My sister and I were honoured to have the opportunity to be interviewed by Dr Mekel. When Dr Mekel reached out to us we were in a bit of shock, but so pleasantly surprised.
We first became aware of Dr Mekel through Greg from the Color of Grief…
Please see IG Live Interview with Dr Mekel: Friday 12th November 2021 which covers:
- Introduction
- Dr Mekel
- IG Live Interview with Dr Mekel: Friday 12th November 2021
- Useful links for: Living Wills, Wills and Death Doula Resources
- Our Final Thoughts/Our YouTube video
© Copyright 2019 Grief Probate Journey Blog
1. Introduction
My sister and I were honoured to have the opportunity to be interviewed by Dr Mekel in one of her weekly IG live interviews. When Dr Mekel reached out to us, we were in a bit of shock, but so pleasantly surprised.
Something that we are pleased about is the way in which through one suggestion of connecting, a chain reaction happens, and the connections keep on growing and growing. Grief can make you feel so isolated, but discovering and being amongst people who have a shared understanding of what you are going through makes a great difference and is a comforting feeling. One that my sister and I truly appreciate especially because of how the legal aspects of our grief and handling this made us feel.
The probate process was a major part of our lives for over two years. It was something that we knew nothing about, we were not prepared for, it changed our everyday life for the entire time we were going through it. We haven’t gone into detail about how the probate process made us feel, so without realising it, having the opportunity to do it openly with someone else who is going through it, helped us more than we could have imagined.
We have learnt so much during the time of doing the blog, things which had we have known at the time it could have made such a difference, things such as living wills and end of life care. In this conversation, we learnt so much more. We are aware that probate is not the same in every country, and even in America, it is not the same state to state, so what was helpful during our conversation is resources that people can access for wills and living wills. We will provide these in the topic.
We have mentioned connections because that is how this topic came about. We were recommended to reach out to someone named Greg from The Color of Grief. This was in January 2020. This recommendation came from Jane Edberg The Fine Art of Grieving. We did this and had such a welcoming response, from this day we have been connected with Greg, we have worked with him on several occasions, and we have become connected to people who follow his page, and those who have participated in his Instagram live sessions.
We first became aware of Dr Mekel through Greg. Dr Mekel was a guest on one of Greg’s weekly Sunday talks about Grief and the Black Experience (during Black History Month in USA) and we logged in, it was so insightful, inspiring, informative, and relatable.
At another stage, Greg was hosting a live IG and he was using it as a way of showing support to those of us in the grief community and the ways in which we are trying to help and make a difference. In this, Greg mentioned our page and the probate process and the work that we are doing. It was also informative for us as we learnt about more people and the great works that they do. It is also from this when the connection between us and Dr Mekel was born.
Dr Mekel reached out to us after listening to Greg’s talk. Dr Mekel was thanking us for what we do in the grief space and asked if we would be interested in being a guest on her IG live interviews, she was interested in our story and how we navigated our way through our probate process.
Although very nervous we knew this was a great opportunity for us, and hopefully those who logged on and one that we should not let pass us by. As we hadn’t done something live in a very long while, it made us feel slightly anxious, however, when thinking about what good this could do, we agreed.
Our experience with Dr Mekel has been a great one, from the moment that she reached out to us and through the entire process. Dr Mekel has created such a safe and welcoming space that enables you to be able to speak openly and freely, this is also a testament to her friendly, welcoming and authentic nature. This interview was a great experience and opportunity for us and for that we are grateful.
2. Dr Mekel
“I’m Dr. Mekel Harris, a licensed psychologist with a long-standing career in mental health. More importantly, I’m a perfectly imperfect woman who understands the value of focusing on holistic well-being”!
Dr Mekel Socials: https://linktr.ee/DrMekel
3. IG Live Interview with Dr Mekel: Friday 12th November 2021
First of all, we would like to say a big, massive thank you to all that managed to tune in to the live interview. For those that were not able to, we are happy we managed to find a way to share it.
The video is one hour in total, but the screen recorder on my phone does not record for an hour, this is why there are three videos rather than just one. We would have preferred it to be just one video, but we would rather have three than none at all and for this reason, we are grateful.
Please see the Interview with Dr Mekel:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
4. Useful links for Wills, Living Wills, and Death Doula Resources
In our conversation, some great suggestions on resources were provided. please find them here:
USA
Get peace of mind “It takes less than 20 minutes to write or update your legal will, for free”.
The Grave Woman ® Funeral service & cemetery Sacred Death & Grief Care Practitioner | Course Creator & Educator | Licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer | Insurance Agent & Preplanning Specialist
Going with Grace
Death Doula Training • End of Life Planning • Life Affirming 💜 Alua Arthur | Founder of Going with Grace 🤸🏿♀️ #deathpositive #deathdoula
💕 Legacy Stylist 💕 handling:
End of Life Pre-planning 📜
Life Story Writing ✍️
Senior Transitions 💓
Sympathy Gifts 🎁
Give your family Peace of Mind❤️
https://www.instagram.com/sunsetconcierge/
UK
Compassion in dying – this is one we have featured in a topic: Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 and: Talk to your loved ones in the here and now: Planning your Health Care but hadn’t mentioned this in the interview.
Advance Decisions ( Living Wills) – Compassion in Dying
“It will only be used if you can’t make or communicate a decision for yourself. The legal name is an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment, and it’s also”…
Advance Decisions (living wills) – Age UK
“An advance decision allows you to express your wishes to refuse medical treatment in future. It is sometimes referred to as a living will. What is an advance”..
“My Living Will consists of both an Advance Decision to refuse treatment and an Advance Statement of your preferences and wishes”.
“Welcome To End of Life Conversations Coaching Services. Life can change in the blink of an eye. so whether you or a loved one are 18 or 80”.
5. Our Final Thoughts/Our YouTube video
We have been through so much along this journey dealing with Probate, Coroners, funeral homes, Solicitors just to name a few. It has been daunting, overwhelming, never-ending. BUT something that my sister and I are taking comfort in is, the journey this blog is taking us on.
We started it wanting to share our story to try and help make a difference to others, but it has become so much more than that.
We have discovered a grief community that shares their experiences and knowledge, we have become integrated into this network of support, we support and uplift one another and that is something we feel is very special and we are glad to be part of it.
People share their stories with us and we are building our own network of support. We feel honoured by the path and direction this is taking us on. Had we not decided to do this, we truly do not know what our life would look like.
This blog gives us a sense of purpose and helps us to feel as though we are doing our best to turn our situation into something that can be deemed as somewhat positive.
Our YouTube video:
Grief Probate Journey 
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