In this bittersweet finale of the Ash Rose Project series, host Lisa Hartung and artist/Executive Director of the Ash Rose Foundation, Ian McCartor close out their 30-day grief journey with a conversation full of hope, whimsy, and renewal. The conversation was recorded, fittingly, on Ash Wednesday.

Week 4's theme is Looking Toward the Future: Continuing the Legacy and Embracing Hope. As Ian puts the finishing touches on a one-of-a-kind portrait made with Emily Hartung's ashes, Lisa reflects on what this project has meant for her healing and what she hopes it will mean for others.

Together Ian and Lisa explore the transformative power of curiosity in grief, why asking open-ended questions beats the usual platitudes, and how art becomes a talisman that keeps our loved ones present in everyday life. Lisa shares the legacy traditions she'll carry forward from "Emily's Planting & Blooming Day" at the Farmington Public Library in Maine to a memorial bench at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Maine and even hints at two books she hopes to write in her mother's honor.

The episode closes with a passage from Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, inscribed on a wind chime for Emily, and a reminder that there is always a path to spring again. A wonderful representation of the cycle of life.

A grand reveal episode is coming during the first week of spring — stay tuned!

Catch up on the full Ash Rose Project series:

Intro Week - When The Artist Becomes the Art: Episode 38
Week 1 – Honoring the Past: Episode 39
Week 2 – Processing Grief Through Creation: Episode 40
Week 3 – Finding Meaning in the Present: Episode 41

Visit the Ash Rose Foundation at TheAshRose.org for more information and to sign up for your own Ash Rose Project to celebrate a loved one who has passed.

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Special thanks to:

Podcast Editor Jacqueline van Bierk of Pink Star Music

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Episode 42 - Ash Rose Project (Week 4): Honoring Legacy, Finding Hope, and Looking Toward the Future