About me
I'm Rev. Janet Lee Kraft, the creator of Leaving Lightly. Like many of you, I've lived a life full of twists and turns, leading me to where I am today—helping people find peace of mind in planning for the end-of-life long before that end-of-life occurs.
Growing up in rural Missouri, I felt the call to search for a purpose greater than myself. My spiritual quest led me far from home, but I found my purpose only after decades of very hard work and extensive education.
The journey began with my undergraduate and graduate degrees in adult education from Antioch University Seattle, which I earned while working full-time as a civil litigation legal secretary. Through that work I gained a unique spiritual perspective on legal conflicts, coming to realize that in protracted, contentious litigation, even winners are losers.
Witnessing the kind of emotional damage that could have been avoided instilled in me a deep desire to help people circumvent unnecessary trauma wherever I could. However, this was outside the scope of my duties as a legal secretary, so in 2002, I left my corporate work to pursue an interfaith ministerial ordination in New York City. For many years I was a funeral officiant, and I saw too many families faced with the complications a death and the clean-up aftermath bring to their loved ones.
My commitment to helping people avoid unnecessary trauma became the seeds of this program.
The creation of Leaving Lightly is deeply personal to me. When my father died at a young age, our family was unprepared, and my mother and sisters lived with years of after-effects that stemmed from a lack of any kind of preparation. This personal loss, along with my years in litigation, my later work in estate planning, and my spiritual journey through ministry, all converged to reveal my true calling.
This program is the culmination of my life's experiences. It's not just about legal documents; it's about peace of mind, dignity, and love. I've been where many of you are now, facing the challenges and emotions that come with end-of-life planning.
I've also seen firsthand how this program significantly helps people. One poignant example stands out. After a swift illness, a dear friend of mine lay unconscious and on life support in the ER. Life and death decisions needed to be made, but who could make them? Her adult children were lost, not even knowing which one of them their mother had appointed as Power of Attorney for Health Care.
Luckily, after two days of searching, they found their mother's Leaving Lightly notebook, completed just the year before. It contained all her health care and legal documents, including naming her eldest daughter as her Power of Attorney for Health Care. Her daughter told me with great relief, "This makes my life so much easier!"
This is why I do what I do. This is the purpose greater than myself.
Leaving Lightly gives you the tools to transform the planning process into a positive, empowering experience. Let's ensure that when the time comes, we can all leave this world lightly, with grace and without regret—so that all we leave behind is love.