas, poets, spiritual elders, and the natural world itself — the greatest teacher of all.

🕯️ The Gate

Apollo’s Gate is named for my beloved dog, Apollo — my first great teacher in love and loss. His dying became my initiation into this path, reminding me that endings are not the opposite of life but its completion.
The Gate represents that passage — a space where the visible and invisible meet, where the sacred reveals itself in ordinary moments.

“There is a way through death — not around it — that leads us deeper into life.”

🌾 The Land

I live and work on the ancestral lands of the Jaega people, in the land of Palm and Pine along Florida’s southeast coast.
This landscape — its shifting light, its tides, its quiet resilience — has shaped the rhythm of my work.
May the teachings and offerings of Apollo’s Gate honor the Jaega people,
their enduring presence, and the wisdom of this land that continues to hold us all.

🌸 My Work Today

I guide individuals, families, and communities through:

• Reflection and preparation for dying

• Rituals of remembrance and renewal

• Teaching circles and workshops on death, grief, and belonging

• Writing that explores the sacred ecology of endings

Whether walking beside the dying, supporting those in grief, or teaching others to meet mortality with courage and care, my work is always an act of love, presence, and learning through story.