Lili Petrovic shares her experience as a volunteer carer for the dying in palliative care and hospice, from her time working at the Royal Victoria hospital and the Jewish General hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In spending time with people at this crucial juncture in their lives, she bears witness to their rawest moments and responds to profound needs. Whereas some may not want conversation with a stranger, others need it deeply, even those who may not feel like saying anything themselves or whose physical ability to speak is impaired. Lili also tells us how, as a philosophy professor at Vanier College, her teaching has helped her explore the confounding idea of our mortality. We finish our discussion with the situation of end-of-life care in Canada today by examining the importance of having real choices, not only between medical treatments and medical assistance in dying (MAID), but also with the option of living out our lives until the last, with comfort. I feel grateful to Lili on a personal level for heightening my sensitivity and making me feel more ready for end-of-life conversations in caring togetherness. Lili Petrovic recommends... these books: Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande; and 'The Death of Ivan Illyich,' by Leo Tolstoy.
