Why I Am Non-Profit: An Interview with Paula A.
My Calling as a Death Walker
Because my soul beings, my families, aren’t the billionaires, millionaires, or even the rich. Sure, I get a few now and then, but they come because they want the Deathwalker with my energy, my rituals, my gifts. Somehow, they find me. But the ones I walk with most are those who can’t meet the criteria society has set for “dying well.”
“I am the one these people hope and pray will show up at their end. It feels like a reaching out from the hand of the universe. I can’t not do what I do.”
The Families I Serve
Mine are the poor to barely middle class, the blue-collar families, the regular community. I am the old crone—like my mom and grams before me—who makes her rounds. Payment was once handmade goods, chickens, eggs, even spirits that would rattle most of us to the bone.
These are the ones who linger just outside of programs, skilled homes, and services. They don’t have equity to draw on, no savings that ever saw this coming. They did everything right—worked hard, raised families, built communities—and thought they had enough.
Why I Refuse to Profit
Would I charge someone who had the money? No. There’s no need to explain why not, is there? I am the mercy that everyone could use. I see it in their eyes—the dying, and the ones who long ago lost the right to simply be family in mourning. They’ve been reduced to caregivers, to labor.
Can you imagine what it must be like for a dying soul to see their beloveds turned into shells of who they once were? How is that a good death? How is that even acceptable?
“What kind of human would I be if, after all this witnessing, I stood before the family, the tribe, and held out an invoice that states ‘pay in full within 30 days’? No—that’s not my deathwalking calling.”
The Other Side of the Coin
When it comes to the for-profits, there is no shortage of people who will be there for those soul beings. In fact, there will always be more of them than me. So I know, without a single doubt, that I’m not supposed to walk in that realm. They are fine.
Legacy and Lineage
Am I a saint? No. I am my grams’ and my mother’s daughter and granddaughter. I follow where they once led. And now, maybe I do lead. My children and grandchildren are watching, learning, remembering. Ritual and ceremony—they will carry it.
“It’s in their blood and bone. It’s written in their cosmic code. It’s our legacy, if that word fits well.”
