# Darnell Lamont Walker — Center Stage https://mornings.network/shows/center-stage/guests/darnell-lamont-walker There is still life to live. A death doula and children’s television writer on the conversations we postpone, the stories we leave behind, and making room for life while there is time. ## Their story Darnell Lamont Walker is a death doula, Emmy-nominated children’s television writer and author of Never Can Say Goodbye: The Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful End. His official biography lists Karma’s World, Work It Out Wombats! and Blue’s Clues & You. In this appearance, Keith and Jon explore his experiences supporting families, preserving stories and making room for what matters now. ## Full interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYq5IaYJ2HQ ## Chapters 02:21 — Planning before a crisis Darnell describes working with people at different stages of life. 04:45 — The hardest part of his own plan He talks about his son and what he hopes to leave behind. 20:35 — Put what matters on the calendar The hosts connect priorities with how time is used. 23:44 — The work came before the title Childhood experiences, hospice volunteering and intentional work during COVID. ## Highlights ### Talking About Death Helps Me Live Darnell makes clear that he loves life and wants to remain here. Sitting with people near the end of life has made him think harder about how to use his own time. He describes asking clients how they want to live the time they have left. Darnell makes clear that he loves life and wants to remain here. Sitting with people near the end of life has made him think harder about how to use his own time. He describes asking clients how they want to live the time they have left. Optional guest post: Talking about death has made me want to live more. I don't want to leave this place. I love life. Being around people at the end of theirs hasn't changed that. What it has changed is the way I look at the time I have. When I sit with someone who is dying, the conversation is also about living: How do you want to live the rest of this time? What matters to you? What can we still make possible? Their stories make me look at my own life. Some show me what I want to move toward. Others show me what I don't want to leave unfinished. I spoke with Keith and Jon on Mornings in the Lab about why these conversations can help us live more fully while we're here. Watch the clip. Then ask yourself: What would you make room for this week if you stopped assuming it could wait? ### He Thought He Had More Time Darnell remembers a musician friend who had pursued things he thought his grandmother wanted. In Darnell’s account, the friend later learned that she had wanted him to live his own life. Keep the memory attributed to Darnell; the illustration does not document this friend or the events. Darnell remembers a musician friend who had pursued things he thought his grandmother wanted. In Darnell’s account, the friend later learned that she had wanted him to live his own life. Keep the memory attributed to Darnell; the illustration does not document this friend or the events. Optional guest post: My friend was 39. He thought he had time. We had been friends for 20 years. He was an incredible musician, one of those people you imagine growing old with. Near the end of his life, I asked whether he'd done everything he wanted to do. He told me he'd spent years pursuing things he thought his grandmother wanted for him. When she was dying, she told him she hadn't wanted those things. She'd wanted him to live his life. Now he was dying a few years later, and he hadn't gotten around to it. He asked me to make sure his nephews didn't do the same thing. I told him I would do my best. I shared that conversation with Keith and Jon on Mornings in the Lab because I keep coming back to the same question: What are we postponing because we assume there will be more time? Watch the clip. If something important came to mind, give it some room now. ## Full appearance optional guest post I was helping people at the end of their lives long before I knew the words “death doula.” My grandmother talked with me about death when other people in my family didn't. When I was 12, a cousin came home to die, and I was there with her as she cared for him. The next year, I volunteered at a hospice. Sometimes the work was simply sitting with someone so they wouldn't be alone. Years later, a friend who worked in hospice told me that what I had been doing sounded like death-doula work. I looked it up and recognized the work I'd been doing since childhood. During COVID, I saw how lonely people had become. I began approaching the work more intentionally, helping people tell their stories, preserve what mattered, and find someone who could be present with them. In my full conversation with Keith and Jon on Mornings in the Lab, we talked about that path, my writing for children, Never Can Say Goodbye, and the conversations families can have before they are forced to guess. Watch the full conversation. There is room to talk about the end and still make more room for life. ## Sources Official biography: https://www.darnellwalker.com/ Never Can Say Goodbye: https://www.darnellwalker.com/never-can-say-goodbye Official practice: https://www.darnellwalker.com/death-doula