A Promise Kept: Alzheimer’s, Love, and a Final Choice

Comforting Closure - Conversations with a Death Doula

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In this episode of Comforting Closure - Conversations with a Death Doula, Traci Arieli sits down once again with Erica Baccus, whose husband Jon was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. What followed was a journey of deep love and courageous choices- culminating in his decision to pursue assisted death in Switzerland.

Now, months later, Erica returns to share reflections from her new book, A Promise Kept: Honoring His Wishes, Embracing Our Love. We talk about what it means to truly honor a loved one’s end-of-life wishes, the emotional reality of choosing a death with dignity, and how it feels to hold someone’s hand through their final moments.

Erica also opens up about mentoring others facing similar paths and her involvement with A Better Exit, a group working to support patients with dementia, ALS, and other devastating diagnoses.

Whether you’re walking a similar road, supporting someone who is, or simply trying to understand what compassionate end-of-life care can look like, I hope this episode offers a sense of connection and clarity.

Links/Resources

• Guest: Erica Baccus – https://ericabaccus.com
• Host: Traci Arieli – https://www.comfortingclosure.com
• Book: A Promise Kept: Honoring His Wishes, Embracing Our Love
• Mentioned: In Love by Amy Bloom – https://www.amybloom.com
• Organization: Dignitas – https://www.dignitas.ch
• Advocacy: A Better Exit – https://www.abetterexit.org
• Podcast Episode- Death with Dignity in Switzerland: A Husband’s Final Choice :https://watch.comfortingclosure.com/death-with-dignity-switzerland

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