Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Celeste.
Hi Desiree, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My Grandma’s death left my family and me in turmoil. Her medical care was incredible, but as a family, we struggled with knowing what to do to support her emotionally, as well as how to support ourselves in this time. We didn’t know how to broach difficult conversations like resuscitation or cremation versus burial. After her passing, we didn’t know that we could have held a home funeral or planned a delayed memorial. We didn’t know that grief groups existed and we didn’t have outlets to honor her in our own special ways.
Many years later, the weight of her final weeks still followed me. In 2020, community care became my primary focus. How can I serve my community better? What can I do? That’s when I learned how vast and diverse Death Work is. I began an apprenticeship with Narinder Bazen, took the Death Companionship Community Crash Course with the School of American Thanatology, and every other education that came my way. I was dedicated to serving my community through Death Companioning.
Death Companionship opened the door to creating education, filling in the gaps that I saw in existing education. I created the Introduction to Trans Inclusion webinar, which launched publicly in May 2021. I am also currently working on numerous other death-focused and non-death-focused educations. Additionally, my Grief Gatherings for both the LGBTQIA2S community and Colorado are hosted monthly, a space to share tears, stories, and feelings with others also in grief.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
These educations forced me to revisit every person I’ve mourned to see what could have been done differently. To find what I can offer others so that they can have the peace we all deserve in our grief, to find the moments my dying friends and family could have used an external friend in death to help ease their passing.
The road to becoming a Death Companion has been difficult due to COVID. Many people tell me that they wish they had known Death Companions had existed when they were experiencing loss, but with COVID keeping people at arm’s length, how do we reach those who need us before they need us? The majority of our work is done online right now, which can make it hard to find people where they need us most.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Death Companion who helps navigate Advanced Care Directives, who holds vigil at bedsides, which makes the day-to-day phone calls that take people away from their loved ones otherwise. I hold hands with people when their pets are being euthanized, I talk people through guilt and grief and explain all of the options for funerals and burial that people didn’t know existed. I aid in building honoring spaces for those who have died recently and those who people have carried a lifetime of grief for. What sets me apart is that I’m in alignment with many Death Workers and our community values. I walk into spaces where pets are passing, miscarriages are being honored, and people are debating asking their doctors about death with dignity, with an open heart. I don’t have all of the answers, but I can meet people where they are and we can hold hands while we find the answers together.
Additionally, I offer Grief Gatherings and educational webinars every month. I also offer mentorships for those who, like me, struggled with the confidence to start doing something they love and may not even know where to start.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I am partial to joincake.com! The cake is one of the largest resources for death-related information that’s all in very attainable and accessible methods. Want to write a will, let your loved ones know what color to wear to your funeral to honor you, and have your questions asked in a forum? I also really enjoy the following podcasts: End Of Life University, Ask A Death Doula and Your Neighborhood Death Doula.
Pricing:
- Death Services: 40$-120$ /hr sliding scale
- Grief Gatherings: 10$ suggested donation
- Mentorships: 40$-120$/hr sliding scale
- Webinars: 25$-50$
Contact Info:
- Email: Desiree_celeste@aol.com
- Website: www.denverdeathcompanion.com
- Instagram: _desireeceleste_
