What is Dying? with Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden

Summary

Podcast Summary: Alive with Steve Burns

Episode: What is Dying? with Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden
Release Date: September 17, 2025
Host: Steve Burns
Guest: Julie McFadden (Hospice & Palliative Care Nurse, Author)

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Episode Overview

In this reflective and deeply honest episode, Steve Burns explores the universal yet frequently unspoken subject of death and dying. Joined by hospice nurse Julie McFadden—whose frank and compassionate insights have reached millions via TikTok—they demystify what dying physically and emotionally entails, drawing from both professional experience and personal stories. The conversation oscillates between the unknowns of the dying process, fears and myths about death, how our culture and healthcare system handle it, and how one's manner of living shapes their final days.

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Key Themes and Discussion Points

1. Steve’s Personal Relationship with Death

• Opening (00:13–03:40):
  Steve shares the impact of persistent internet death rumors about himself, connecting it to his real-life experiences of losing loved ones.

  “There was this Internet rumor going around that I was dead... and it actually—kind of messed me up.” —Steve, [02:13]

• He underlines the motivation for the episode: if death is inevitable, why not talk about it openly?

  “The inevitable fact of our death is the one certainty we hold while we're alive.” —Steve, [04:20]

2. Hospice and Palliative Care: More About Living Than Dying

• Julie Explains Hospice (05:53) and Palliative Care (06:41):
  • Hospice focuses on helping people live as fully as possible until death, often at home with support.

    “Hospice is about living, and people think it's about dying.” —Julie, [05:56]

  • Palliative care manages symptoms for anyone with life-limiting or chronic illness, which Julie wishes started earlier for most patients.

    “Everyone should just get a palliative care team right away, can't they?” —Julie, [06:58]

  • Systemic barriers and lack of doctor awareness limit access to early palliative care.

    “Many doctors aren't fully aware of... what palliative care actually is.” —Julie, [07:18]

3. The Experience of Dying: Biological, Emotional, and Existential Insights

• Steve recalls his father's slow death from cancer (07:45–08:49):

  “It was a subtractive process... things were being taken... his strength... I remember his beard... And I was inches from his face, you know, and I never saw it happen.” —Steve, [07:50–08:50]

• Julie describes the body’s innate mechanisms to support a more peaceful dying process:

  “Our bodies are built to die.” —Julie, [09:30]

  • As death nears, hunger and thirst fade, dehydration can bring more comfort, and endorphins ease pain ([14:26]).
  • Intervening medically can sometimes make the process harder on the dying person.

    “Your body actually feels better physically, the drier it is... in ketosis, you actually get endorphins released that help dull pain.” —Julie, [14:26–14:47]

4. How We Die Mirrors How We Live

• Julie’s Core Observation (16:23):
  • “People die the way they lived.” —Julie, [16:23]
  • Family dynamics, personality, and levels of openness or denial in life usually play out in dying as well.
• Impact of Facing Death Openly:

  “Those people tend to live better and die more peacefully just because they were willing to acknowledge that it’s happening.” —Julie, [17:38]

• Steve connects this to Stoic philosophy:

  “All the old Stoics... would practice death... Has to change the way you live, right?” —Steve, [18:00]

5. The Role of Presence and Acceptance

• Steve wishes he’d been more present during his father’s dying.

  “The moments where I was present with that were the most important moments I've ever had.” —Steve, [19:54]

• Julie’s caregiver advice from her TikTok:

  “Are they safe? Are they clean? Are they comfortable? If so, you're doing fine.” —Julie, echoed by Steve, [18:57]

6. Animals and the Dying Process

• Steve describes how his dog seemed to sense his father's approaching death.

  “Apparently just two hours before he passed, my dog... went over and nuzzled my dad's hand.” —Steve, [21:58–22:20]

• Julie validates that animals often display awareness:

  “Big time. Animals know what’s up.” —Julie, [21:48–21:56]

7. Systemic Flaws: The State of Dying in America

• Julie highlights lack of 24/7 end-of-life care for families due to Medicare limitations.

  “In order to die well, in America, you have to be rich.” —Julie, [24:01]

  • Steve voices a fear prevalent among many: not death itself, but dying in an institutional, lonely way.

    "...an ugly room with a linoleum floor and fluorescent lights and a hallway that smells like pee..." —Steve, [24:27]

• Empowerment is possible through end-of-life planning:

  “At least have one person point of contact that knows what you want and don’t want.” —Julie, [25:01]

8. Easing the Fear of Dying

• Three Key Points (26:10–27:41):

  1. It’s normal to fear death—accepting this reduces the burden.

     “Just because you fear death doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be awful… there’s nothing wrong with fearing death.” —Julie, [26:17]

  2. Education genuinely helps; understanding what death actually looks and feels like is calming.

     “Education around death and dying can really, really ease fear because our bodies… are built to die.” —Julie, [26:34]

  3. Julie shares her belief in an afterlife—not religious, but a feeling of going “home,” akin to the feeling she senses at both birth and death.

     “When we die, we go to a place more like home than here ever could be.” —Julie, [27:29]
     “I feel like when I die, I’m going to wake up in a place that I’ve always known, and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, how’d I ever forget this?’” —Julie, [27:52]

• The symmetry between birth and death provides comfort to Julie and, she hopes, listeners:

  “I get that same feeling when I see people take their last breath.” —Julie, [28:54]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The inevitable fact of our death is the one certainty we hold while we're alive.” —Steve, [04:20]
• “Our bodies are built to die.” —Julie, [09:30]
• “People die the way they lived.” —Julie, [16:23]
• “Are they safe? Are they clean? Are they comfortable? If so, you're doing fine.” —Julie, via Steve, [18:57]
• “In order to die well, in America, you have to be rich.” —Julie, [24:01]
• “Education around death and dying can really, really ease fear.” —Julie, [26:34]
• “When we die, we go to a place more like home than here ever could be.” —Julie, [27:29]
• “I get that same feeling when I see people take their last breath.” —Julie, [28:54]
• “If we die how we live, and we know we're gonna die, but we don't know when—how do we live?” —Steve, [30:25]

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Segment Timestamps

• [00:13–03:40] — Steve reflects on his own brushes with rumors of his death and real losses
• [05:53–07:11] — Julie introduces hospice and palliative care
• [07:45–09:11] — Steve shares his father’s passing; the mystery of “the moment” of death
• [09:29–15:00] — Julie details physical signs and processes of dying
• [16:23–18:55] — “People die as they lived” and the role of family dynamics
• [19:54–21:45] — The experience of presence and caregiving at the end of life
• [21:45–23:09] — Animals sensing death
• [23:23–24:27] — Flaws in American end-of-life care
• [25:00–27:41] — Planning for death & easing the fear
• [27:41–29:28] — Julie shares spiritual reflections on life-after-death, birth, and dying
• [30:04–End] — Closing thoughts from both Steve and Julie, reflection on the episode's central question

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Final Reflections

The conversation closes with Steve processing the emotional weight and philosophical scope of the episode—particularly the idea that “our bodies are built to die” and that “we die how we live.” He invites listeners to ponder how this knowledge should shape the way they live now.

“If we die how we live, and we know we're gonna die, but we don't know when—how do we live?” —Steve, [30:25]

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This episode is a candid, compassionate invitation to face death more openly—to inform our lives with the acceptance that dying, too, is living.

Transcript

[A]

Lemonada.

[B]

Alive with Steve Burns. There you are. Come on in. Come on in. Come on in. Welcome to Alive. I'm very glad you're here. You look great, by the way. Anyway, so thanks for coming today. I kind of want to talk about something kind of big. Like, real big. Can I ask you, do you ever think about death? Yeah. Okay. Do you ever think about dying? Like what? Like, what is that? Like, what is the experience of someone who is physically dying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is something that I think about, like, all the time, actually. I'm making tea. Do you want tea? There's tea. It's actually a thing that I feel like I was kind of forced to think about a lot back in the day, kind of against my will, because there was, like, this Internet rumor going around that I was dead, that I had died and was not alive. Yeah. It was always some weird way, right? Like, I died in a car crash or a heroin overdose or, like, suicide. That was one of them. And it was nuts. And no matter what we did, we couldn't get rid of the rumor, right? Like, it didn't matter. No matter how many talk shows I went on and said, oh, I feel fine, or how many new episodes of Blue's Clues we made, it didn't matter. It was like this indelible Internet rumor that I died. And I actually would get into arguments with people on the street, like, arguing whether or not I was, in fact, alive. It was crazy. And this was also when the Internet was just beginning to Internet. So it was like millions of people online all telling me that I had died. Imagine that. It went on for, like, five years, then it went on for, like, 10 years, then it went on for 15 years. And I'll tell you, it started to feel like a cultural preference. Does that make sense? Here you go. If I'm being honest, it actually. It kind of messed me up. It did. I'm older now, and I've experienced some death and dying. I lost my dog. I lost my dad. And those were painful and profound experiences, and they changed me. Right. And they reminded me that death is a fact of living. Right? Of course it is. It is. The inevitable fact of our death is the one certainty we hold while we're alive. And that got me thinking, why not confront that? Right? I mean, why not talk about it? You know? I mean, because if you think about it, we're all gonna die. We're all dying while we're living. So why not ask the question, what is that? What is dying? Yes. Yes. This is. This is what I'm saying I'm fascinated by this, and I'm actually super exc to talk to our guest today about this. She knows so much about death, so much about the process of dying. I can't wait to talk to her. Come on, let's go. Let's go. Okay. All righty. Okay, so our guest today is Julie McFadden, and I'm super excited to talk to her. She has been a hospice and palliative care nurse for, like, 15 years. She has a new book coming out on June 11, and it's called Nothing to Fear Demystifying Death to Live more Fully. I could not be more excited to read that and to talk to her. I found her through TikTok and her TikTok page. I'm not kidding. It's important, I think, and it's profound, and it's all about demystifying death and dying, and it's a little scary in places, but it's also, like, super beautiful and super amazing and. Oh, she's. She's here. Hang on. Hey. Hello. Hi. Julie McFadden. Thank you so much for coming by. We're so excited to talk to you. I really, truly, truly, truly am a fan of what you do.

[A]

Thank you. It is such an honor.

[B]

So I was thinking maybe we should just start kind of simply, like, tell us, what is hospice? What is palliative care? What do you do?

[A]

Okay, so those are big questions that I'm going to try to generally answer. So we're not here all day, because there is a lot of things that can go into that. So what is hospice? I mean this with all sincerity. Hospice is about living, and people think it's about dying. People die on hospice. You go there at the end of your life, but it is for people who want to live out the rest of their lives, you know, wherever that may be. Most people choose home, Especially in the United States. There are, like, hospital homes and places you can go, but most people choose to be in home hospice, which means they're in their home, and then a team of people comes to care for them to help manage symptoms of their disease that they're dying from.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So palliative care is more about managing your symptoms. So a team of people that looks at you like, as a whole person and manages your symptoms while you go through treatment of a disease or you have some kind of chronic illness. For me, I have a big soapbox that I wish everyone could be on palliative care the second they got diagnosed with any kind of, like, life limiting, terminal or or chronic illness. I feel like everyone should just get a palliative care team right away, can't they?

[B]

Is there a reason why they can't? I mean, it's just a choice. Is that a choice that people can make?

[A]

They can. Ish. Many doctors aren't fully aware of, like, what palliative care actually is and what it's for, so they won't refer early enough. And there is criteria to get onto palliative care, and sometimes those people, when you first get diagnosed, they don't meet criteria. I see more debilitated, which I think is ridiculous. You shouldn't have to be more debilitated. You should just get it because everyone needs it, I think.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember I was, you know, I was a caregiver for my father. When my father passed. He died of lung cancer. And it was a very gradual process. You know, he didn't. He didn't die all at once. You know, there. It was just. It was a subtractive process, if that makes sense. Like, things were being taken. You know, things were taken forever and gone. His strength was taken forever and gone. I remember his beard was taken forever and gone. And it occurred to me that I had never seen my father's face until he was dying of cancer, you know, and it was such a gradual dimming, is. Is how it felt. And I was right there with him, you know, when he passed, I was right there. It's hard to talk about. It's years ago, but I knew he was there and I knew he was gone, but I never saw it happen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and I was inches from his face, you know, and I never saw it happen. I couldn't. I couldn't identify the moment. You know what I mean? So I guess that's why I'm asking, like, is there. Is there a hard line somewhere, you know, where they're like, okay, there, now it happened. The. The. Whatever has left and now this person is gone forever.

[A]

I think it depends on who you talk to.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[A]

And I will say, I mean, I could talk about this topic forever and ever. And there really is a biological, physiological, metabolic thing that is going on when someone's dying. And our bodies are built to die.

[B]

I'm looking for a pen. I'm writing that down. Our bodies are built to die.

[A]

Oh, baby. There's a whole chapter in my book about it.

[B]

I'm reading your book for 100% sure.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah, I mean, that's the first thing I noticed. As. As a hospice nurse. Within my first year being a hospice nurse, you know, I was an experienced ICU nurse. I had nine, eight or nine years under my belt at a large hospital where I felt like I, you know, I learned it all. And then that first year of hospice nursing, my mind was blown by what the body did on its own without us doing anything. Your body knows what's going on and will help the process along if we let it. We, meaning the medical. Medical people. If we. If we just sort of let things happen.

[B]

Well, tell me more about that. How does. How does. How does our body help us die? You know, I would assume that our body would be enormously concerned with keeping us alive.

[A]

There is a threshold. There is a threshold. You know, our body will fight to survive and live. And when. When the body kind of knows, hey, this is. This is happening, like. Like the cancer is taking over, whatever we want to call it, whatever however we want to word it, the body will eventually hit a threshold where it understands that this is the end. And your calcium levels will go up, so your body will allow you to sleep all the time. And your hunger and thirst mechanism that. That part of you that, like, makes you hungry and thirsty shuts off. So you don't really feel hungry and thirsty.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Your body actually feels better physically, the drier it is. So at the end of life, dehydration actually feels better than being hydrated. Then you're in. In ketosis, you actually get endorphins released. That helps dull pain.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

And feel a little euphoric.

[B]

Really? Wait a minute. So there's mercy in that somewhere? You know what I mean? That's actually really amazing that.

[A]

The opposite just so everyone, if anyone's listening, and it's like, what. Because I've seen that in the ICU where we're not letting people die. And we pump people full of fluid because we. Because that's what's going to keep their blood pressure up. So we pump them full of fluid, whether it's blood products or just regular, like normal saline fluid. Because their body is dying, the body is not keeping that fluid where it should be in. Helping the body stay hydrated. It. It expands and starts causing edema going back into. Going into the lungs because the body's saying, hey, I thought I was dying here. Why are we fighting with fluid? I can't handle this. And then they go into respiratory distress. And then you have to intubate them, put them on a breathing machine. Then their body is swollen, and then we have to diurese the body again, which means take off that fluid to try to get it back to, like, homeostasis. When the body is naturally doing something, yes, we can try to intervene, but we have to do all these things to make it work, if that makes sense, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When my dad got to that point where he was sleeping all the time, you know, and he felt far away, you know, what are they concerned with? What do we know about what they're experiencing? Are they full of regrets? Are they expressing things? What are dying people concerned with?

[A]

From what I have witnessed, people die the way they lived.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Bald and neurotic. I'm gonna die bald and neurotic. Yes, yes.

[A]

Listen, I take that heart because I think about that all the time. I always go, I'm so neurotic. How am I going to do this? Because. Okay, so truth, truth, for real. This is a good lesson for us, because I'm the same. I'm the same. I'm not bald, but I'm neurotic. So I really mean that. People die the way they lived.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

If your family didn't have a great family dynamic, you're not going to suddenly have this amazing family dynamic just because someone's dying. Sometimes the drama of it all or something can kind of bring people together. But most of the time, it's like, if you guys weren't talking before, you're probably not going to start talking. If they are willing to discuss the fact of that with their loved ones around, even if that discussion is something like that sounds negative, like, I don't want this to be happening. I'm angry, this is happening. I'm sad, I'm pissed off, I'm. Whatever it is. Those people tend to live better and die more peacefully just because they were willing to acknowledge the fact that they understand it's happening. That is half the reason why I decided to get on social media, because I was like, people need to understand that talking about their death, talking about death and dying, even if it feels like in a negative connotation, it still helps.

[B]

Oh, that's amazing. That actually, that reminds me of what you were saying. From a biological standpoint, from a medical standpoint, we die the way we live. That is one of the hugest things anyone ever said to me, that it reminds me of so much other stuff that I've read. All the old Stoics, Seneca and those guys, Marcus Aurelius, they would practice death, right? Which I always thought was ridiculous, right? But they would. They would wake up and say, what Will it be like when I die, when it is hurt, when I'm eaten by a bear? What will that pain feel like? And. And they would practice that every day, but it's actually an amazing practice to accommodate that fact. Has to change the way you live, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And because we die how we live. That's beautiful. I've already really liked talking to you. You're great. Okay.

[A]

You're great. Thank you.

[B]

We're great. All right. So I found you through TikTok, right. And you had me bawling. A lot of what I was seeing there was hard to look at, but. But also very beautiful and extremely important. And I love that you're doing that because you're talking about the hard stuff. And I think one of the things you said was, are they safe? Are they clean? Are they comfortable? If so, you're doing fine. You know, but my instinct was like, no, I have to invent a camera system and I have to get the special chair and I have to do a million zillion things to fight back, to fight, you know, to struggle against this process that's happening. And I do wish that I had been more present because the. The moments where I was present with that were the most important moments I've ever had.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

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[A]

I was gonna say yes.

[B]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[A]

So I think, I think so again, like, I think it depends on who, who you talk to. Right. But from my experience, animals know what's up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, time. Big time. Big time.

[B]

Yeah. I walked into the room and I was like, ooh, this looks different. Things look different today. And then the hospice nurse was like, yeah, yeah, this is happening. And I said, oh, what do you think? Like, you know, days, hours, you know, like, what do you think? She's like, I don't know. Watch the dog. The dog will know. And apparently just two hours before he passed, my dog woke up as if he had heard something and went over and nuzzled my dad's hand. And my dad hadn't moved in days. And my dad, his hand woke up and pet my dog. Gosh, it's that story even now. But it seemed like he knew. Yeah, I like to think he did. I like to think he said goodbye, you know?

[A]

Yeah. I've seen so many amazing things with, with dogs and cats, with the, with the owners where, like, they'll take off symptoms, they'll protect the, the, their loved one. They'll sleep under the bed. They'll sleep on the bed continuously. They'll howl when someone dies. Like, it's just intense. It's just intense. I just feel like dogs.

[B]

I love dogs now. What do you think our healthcare system gets wrong about dying and death?

[A]

A big sigh over here. So long to go. I mean, you know, in hospice specifically, the thing we get wrong is one, we don't provide 24 hour caregiving for families.

[B]

Oh, God. Yeah. That is so. It's impossible to get that. That's the thing you can never get.

[A]

It's impossible to get it. Impossible because Medicare is our boss and Medicare says no working class families, which is most of Americ. They can't do it because they have to work. I mean, it's just insane.

[B]

You have to be a billionaire. You have to be a billionaire to have someone 247 helping you die. You have to.

[A]

I have made a video that says in order to die well, in America, you have to be rich. I get sad watching people try to die. Well, in our health care system, and it's nearly impossible. Damn, you got me fired up, girl. Oh, my God, Steve. I get so angry. Yeah, because it's so unfair. And there's nothing I can do. There's nothing I can do.

[B]

I've seen this problem, but I'm less afraid of the moment of death than I am of the process of dying for some of these reasons. Like, I just imagine an ugly room with a linoleum floor and fluorescent lights and a hallway that smells like pee. And I'm like, worried probably about what I'm leaving behind for other people to deal with. Right.

[A]

Can I hopefully ease some people's fears and your fears after I gave that whole spiel of like, there's no hope. There is hope. There is hope.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There is hope.

[B]

Please really ease my fear of dying.

[A]

Yes. Well, I can do that too, but. But think. So the whole spiel I gave, you have to be rich to die. Well, in America, that is. That is the reality right now. And we have a chance to somewhat change that in when we plan for our death, at least have one person point of contact that knows what you want and don't want. So at least family members can know what you want and don't want. If you can't talk about it because you're not cognitively there, people need to know.

[B]

It's hard to do. I mean, it's hard to talk to your family about death and dying. You know, it's hard to parent your parents. It's hard to. To do those things. You know, I'm also guilty of only kind of half planning my estate right now. And like, because I don't want to do it, I don't wanna. I don't wanna do that. I don't want to think about that. I don't wanna. You know, But I. I think it is. I think it is really important. Oh, yeah, wait, one more thing. Challenge accepted. You said you could ease my fear of death. That'd be great.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If you can.

[A]

Okay, so your. Your fear of death. 1 guess what, Steve?

[B]

What?

[A]

You are so normal for being afraid of death. Okay, so just because you fear death doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be awful or, like, there's nothing wrong with fearing death. I think there is something to, like, fighting the resistance. Like, I can't fear it when really it's like, I can fear it. So please acknowledge that, take a deep breath and like, accept that. Like, doesn't necessarily mean that, like, anything bad is going to happen just because you still fear it. So that's 1, 2. I really do think education helps decrease fear. So I don't know how much you've watched my videos or when you read my book, but education around death and dying can really, really ease fear because our bodies, like I said, are built to die. And there's really amazing things that can happen to that will help us. And then three, I don't know if you want to go there here with this or not. But, like, I don't know if you have fear of, like. Well, we don't have to go there. I was just going to talk about, like, because there's a reason why there's, like, Reasons why I don't fear death too. It happens to be because I believe there's, like, life after death. It's not a religious thing. It's. And I truly understand it's a belief of mine. So, like, I never like to push my belief on people. But that's also another reason why I personally don't fear death. Because I feel like when we die, we go to a place more like home than here ever could be.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. I've always felt homesick for a place that I can't remember.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I can relate to that, actually.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I feel like I've really been shown through other people's deaths that, like, that's, that's. That's what it is, that feeling of homesickness. I feel like when I. When I die, I'm going to wake up in a place, place that I've always known, and it's like, oh, my God, how'd I ever forget this? And. And when I see babies. So another thing I always talk about is when I see babies being born, which is few and far between, but I have seen babies being born and everyone there is like, oh, you know, it's like, oh, my God, there's a baby. Like, now it's here and it's crying and I can weep because it's so overwhelming, this powerful feeling of, like, and now there's life here. And I can look at a baby and I always think, like, where did you come from, baby? Right. And it feels like the baby knows something that I used to know. And it's that same homesick feeling. But it's good and it's bad because it's like, nostalgic. But it's like, I miss it. I get that same feeling when I see people take their last breath.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I get that same feeling.

[B]

Wow. So you're saying, as someone who spends so much time with the dying, in the moment of death, you feel a continuity from that moment and also the moment of birth.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

That's something you, as a skeptic and a realist perceive.

[A]

Yes. And I think because it's not my grief, I'm not losing the mom. I'm not losing the dad at that moment. Anyway, I will eventually, someday, but the grief isn't there, so I feel like I can be present in the moment for what it is.

[B]

That's so interesting. You're not seeing death through the distorted lens of pain and grief. You have a sort of, if I could say, privileged position of experiencing all of this death objectively. And that is something I never considered. This has been a very deep and awesome and meaningful conversation, Julie McFadden. And I so appreciate you having this with us. And I think I need a minute to think about everything that you have said and to go contemplate my own life.

[A]

Yeah, I hit you with a lot. I hit you with a lot.

[B]

I can't wait to read your book. And you are an absolute delight and a treasure. So thank you so much for being here with us. This has been wonderful. Thank you, Julie McFadden. Bye.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

Right. I mean, that part where she said, what was it? Our bodies are built to die because our bodies do all these things to, like, sort of comfort and accommodate our death when we're dying? That. I don't know. I don't know why, but that just does a little to make it less scary for me, I guess, you know? Oh. And it sounds kind of like maybe my dog and my dad got to say goodbye. For real. For real. It makes me feel very good. Yeah. But. But for me, it was when she said, we die how we lived. Yeah. Let's go outside. Okay. Wow. Yeah. That is definitely a lot to think about, huh? You know, the question that's that I'm thinking about now is if we die, how we live, and we know we're gonna die, but we don't know when, how. How do we live? Seems pretty big. You know, actually, I think I'm gonna just stop talking about this and take a minute in silence and just kind of think about that one. You're welcome to join me if you want. So. Well, I'm super glad we did this one. That one felt big. Anyway, sincerely, thank you so much for doing this with me. It really does mean a lot. Until next time. That is so pretty sa. Foreign with Steve Burns is a Lemonada Media original. If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now's the perfect time. You can listen to the show completely ad free, plus you'll unlock exclusive bonus content from me as I reflect on this episode. Just press subscribe on Apple podcasts, head to lemonadapremium.com to subscribe on any other app, or listen ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. That's lemonadapremium.com Alive is hosted by me, Steve Burns, and produced by Jeremy Slutskin. Our editor is Christopher Champion Morgan. Our associate producer is Akshaz Tharabailu, audio engineering by James Sparber. Lemonada's SVP of weekly programming is Steve Nelson. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova, Kramer, Stephanie Whittles, Wax, and me. We'll see you next week. And you look great, by the way.