“There is something sacred about being with someone at the end of their life. It’s like standing at the edge of the ocean, being pulled in and out by the tide, knowing that something larger than yourself is at work.”

In this episode of Restorative Grief, we’re joined by death doula and storyteller Darnell Lamont Walker for a deeply human conversation about presence, love, and what it means to show up in life’s most vulnerable moments. Drawing from his book Never Can Say Goodbye, Darnell invites us to reimagine death not as something to fear, but as something to face with courage, compassion, and grace.

Together, we explore how storytelling can be a path to healing, why being present matters more than having the right words, and how everyday people already carry the capacity to sit with grief...their own and others’. This conversation is not about dying well as much as it is about living fully, loving deeply, and honoring the threads that connect us all, even as we prepare to say goodbye.

In this episode, we discuss:

Death as a sacred threshold rather than a failure or fear
Presence as an emotional and spiritual practice
Storytelling as dignity, healing, and closure
Grief as a path to growth and connection
Living with fewer regrets by staying close to what matters

Links + Resources from this episode:

Order Darnell's book, Never Can Say Goodbye
Connect with Darnell on social media
Learn more about Restorative Grief
Become a Patron of the podcast