Published on February 23, 2023
“When I walked in, I felt like it was a hug. It’s not like going into a doctor’s office, you can feel the love in the building.”
“Hospice saved my life,” says Lisa Boullt. A veteran in the Nashville music scene, Lisa’s office is filled with posters and lyrics. Several are from Alive’s annual fundraising series, Alive & The Bluebird. Lisa tries to put together at least one show with the artists she represents every year for the benefit series. She says she’s “paying it forward” after Alive took care of her mother and then provided Lisa with free grief counseling after her mother’s death.
“If you’re uneducated, like I was at one point, hospice is just the H word. You think it’s just about the end and don’t realize they are here for the family and after-care as well.”
After Lisa’s mom died, she felt numb…until she didn’t, and then she found herself sobbing in her car. She remembered Alive’s Grief Center and made the phone call that would change her life. “I spoke with Marisa, the receptionist. She had lost her mom recently, too. She told me to come in and talk to someone.”
“It was hard to accept help from someone outside my family, but when I walked in, I felt like it was a hug. It’s not like going into a doctor’s office, you can feel the love in the building. It really is a safe place where you can be vulnerable.”
“This wasn’t like any counseling I’d done before. My grief counselor had a way of helping me work through stuff I didn’t know I was doing. We focused on the positive and did expressive arts projects that helped me tap into my feelings. You’re doing the work, but it doesn’t feel like work.”
Lisa found even more healing than she’d expected as she continued meeting with her counselor. “They give you tools to use. I lost a sister thirty years ago, and we worked backwards and processed that too after having the tools.”
Lisa has the tools to deal with her grief today, but the journey hasn’t been linear. “Almost 6 years in it still hurts. I’ve learned that with grief there is never a timeframe.” Her advice to others is, “Push through your fear. Educate yourself and take advantage of these programs.”