My sister, the death doula
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10 June 2025 Charbonneau Villager
Solo Sisters
By CANDY FERGUSON
My sister, the death doula
I am one of the lucky ones. I have been blessed with an exceptional sister. Peg was born shortly after my 10th birthday and I considered her to be my baby. I doted on Peg in her early years, then, as a toddler, she became my shadow, and by the time she was 8, I was out of the house and
FERGUSON
off to college. We never lived under the same roof again, except for short visits. In 1972, my husband and I moved 3,000 miles away from our families in New Jersey to San Diego, California. Forty-four years later, in 2016, I moved to Charbonneau. And happily, in 2019, after 47 years of living on opposite coasts, Peg moved to Oregon. She retired from her job as
Director of Social Work in the town of New Milford CT, and moved to Bend with her wife, Christine.
Ever since their move, we have taken turns, driving over the beautiful Cascades in order to enjoy visits. When I visit Bend, Peg and Christine have taken me hiking, kayaking and tubing on the Deschutes and on a perilous walk through the Big Obsidian Flow. We have eaten at Unofficial Logging, where we threw axes at a target before settling down to our burgers, and we toured the amazing Petersen Rock Garden & Museum in Redmond. Peg has endless energy and we are always very busy during my Bend visits. Many of the East Coast nieces and nephews like to visit Peg and Christine, so I sneak over the mountains and visit also, sometimes taking my daughter so she can enjoy a visit with her cousins.
Shortly after moving to Bend, Peg realized she was not ready for retirement, so she took a part-time job as a social worker at Hospice of Redmond. The people were welcoming and the work was challenging, but Peg needed more. At work, she learned about the
COURTESY PHOTO
Doulas Dolores Cook and Peg Molina share their experiences as end of life doulas with Solo Sisters.
Peaceful Presence Project where she could study to become an end-oflife doula. She was already working with people facing the end of their lives through her hospice job, and she knew that by becoming a death doula she could better serve her clients and others.
What is an end-of-life doula? It is someone who provides non-medical, thoughtful support to individuals and families facing serious and terminal illness. To quote Peaceful Presence,“ Our work is founded on the Compassionate Community model of care. This public health approach to palliative care believes that we all have a part to play in supporting our neighbors, family and friends in the last stage of life. We offer education to improve death and grief literacy; holistic and proactive planning for advanced illness care and compassionate bedside presence.”
As I learned more about Peg’ s job, and knowing her to be an articulate public speaker, I invited her to make a presentation to Solo Sisters. She came to our meeting in April along with a local doula, Dolores Cook from Canby. Together, they gave us an enlightening, informative, at times entertaining talk about their experiences as death doulas. Their presentation was enthusiastically received, and I have never been more proud of my“ baby sister”!
If you are a single woman, living in Charbonneau, and would like to learn more about Solo Sisters, please contact Deanna Morgan at deannamorgan @ gmail. com, and she will be happy to invite you to our next event.
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