Ep16: “Walking Him Home: Love, Ritual, and Life After Goodbye with Mary Franz

In this deeply intimate episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart is joined by Mary Franz—retired marriage and family therapist, longtime educator, widow, and HeartWay client—for a courageous and tender conversation about love, loss, and resilience. As the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Mary reflects on what it was like to walk beside him at the end of life—participating in sacred rituals such as bathing, anointing, and honoring his body after death. She shares how end-of-life doula support complemented hospice care, filled emotional and spiritual gaps, and allowed her to be both wife and witness, not just caregiver.Together, they explore grief as a living relationship, the slow unfolding of resilience, and the practices that help Mary remain grounded as she steps into a new year with meaning, hope, and love still intact. This episode is an offering for anyone who has loved deeply, lost profoundly, and is learning how to live again