When Karen Met Liz

I’ve been in the events and entertaining world for over a decade. A few years ago, when my younger sister confronted a serious health crisis, I started thinking—reluctantly—about life and death. I didn’t know where to turn for information, and I was too scared and too much in denial to bring up the topic with my sister herself. You can listen to her story here. I realized there wasn’t any modern, beautiful resource for planning and advice, nor for integrating this part of our experience into living a great life that reflects who we are. That was my inspiration for creating Farewelling—I want to help people be more open to exploring and personalizing this key part of our human journey, because I believe that awareness helps us live better now.

I met Elizabeth—or Liz, as her friends call her—in the course of researching the subject. It might surprise you to learn she’s a funeral director, and she was planning her wedding the first time we met, which we both thought was funny, because, well… A wedding planner starting a business about dying and a funeral pro planning a New York City wedding. We drank too much coffee, and she told me the story of how she found her calling after creating an unforgettable funeral (we call it a “farewelling!”) for her father. The chemistry between us was real, so I took a deep breath and asked her to be a part of the adventure, and the movement, that is Farewelling. We hope you’ll join us!

Karen.