This week, the Consky family of Toronto is marking the third anniversary of Harvey Consky’s death, on June 13, 2020. Consky, 67, was a personal injury lawyer, a husband, and father of two. He was diagnosed with an incurable form of anal cancer during the terrifying first few days of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors gave him two months to live.

That’s when his adult son Mitchell Consky, a Canadian journalist, decided to move back into the family home and help provide palliative care for his father right until the end. The younger Consky coped with his own emotions of grief, anxiety and also joy in the best way he knew how: he kept notes and interviewed everyone, including his father, during those last few weeks of his life. While caregiving at home isn’t for everyone, Consky says, he remains glad that he did it.

Now he’s sharing his own experiences and lessons in a book called Home Safe: A Memoir of End-of-Life Care during COVID-19, published by Dundurn Press. He joined Ellin Bessner for a live taping of _The CJN Daily _podcast in front of an audience at the recent Limmud Toronto event.

What we talked about

Learn more about author Mitchell Consky and his book Home Safe, including how to order a copy
Donate to Consky’s preferred charity for bereaved children, Camp Erin Toronto
Read how Mitchell Consky won The CJN’s writing prize back in 2016 in The CJN ** **

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.

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How Mitchell Consky found joy amidst the grief of caregiving for his dying father: a special live Father’s Day episode of The CJN Daily