Providing guidance, love, and kinship to seriously ill children, their parents, and their siblings as they experience life’s most profound transitions— together.
Bittersweet End-of-Life Doula Care™ offers 1:1 grief support, pediatric end-of-life guidance, and resources for you and your children from the comfort of home.
About Beecher
Beecher is passionate about ensuring better communication and experiences for children and families trying to absorb the devastating news that a child is transitioning to hospice or dying.
Beecher has had the honor of working with the world’s bravest children- those who have been in treatment for years on end with life-threatening illness. Too often, these courageous children and young adults pass away without a conversation about what happens next.
For their parents and caregivers, who are holding onto hope, it can be too painful or frightening to bring up the subject. Many parents fear that if they acknowledge that their child might die, their child will think they have given up on them. After losing her young daughter to cancer in 2006, and working for 18 years with children facing life-threatening illness, she learned that most often, children innately know when they are dying- but often keep their thoughts and questions to themselves for fear of upsetting their loved ones.
Some children don’t want to discuss what is happening, but for those who do, it can be beneficial to have the support of someone who knows how to help families navigate this most delicate and difficult conversation.
Beecher offers children and families the opportunity to process and understand life’s most challenging transition— together.
The Beginning
Beecher’s eldest daughter, Lucy, was eight-years-old when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Throughout Lucy's long illness, Beecher learned about the benefits of integrative therapies such as massage, acupuncture, art therapy, and therapeutic horseback riding during her treatment.
When Lucy was 11, she told her mother that when she was "done with cancer" she wanted to start an organization that would provide free integrative therapies to all children with cancer to help manage the side effects and late effects of traditional cancer treatment. In 2006 Lucy and Beecher founded Lucy’s Love Bus, which has delivered love and comfort to over 2,000 children with cancer.
Beecher learned so much from Lucy during her life, illness, and death, and as a pediatric end-of-life doula, she shares that hard-won knowledge with families who seek this type of heart-centered support.
She continues her work with Lucy’s Love Bus as the Together Grief Support Group Facilitator, and sits on the Board of Directors for childhood cancer charity, Rett’s Roost, providing 1:1 grief support for newly bereaved parents at their retreat programs.
Today
Beecher lives on a small farm in a tiny town in Maine, where she writes, runs her Airbnb, provides pediatric end-of-life doula care, and grief support to bereaved parents.
Her work, while deeply rewarding, is also emotionally and spiritually intense. She has found that farm life provides ample opportunities to balance the emotional and spiritual sides of life through the physical labor of farming and caring for farm animals including oxen, horses, goats, rabbits and chickens.
She has two surviving children- Eli (19), who is studying sustainable agriculture at University of Maine Orono, and Willow (27) is an artist living in New York City. Willow graduated from School of Visual Arts in Manhattan where they studied film and photography. Beecher’s life partner, Sirin, is a mechanic and a carpenter from Turkey who keeps everything on the farm running smoothy.
Lucy was Beecher’s oldest child and keeps a close eye on her younger siblings. She sends signs and messages on special days through monarch butterflies, four-leaf clovers, hummingbirds, and great blue herons. Lucy would have turned 30 in 2024.
Let’s get started.
I offer in-person, telephone, and online support services, adapting my approach to your specific needs. Get in touch to schedule your free 30-minute consultation today.