Dear reader, here‘s why I, Helen, am writing this to you. Because death is one of the biggest parts of life and nobody‘s been willing to do this. Everything in my life has led me to this place. It’s not something I chose. It is something I was called to and I answered the call. Death is hard. It’s hard on everyone. But I was given what some tell me is a gift. A special understanding and perspective on how to deal with death. How to think about death. Because of that I’m the one who has been there for so many of my relatives and their families as they pass from this life to the next. It came to me one day while thinking about all those I’ve help release themselves to the other side and help the ones they love come to peace and let them go. A Doula is someone who provides physical and emotional support and encouragement, usually for the birth of a child. Someone coming into this world. What I am is a Death Doula, providing support and encouragement for those returning home. I hope this can act as a guide to the inevitability of death.

Sherri Cole

I love being called Coach. Still. It’s one of those labels . . . like Mom, or Sis, or GG (my newest and most favorite tag) that stands for more than what I do. It’s part of who I am. My shoulders go back a little every time I hear it. Coaching ball is what I did. For over 30 years. But it wasn’t ever all I imagined doing. So, in the spring of 2021, I retired from the dream job I had held  - which also held me - for a quarter of a century at the University of Oklahoma, took my laptop to the backyard, danced around the table and started to write. 

My first book, Rooted to Rise, an Amazon excellent seller, was released in the fall of 2022. The Compost File is my third. The second, Life Through the Eyes of a Point Guard, continues to be a work in progress gently annoying me.

My husband and I live in the home where we raised our two children. I speak. I consult. I deadhead flowers. I smack tennis balls, take long walks in the mornings, and change my granddaughter’s diapers.