Jin Ong
Osteopath, Psychosomatic Therapist, & Founder of the MetaMed Clinics
https://theartoflisteningtoyourbody.com/

Natalie K. Douglas 0:39
Hello, friends, and welcome back. I’m Natalie Douglas and you’re listening to a very, very special episode of The Holistic Nutritionists Podcast, an episode that not only is a big milestone in our podcasting journey but one that is far far greater than that. This episode is a celebration of my other podcasting half, my wing woman, partner in party crime, and the most beautiful human that you all know and love, our beautiful Kate Callaghan. For those of you listening who perhaps are new to the podcast, hey, this is a very strange episode to choose to start listening, but also welcome. And be the context to this episode is that our brave, beautiful, inspiring Kate, passed away in June after one heck of a fight with cancer. She took us all, including you, our podcasting audience on her joy journey in the way Kate always does, open, humble, authentic, and with a healthy dose of humor. And for that reason, I’ve decided what better way to honor her and our achievement of a hundred episodes of podcasting together, then to celebrate her. As you can imagine, this isn’t easy in some respects but in the spirit of Kate’s inspiring fearlessness, determination, and refusal to let barriers, any of them really, stand in her way. Jin and I have done our very best to bring you some stories and celebrations that we hope will comfort you in knowing that you’re not alone in grieving or celebrating Kate, that this woman who is still very much by our side, and in our hearts, in spirit, influence lives and hearts across the globe. I was extremely grateful that the lovely Jin who is a close friend of Kate from her hometown in New Zealand, and who was with her in her final days, and alongside her physically in many parts of her journey, agreed to come on and join me in this celebration. Thank you for being here with me and for agreeing to hopefully not cry our way through these. That’s the goal. And Jin and I were just saying before we hit record that both of us sometimes deal with being nervous with inappropriate laughter and talking too much. So I do preface this podcast recording with that. And apologies if anyone’s offended by that. Kate also had a very similar way of dealing with when she was nervous or so I think she’d probably be laughing along with us.

Jin Ong 3:14
She’s definitely still with us.

Natalie K. Douglas 3:17
Yes, I actually was saying to you that I feel her dancing a lot with me, which is really funny. But I just, like when I’m walking along, I walk along the beach here a lot. And when I’m walking, I’m listening to songs. Sometimes, I can just feel her like next to me, dancing really, really funnily. For anyone who used to watch her dancing videos, you’ll know what I’m talking about. And it just makes me so happy and how strongly I can still feel her is really comforting.

Jin Ong 3:47
I think you know, a lot of our friends are saying the same as well that they can still feel her and we’re rolling her eyes that are just going, yep, all right, Kate. We can hear you.

Natalie K. Douglas 4:00
Yes, I completely agree. So where I thought that we would start this celebration off is the different things people shared about Kate. There were definitely themes to the kind of words used to describe her, and all of them I absolutely agree with. So rather than reading out every single description, I actually went at went through them all and pulled out the ones that just came up over and over again, which I wanted to share first, and I know that everyone listening that knows her well. And even people who only know her through social media and this podcast will definitely agree. So the ones that came up the most were courageous, yes. Funny, witty, humble, a fighter, determined, curious, genuine, warm, friendly, optimistic, happy, integrity, impactful, brave, beautiful, intelligent, generous, and inspiring. And I thought, gosh, like, what an amazing summary of words to describe her. She really was all of those things and more. And it was actually Kate’s primary school teacher who shared that, like I quote, when Kate smiled, the whole room lit up. And also her hockey coach from when she was about six years old said quote, one of my favorite hockey kids with a smile that melted your heart. And I was like, it’s so true. And she is all like, I mean, I didn’t know Kate when she was a child. I’ve only met her at university. But I can so see little Kate being like, exactly the same as adult Kate, only, like multiplied, probably by 10. And it made me so happy to read those two reflections from people who knew Kate when she was, when she was really really young. And I can see that same like a cheeky, adorable smile in Olivia, for sure. Every time she was on zoom in the background, I could just I was like, oh my gosh, it’s mini Kate.

Jin Ong 6:10
She definitely is. Just so cute.

Natalie K. Douglas
Yeah.

Jin Ong
And it’s pretty special to see just how well she came across as the Kate that she is in an online setting for all those people that had never met her and what an impact that she actually had on people.

Natalie K. Douglas 6:27
Hmm, yeah. Absolutely. And I think we can take for granted how, how difficult it actually is to share your true self in a big platform. And she did have a lot of people that were following her. And, of course, for the most part, there was many many people that were incredibly supportive, not just through her cancer journey, but even before that, but also with that came, you know, many buttons pushed and things that she would trigger in people and having to deal with, you know, people’s crap, for lack of a better word in that online space. And she did it in such a way that was I felt so inspiring because she stayed true to what she, true to what she believed, but also was someone who I feel like was always curious and open and willing to look at someone else’s perspective, instead of just, you know, shouting it out, because it wasn’t hers if that makes sense.

Jin Ong 7:27
Yeah, she always found another way, a way to work around it.

Natalie K. Douglas 7:30
Yep, totally. All right. So the next little part to our celebration is that. Jin, I’d love for you to share some of the ways that Kate has impacted people that we kind of picked up on, well, a from just knowing Kate so well. And and knowing what’s, what she’s achieved and how she’s influenced people, but also from sifting through all of the different stories. People have shared both verbally and also on online as well. Do you want to read a few of our summaries around that?

Jin Ong 8:04
Yeah, sure. Quite a few. It’s pretty amazing. So the numerous babies have been born from the information that Kate shared. Her inspiration, knowledge, and support. These are women who have been told that they were infertile. So Kate’s memory will live on not only in her own kids but also in many other people’s lives. She’s helped hundreds of women get their periods back after years of it going missing in action, and have their despair turned into hope and empowerment. She’s helped relationships with food and positive body image and restored this across the globe. Anxiety and mental health issues soothed. Lives saved from breast being checked simply from her willingness to so humbly and bravely let us all in on her journey from the very beginning. Homes turned into low tox sanctuaries, which will have impacts physically, mentally, and emotionally for years to come. Lives changed through building your business and believing in people before they were able to believe fully in themselves. Dreams realized through his support, and infectious, unwavering optimism.

Natalie K. Douglas 9:20
So true, I love that last part as well because I really do feel like she had this infectious way of just, you know. I remember she, like whenever I’d share something with her that had a lot of self-doubt behind it. She just have this unshakable way of mirroring back to me being like, wait, why aren’t you doing it? Why not? No, you just find a way around it. And it was just this sense of, you know, not only through her actions and the way that she lived her own life and approach challenges but also just the questioning of when I doubted myself, it was just so strongly felt like this energy of, not that I was being ridiculous as in she was invalidating what I was saying. But for me not to believe in myself was just, why would, why would you? Why would you not believe in yourself? And it was just so, so inspiring. And I know that I’m not alone in thinking that and having felt that from her.

Jin Ong 10:26
Oh, definitely. She just, she really supports all of her friends. And it’s incredible to hear all the stories that have come out and how she’s continuing to inspire people. And she’s definitely motivated me and given me the kick up the bum. She supported me with all of my crazy ideas, and always just looks at me with a look of like, why are you making excuses?

Natalie K. Douglas 10:53
Yes. Oh, my God. I can see the look you’re talking about. That’s so true.

Jin Ong 10:58
I’m listening now.

Natalie K. Douglas 11:01
So what we’re going to dive into now, which is going to form the bulk of the podcast is sharing a bunch of stories that have been shared by people online that we’ve pulled. Now, we haven’t shared, or we’re not going to share every single positive possible positive thing that people have put out there about Kate, because we would be here for like a year. So what I’ve done is pull out ones that I feel like I’ve highlighted a lot of what Kate has meant to people, and also that have shared stories, because it’s a really nice way to share on a podcast. So I guess it goes well, I hope it goes without saying that. This is not at all an exhausted list of how Kate has impacted people and how much she is going to be missed, but rather an attempt at sharing, just like a drop in the ocean of the kind of impact that she’s had and still has. And I hope that those of you who are listening whether you know Kate extraordinarily well, or she’s only been in your life for a time or in a small way. I hope that this provides some comfort, something to come back to, something to inspire you, and something to just share. So I’m going to start reading the first one, and we aren’t going to read names of who shared. The reason I made that decision was I’m just not sure who is comfortable with it having their name on it in a podcast format. So those of you who are listening, if it is yours, then know that that decision was just an assumption made on my part. And I hope that that’s okay. So I’ll start with the first one and we are just reading them out as they are written. So the first one is, I would like you to know that nobody in life has ever inspired me like you have. I have read all of the messages we’ve sent each other, most of them it’s been me asking for advice and you so effortlessly replying with comforting responses. Never too much trouble, never an inconvenience. We actually connected initially because I posted on Wanaka Mums and Bubs that my son had a recurrent ear infection, and you want it to give me an oil mix, as well as a bunch of baby gear for free. I remember when we used to go for hangs with the kids and I felt so lucky to be spending time with you. Almost like a kid with a friend crush. I was just in awe of your kindness, your thirst for knowledge, your integrity, but with a healthy amount of doubt. That doubt to always be open to learning new things, to listen, to be interested. That’s so rare, Kate. You were so rare. I’ll never be able to make sense of this, how the world, how your beautiful children, your lovely husband. I never met, never had the pleasure of meeting, but I’m positive the rest of your wonderful family have had to say goodbye to a human who only did good wherever she went. I’m so sorry Kate, I’m sorry this happened to you. But you know, I have messaged those close to me since you left this world. And I have said be unapologetically you. You’re amazing. Be who you are, live without fear because I believe that perhaps sometimes without realizing, you did that so admirably.

Jin Ong 14:21
Okay, the next one is, I’ve adored working with this epic human. I’ve seen her grow and nurture an incredible community these past three years. Kate led with deep integrity, with a vision to offer education, and empower people with their health journeys. Kate was such a great mentor, she believed in people. Often before, some believed in themselves. I’ve seen her be brave, admit mistakes, show vulnerability, and being open about them. She was a visionary for what she wanted to achieve. I felt her joy when she achieved her goals. And ugly cried with her too when she worked so hard and missed the goal she set for herself. She would see shame and failure but then rise to be more and offer more in leadership. To me, Kate never ever failed. Every experience just made her light shine brighter and resolve for her passion or what she wanted for herself, her family, and her community. Through Kate’s diagnosis, she took us all on a journey for better awareness for ourselves, but to collectively care more, and cherish every moment, and always be real. I expected her to stop working with stage four breast cancer. I mean, wouldn’t you? She found her own rhythm, and worked when she wanted to welcome distraction, and then would retreat and cocoon herself when she needed it. She loved sharing our essential oils and told me how they brought her such joy personally, and how nourishing it was to her soul to introduce new people to doTERRA. At the end of May, Kate took the top and rollers spot for the New Zealand for the Year to date 2020. I mean, who does that? Someone like Kate, he never makes it fast, just keeps doing her thing and sharing her love. Some of us live our whole lives never finding a voice to verbalize what we want in case we fail. If anything, Kate inspires me to be brave, to be more open, to care more, to find joy in the ordinary, live more meaningfully, be visionary, and put those lofty goals out there to aspire too, and bring more fulfillment in all aspects of my life. I will miss her dearly but believe she will in some way always be with us. I hope her legacy rings true for you. Love you, Kate. Your family are in my thoughts.

Natalie K. Douglas 16:52
So beautiful and so true. The next one is it’s not very often that genuinely beautiful, bright little buttons come into your life and make you smile just thinking about them. Kate was ours and always made us laugh with an effervescence wicked sense of humor, and can-do attitude. She’s a very special part of our whole family. Her love and support for both Annabel and Lucy was so typical, Kate. She made them both feel loved and special.

Jin Ong 17:24
That’s nice. I still can’t believe it. I go through hours of feeling numb then periods of sobbing. I’m sitting with disbelief today. Three years ago, we met. When I desperately reached out to you when Grace is diagnosed. Alex and I kept reading about essential oils. And despite me thinking they were just a bunch of woo-woo we were desperate. That message to you changed the entire trajectory of my life. It was no mistake you were the one to introduce me to my entirely unexpected passion. Kate, thank you for supporting me. Thank you for believing in me and for teaching me so much about myself. Thank you for showing me how to be visible and consistent in business, and for showing me what is possible. Thank you for being so present online so I can find your voice, laugh, or epic dance moves anytime I want. You have made such an impact on me and I’m forever grateful that fate brought us together.

Natalie K. Douglas 18:26
Well that, and so true. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t listened back to most of our podcast episodes. I love that she was so present it does make it much easier to watch her or listen to her. So good.

Jin Ong 18:39
I have watched back a few videos. Oh my gosh.

Natalie K. Douglas 18:45
Yeah.

Jin Ong
So funny.

Natalie K. Douglas
Okay, the next one, Kate was the most special person that you could be lucky enough to meet. She always made you feel loved and important, no matter how trivial the discussion would be. I never looked at you as my brother’s wife, to me, you were always my sister. You fought so hard to stay here with us but fly free and shine from above. I made a promise to you to help Az and the kids any way that I can. And I will do my absolute best to honor you and your life with your beautiful children. I still can’t believe what has happened. I always thought you were going to be a miracle and you were. I’m so happy that we managed to get you home, to your happy place, so you could be with be surrounded by so much love from all your amazing friends. We’re absolutely heartbroken as a family but I feel lucky and privileged to have been your sister and shared this shitty journey with you. Fly free, beautiful Kate.

Jin Ong 19:40
She has so many friends. That’s amazing and she was surrounded by so many friends in those last few hours is really, really amazing.

Natalie K. Douglas 19:51
And plants, I believe. Friends and plants just that you would loved it.

Jin Ong 19:54
Lots of indoor plants. You, my friend, are one of the reasons why I’m a mother today. You are one of the reasons why I recovered from my dark past and why I live the way I do now. You were and are such a guiding light and a beacon of hope to those working through struggles, regardless of what type of journey they may be on. You are going to be so, so missed. Thank you for affecting my life in such a substantial momentous way.

Natalie K. Douglas 20:27
Kate was amazing and helped me get my life and period back, and now I’m on my second pregnancy. This woman was a pure ray of sunshine. Prayers for her family.

Jin Ong 20:40
Thank you, dear Angel, the one with essential oil smelling wings. For teaching me how to get that perfect blend of serious stuff AKA getting down and dirty with life, work, family, personal growth, and fun. Kind of like a chocolate chip biscuit. You can never have enough chocolate chips, or fun, or Kate. This is a photo of one of my favorite moments with Kate. The way we make frighteningly good men. So for reference, the photo is both Tracy and Kate with fake mustaches posing. I love you to the further star and back, Kate.

Natalie K. Douglas 21:22
I love that photo by the way, it is really funny. It is on Instagram if anyone wants to find it.

Jin Ong 21:28
And that was.

Natalie K. Douglas
What were you gonna say?

Jin Ong 21:30
It was pretty special. Tracy is a friend and Integrative GP that supported Kate through her journey. Sourced a lot of the alternative goods for her and traveled to Mexico to support her with her treatment as well.

Natalie K. Douglas 21:44
Yes, yeah. So grateful for you Tracy if you are listening back to this. So the next one is, I feel like I can say this because I know that this person who is also a friend of mine would be fine with this. It’s Liv who we, Kate and I went to uni together with. So, in a world so filled with darkness, Kate Callaghan, you were a shining light, a spark of hope for so many. From healing yourself of Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, allowing you to fall pregnant with two beautiful humans, Olivia and Ed, to fighting your biggest fight of all against cancer. You had the courage and strength to say no, and always questioned the status quo while in uni class. While in uni class, I often hit my head scared to get in trouble with you. She’s not alone by the way. We all did. I admired your ability to question even those who were meant to be knowledgeable, yet often didn’t have the answers. I will hold tight memories about car trips singing, treasure, that’s song in case anyone’s wondering. And everyone’s probably like what song? At the top of our lungs your ridiculously large pieces of sweet potato, you would walk out with that at lunch. Getting the salt confiscated in diet education class. You’re sending me oils of comfort when I lost my dad and sister, and last but certainly not least, seeing you in January and hugging you so tight. Forever an inspiration to me, a fighter, a healer, and most importantly, the most amazing friend. Love you and will always treasure your memory forever. Fly high my darling.

Jin Ong 23:22
I remember Liv sent a message for me to play to Kate the week beforehand. And she started singing that song treasure. Especially in Europe.

Natalie K. Douglas 23:33
You’re a better person than I am.

Jin Ong 23:40
Okay, the next one is, remember the first time you came into my house and you got this car stuck in the paddock. That time in minus two-degree weather where we were too busy chatting to notice the kids had gone outside with no clothes on. Remember when you Facetimed me from France at some ridiculous hour just to show me those dresses at the market. When we laughed so loud on one of our chemo Wednesdays that the nurses taught us off. Remember when we ate pate at Oliver’s, followed by dessert at 10 in the morning. When I said it was cancer, and you cried at my bench but then Olivia climbed up and knocked off the eggs. So we laughed. I’ll always remember your laugh. Thank you for being a lot in my life. Fly high beautiful friend. You were loved.

Natalie K. Douglas 24:29
So beautiful. So this one is, the next one I’m going to read is quite long, so bear with me. I will do my very best. Okay, Kate, Katie, Kit, Kitty, or Katy, Dawies, Edwilston, as she called herself when she couldn’t pronounce her name yet. I don’t know where to start. You are my childhood memories. If you weren’t next to me, you will never far away. 94 was the year I met you, and let’s be honest, we didn’t like each other for no other reason than a boy. By 97, we were joined at the hip. So many memories, so many laughs, so many tears, way too many too count. Oh, and if you vomit, but we won’t go into that. Today I sit here to write some words, words and I never thought I would have to write. Words we always said that you’d be writing for me someday because I was the one who you are going to say goodbye to. I was the one who was always in trouble with you for smoking and living off diet shakes. We lived our life to the fullest kid, packing up the car, heading off to rodeos every other weekend to watch the boys ride bulls. Our first road trip up to Ballina where we only crash the car twice in three days. A school trip to China, where we consumed our body weight in gin and juice to the point where I even see gin now and still break out in hives. And once that you trip away to call and gather with our mama bears for a girl’s getaway. Our trip to Neutral Bay to get our fitness certification. The next trip where I did my PT and you did group fitness as I was way too uncoordinated to teach a group fitness class. And all you could do was laugh at me and pretend you didn’t know me in front of the rest of the class because I was embarrassing you too much. Trips to Coffs Harbour, you met a nice little lad on the beach who wanted to take you to the movies. You wanted me to walk a million miles to the payphone so you could call him and organize a time. I said I would go with you if you ate a full ice cream cake before we went as I really didn’t want to walk that far. I should have known how determined you were when you wanted something. You sat there and ate that cake in about five minutes flat. Then you looked at me, laughed, and said, have you got your sneakers on? Let’s go. Then you made me third wheel it at the movies because you said you didn’t like him that much but you wanted to watch the movie and he was going to pay. We used to put plastic bags on our hands and feet, climb up the mulberry tree and eat mulberries until we thought we were going to burst, then climb on the top of the water tank, strip off butt-naked, lather ourselves in coconut oil and fry ourselves to a crisp, just so we didn’t have tan lines. Camping trips were interesting to say the least. TC’s, takeaway, trips at 3 AM to get hot chips smothered in chicken salt and gravy so we could try and line our stomachs because we knew mom would have us up at 6am to clean the toilets as punishment for drinking when we weren’t meant to be. That happened way too many times, you think we would have learned our lesson, but we didn’t. Road trips when we thought it would be a great idea to catch lands in people’s paddocks and pinch their property name signs. You were the smile, the love, and the crazy laughter in every memory. You were the one we could always count on for anything. You were that vibrant human that looked at the positive in everything and everyone. I wanted to be like you when I grew up. The hours we spent hanging upside down in the hammock in your lounge room waiting for all the blood to rush to our heads, getting up only to fall over. The triple chocolate subway cookies, thick shakes you used to make, no one could make them like you could. They were like a splash of sugar diabetes mixed with a side of heart attack in a cup. When you all the bounces at all the pubs so we never had to wait in line. Then you use a piano, piano cruise we took where we won the bottle of champagne for the PJ’s dance-off out of 300 people. I still believe we only won because they felt sorry for us. The time you rang to tell me about this Kiwi guy you met. And with your cheeky little chuckle inform me that I think he’s a keeper. I nearly fell over because you’d never said that before. He must have been a special guy. And a special guy he was, he rained you in, he kept you grounded, showed you a love that you’d always wanted and deserved. He made you truly happy. I’ll be forever grateful that Az came into your life and truly made you a home. It was a real-life love story. You studied and became a nutritionist. You became healthy. You were always ridiculously fit, insert six-pack here. But you began to really nurture your body and research the crap out of all things hormone related to heal your body and start a family that you so desperately wanted with the man of your dreams. You achieved it, Olivia and Ed were born into the most loving, crazy, household. I was so excited the day you told me you had a little Kiwi bun in the oven. You are going to be the best mama ever and yet again you were. I could go on and on about you and I will forever until I take my last breath. You’re not with us physically but you’re never going to be far away spiritually. We will miss your face, heart, and soul every day and it’s not going to get easy, easier. A piece of our heart has your name etched into it. We love you, Kit, more than you’ll ever know. I don’t want to imagine life without you in it.

Jin Ong 30:00
I think Kate is just gonna jump in and say it’s an eight pack not a six pack.

Natalie K. Douglas 30:04
Yeah. I did think that when I was reading it. I’m like, oh, probably does another two in there.

Jin Ong 30:11
Correct me on that. Um, yeah. And her and Aaron’s relationship is pretty special. I, I think when we recorded our podcast, I was really trying to pick her brains and get her to pull up something about Aaron that she didn’t like, but she really just couldn’t fault him.

Natalie K. Douglas 30:30
What a blessing to have such a beautiful relationship and one that not everyone gets to experience and I’m so glad that she got that. That they both got that.

Jin Ong 30:43
Okay, my gorgeous friend Kate, our gorgeous friend. Gone too soon. As the rain pours down here in Wanaka reality continues to set in. The beautiful Wanaka community continue to support each other with so much love and kindness, in a way that words will never express. Through tears, I keep remembering more and more, mostly hilarious moments with you. There you are with your gorgeous smile and sparkling eyes. Your loud, warm laugh, and your damn perfect ballerina hands and feet. There is one poignant moment that stands out that I would like you to be remembered for. So I share it here today. You had just moved to Wanaka and we were your neighbors. I was having a really tough day with two tiny children and hating on myself. I must have had, I must have said something negative about myself in a passing comment. As I wrangled my kids into the car to head out. You could read through my exterior, you always could. Exhausted and broken, I returned home to a handwritten note stuck on my door that simply read you are beautiful. It was that moment I knew I had found another forever friend, the act, the message, even the beautiful handwriting. My girl sums you up in one, your thoughtfulness, your kind, warm heart, your openness, and your availability to listen to my crap regardless of what you were dealing with, always. You leave a legacy of courage, intelligence, and a reminder to always be brave and back myself. You were and will continue to inspire us all. Your beautiful soul, commitment, honesty, and openness was often breathtaking. And even in your final days, you still made us laugh with your bold statements. Thank you for being you Kate, I’m honored to have been able to call you my friend and for all the beautiful memories I have with you. I will take your energy and go conquer life as much as I can for you. We will all ensure Ed and Olivia know how phenomenal you were and how boldly you love them. Fly high. I will miss you deeply.

Natalie K. Douglas 33:03
Beautiful. Next one is, Kate all the clichés apply to you. Your smile lit up the room. Your laugh could be heard a mile away. You’re a triple friend, funny, smart, and beautiful but you were anything but a cliché. You included everyone. I’m so happy you included me in part of your wonderfully, beautiful, and extraordinary life. Beyond amazing always, not seeing your little snippets of positivity and hope anymore will be heartbreaking for many.

Jin Ong 33:36
The next one is pretty significant. Actually, there’s a couple of like this, and I’m sure there’s many more out there about how Kate has actually managed to save people’s lives through awareness and her openness sharing her breast cancer story. It’s taken me a few days to process the news that the woman to who I attribute my decision to get a biopsy done and ultimately saved my life has lost her own. Through our shared experience of breast cancer, we connected over social media and developed a friendship of sorts. Both mothers, both healthy, both passionate about natural medicine, and yet, both diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately for me, my diagnosis was just in time. I was stage three, grade three, and in denial. It was Kate’s post in November 2019 of her diagnosis that made the greatest impact on me. I can’t quite come to grips with such a beautiful soul who enjoyed so much and faced the diagnosis head-on has left this world. I, like many others, had high hopes and it knocked me sideways real fast. It took me a while to recognize that I am fortunate. My treatment is different as is my prognosis. And I am responding to the 16 rounds of chemotherapy with further medical intervention ahead of me. I will live, I will thrive, and I will never forget her legacy.

Natalie K. Douglas 35:06
So, so beautiful and so true what you said Jin. I, I know personally that they’re even, when Kate was still with us, and we were having discussions and planning podcasts and all that kind of stuff, there were so many people like weekly messaging Kate saying thank you, I went and got my breast checked. And it’s made a huge difference. And I think that it’s something that I hope to continue spreading awareness about as well through the podcast with some episodes to come, because I know that is exactly what Kate would want, and what would what she would be sharing about further as well. So thank you to everyone who shared how Kate has impacted them in that way. I really do think that’s an important message to get out there and one that Kate would want to continue on as well.

Jin Ong 36:01
And she made such an effort to respond to everybody who did reach out to her to share that there is you know, there are alternatives that you can seek out and not to just look within your country, I guess.

Natalie K. Douglas 36:14
Yeah, totally 100%. Okay, the next one is, you were and always will be a bright shining star of joy, love, kindness, and courage. Having you be part of my life and the life of my children is something I will forever be grateful for. From the adventures to the chats at home, and everything in between. In the face of everything thrown to you, you navigate it all with the presence and grace I never thought was possible. You listen to me and you gave so much to everyone around you. Even this past week, we were talking about the camping gear you need for the next adventures together in the future. I truly believed you would be the crazy old granny you joked about. I hope that you can rest easy where you are now in confidence that you have created an army of incredible people to support your beautiful Olivia, Ed, and Az throughout the rest of their lives. We will embrace and celebrate the moments in their lives in a way that you would be proud of and hold them tight when they need to be held. We will forever share memories and stories with your kids of just how incredible their mom was. And your legacy will shine on through in shine on through in all that you’ve created and everyone’s lives who you’ve impacted. Thank you for being who you were Kate, you will forever be remembered as the kind and incredible soul you are.

Jin Ong 37:44
I didn’t meet Kate in person, but we messaged the deep stuff as we were together on our paths, reading results, figuring out the next best move. Kate was an angel of knowledge for me, and no doubt thousands more. Explaining and sharing the information for our bodies to heal, I was convinced this woman would break records on her journey. I was so convinced, I was excited, and now somehow left shattered. The fear of my own cancer has plummeted back in. Too often, fair play is not on the cards of cancer. Kate had to push to get a clear diagnosis. It was dismissed early on. This happens too often. So sharing her story is to bring awareness to those that need it. The doctors aren’t always correct. Please listen to your intuition. My recurrence was written off as a probable cyst. I knew it wasn’t and had to wait my time through the system for the tumors to grow enough for action. Doesn’t seem quite right, does it? My kids have seen yet a few more tears these last few days as I learned about grief in another way. And as I hold them close, I feel a pain like no other on my heart for Kate’s family.

Natalie K. Douglas 39:01
Next one is, and when great souls die after a period, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly space fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our sensors restored never to be the same, whispers to us they existed. They existed, we can be, be, and be better for they existed and that was actually written, shared, and was written by Maya Angelou. I can never say her name but I know who she is, and hopefully someone else does. And then the written part to this was to my darling friend, and doTERRA partner, Kate. You left us all way too soon but I will forever be grateful for the light you’ve shown. For joining me on our wondrous oily journey, for your years of friendship, and feel grace and strength until the very end. Once I can see you through my tears, I’ll be sure to giggle my head off at your last messages about penises, poles, and eggplants. God, you made me laugh and I love you for that. And for all else, rest in peace dear, Kate. Sending all the love I can muster for your two little children, Ed and Olivia, and husband Az.

Jin Ong 40:16
I remember, Olivia used to go to the same daycare as Violet. And one Christmas, she lifts little vials of oil for everyone. She’s always sharing it around.

Natalie K. Douglas 40:29
Oh, nice. And she would want me to remind everyone that for your oils to work you have to actually use them. It was a running joke with us because yeah, I’ve got oils and she’s like, ah, yes but like you have to use them Nat. Like, I’m like, it didn’t work, Kate. She’s like, did you use it? And I was like, sometimes.

Jin Ong 40:52
There’s a special blend she made it for me. I want to keep it.

Natalie K. Douglas
Exactly.

Jin Ong 41:00
Okay, goodbye to one of my special friends Kate, who shared so much and will continue to impact people’s lives in the years to come. Words cannot describe how amazing this lady is. I’m so glad to have crossed paths with such a special person to call her a friend, have our kids play together, share amazing meals, chats, adventures, and to be with her throughout her journey with cancer. Her wit and personality is like none other, a mixture of blunt, positive, and compassionate. I’d often encourage her to complain a bit more, but she just didn’t have it in her. I find peace knowing that Kate has touched so many people’s lives in her work and community by being just herself. Honest, open, vulnerable. She has impacted so many, told them so much to be kinder to their body, and helped many infertile women have babies. She will live on in so many people’s lives. Thank you for all your inspiration and support with all my crazy ideas, my beautiful friend. Sharing your story, and always making time to catch up, it’s been a privilege. I’ll miss your cute button cheeks, chuckle, and smile. May you be surrounded by the most beautiful indoor plants. Express yourself fully and reach out to those who mean something to you and make time for them.

Natalie K. Douglas 42:26
Beautiful. And I’m gonna, I am actually going to read my my one. It was actually Jin’s idea just before we jumped on here because she reminded me that I actually sent Kate a voice message in the days leading up to when she passed away. So I’m going to read mine and if some of it is in the wrong tense then you guys can just alter that in your mind. So when I first saw you at uni power walking from North Gong station to uni, I knew you were my kinda gal. You scared me slightly because you always look like you meant business, which let’s be honest, you did. My love for you grew when I heard I had a diehard paleo pal in amongst the dietetics cult. The next injection of my love for you came as your questioning of well, most lectures became a rather entertaining thing. In hindsight, if I was as confident as I am now back then I would have helped a sister out but alas, I was still a bit shy. You did good. Thanks for taking one for the team. The next little moment in our story was the time you asked me straight up if I had got a boob job after I came back to uni with overnight jugs. I’ve always loved that about you. You just ask if you have a question. I’m glad I had the opportunity to clear that one up. Going through one of the toughest placements with you, all those years ago, was more life-changing for me than you know. I was in a pretty bad place mentally behind the scenes and having you there every day eating what seemed like three men’s lunch worth of food helped me so much. You also played such a massive role in my eating disorder recovery. I’ll be forever grateful. Then came the end of that chapter and the start of our podcast adventure. I feel like I struck gold getting to get to know you even better over the years. Can you believe we had made it up to the 98 episodes? I thought someone would have complained by now. I have such a good time bantering with you. I’ll never get tired of it. I don’t know it’s a compliment. I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult to our information that it’s the main piece of feedback we get. It’s so hard to know what to say to you Kate, how do I wrap up all my love for you in something that’s enough? I don’t know that I can. I just trust that you feel it through this and through our connection. I’m heartbroken that I can’t get to you. I’d plan to surprise you when the borders opened up. I was going to bring you the biggest baby carrot bag I could find because #KateSweetTreats. Inside, I’m hopelessly listening to, instead, I’m hopelessly listening to our podcast so I can hear your voice and keep you close. Like, yeah, I have almost a hundred of them. So while I can’t be with you physically, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully share in words what I’m feeling, I do want you to know that you’re in my heart and you always will be. I’m so proud of you. You did so well. You’re deeply loved. You’ve made a difference to so many people. You’re safe. You’re not alone, and I’ll never stop celebrating you. Got through that, but without crying. Alright.

Jin Ong 45:37
I remember when she heard that she was laughing.

Natalie K. Douglas 45:42
It was just so. I have so many funny memories, and that boob one was definitely hilarious. And I’m so glad she asked because I know that other people were thinking it. Just for correction, everyone, I did not get a boob job. I went on hormone replacement therapy when I didn’t know any better and my boobs grew overnight. And Kate just marched up to me, she’s like, did you got a boob job? I was like, oh, no. So so funny. Okay, so the last, the last thing I’m going to read out is actually what was posted by her friend and on behalf of Kate. So this is actually the last Instagram post on Kate’s Instagram profile. So some of you may have read it. But I thought it was a really, it felt like a really important one to pop in here. And I thought it was so well written. So I’m going to read that out now. To the wonderful abundant collection of humans in Kate’s life. I’ve been given the honor personally by Kate to write this post should the time come. I remember thinking that it would be more likely, she would eventually right mine because this woman is a ball of resilience and absolute knowledge fiend. Beyond empathetic, loving to the call, and above all, a fighter. It is with a very heavy heart that I report that Kate passed away on Thursday afternoon in Wanaka. Completely surrounded by loved ones, family, and was free of pain. I know this is new, this news is utterly devastating. I know how heart-wrenching it is that someone we all love, as well as a stunning mother of two that fought so bloody hard could be taken so early. I also know that there’s a hell of a lot of cliches that could be used here but that’s not our Kate’s style. She fought hard, bloody hard, and her many, many victories her impact on others, and the legacy of knowledge and successes she has left behind are cause for celebration. This is the woman who upon finding out about her stage four cancer diagnosis, bought the biggest, heaviest peer-reviewed book on treatment and ravage through it. The woman who never allowed the elephant in the room, promptly named her cancer, Sharon. Sorry, to all the Sharon’s out there. And would verbally tirade against her as she damn well should. This is the woman who allowed us the privilege to follow her physical journey and the emotions behind it. Kate always remain humble, with humility, and her sense of humor fully intact. She refused to be a statistic, challenged, and beat every prognosis. All whilst continuing to work on her business, helping people, and being the most incredible mother, wife, friend, and punmaster, oh, that dry sense of humor. It would be impossible to do justice to her last work and her whole being in a single post because her selfless pursuit has reached far across the globe. Her legacy and work will live on in the book she wrote Posts Podcast in her website. And of course, in her gorgeous family, cherish them. On behalf of Kate, I would like to thank every single one of you for supporting her throughout her life. And more recently, her cancer journey from integrative doctors, healers, friends, family, those that donated to her cause to give her a fighting chance, and the outpour of supportive messages and love. She’s so incredibly grateful, so so grateful, she expressed it daily. To say Kate will be missed would be a massive understatement. Be inspired by her strength, grace, and adversity, and empowered by the love she had for all. Hold each other a little tighter and celebrate your humans. It’s what she would have wanted. We love you, Kate, forever. And hope there are never-ending almond flat whites up there for you. All the love in the world to Az, Olivia, Ed, and her beautiful family. We stand with you. And I actually feel like that’s such a beautiful summary and I feel like at least in the context of you know, this podcast is that what I’d love to share with everyone listening and particularly our podcast audience who, as much as we joke about they’re only being our mums that listen. It’s a statistics would actually argue otherwise there is quite a lot of you that listen and Kate and I often had conversations about how grateful we, you know, we are for the community that has come of or sharing what originally started out as just a way to share our information and refer clients too so we didn’t have to repeat ourselves. It really grew into something so beautiful. And to have all of you involved in our conversations every week, in some way or another was amazing. And the support that everyone has given her along the way has been the topic of many of conversation. And I know that a lot of you listening who have been inspired by Kate are going to take away so much from even having listened to a handful of the podcast or being in her world in some way. And I think the underlying thing for me is really just around being unapologetically yourself and standing up for what you believe in. Not being afraid to question things often. Not being scared of being wrong or scared of failing, and just getting back up every time because I feel that that’s something that Kate did so well, all of those things. So, for me personally, I mean, there’s so much so so many emotions that are behind the scenes, but one thing that brings me strength and comfort is still being able to hear her and feel her so closely in the way that she, like she just was, which is just inspiring me to live life more fully. And, you know, let fear stop me less and to chase after my dreams because I can and because that’s exactly what she would be telling me to do. So I hope that in moments where you are grieving, or if any moments of guilt come up, where I mean, I know this is something I experienced myself, you know, in the first week or two, and even now occasionally is sometimes I feel happy and joyful. And there’s this inner me part of me that’s like, you can’t feel that you’re supposed to be sad. And then Kate’s very loud voice comes in just like, do not, like, do not be small, do not play small, show up, feel joy when you can, feel whatever you need to feel. And so, I hope that that rings true for some of you or comforts you because I just know that Kate would want everyone to just, you know, obviously none of us are going to forget her but be inspired by the kind of life she lived and continue not just her, you know, sharing of her knowledge and awareness but her like her essence, her spirit, because I feel like that’s the greatest impact of all for me is just her, like who she was at the core. So, Jin, is there any before we wrap up, was there any little extra bits and pieces that you wanted to add or anything that I haven’t shared already and no pressure because I totally am just dumping that spice on you.

Jin Ong 53:44
I know. I was like, wow, she didn’t asked me.

Natalie K. Douglas 53:47
You don’t have to share. I feel like I did do a good summary.

Jin Ong 53:52
I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to share these messages with everyone. It is really an honor to remember Kate and I think it’s a beautiful memory for her friends and her family to be able to listen to all the podcasts and everything that she’s shared. And yeah, I’m really grateful that everyone actually got to know Kate for who she really was. And it’s not often that you can’t fault someone but Kate, you know, you really can’t fault her at all. She is an amazing person and she is still supporting many of us.

Natalie K. Douglas 54:27
I agree and thank you to her family as well for giving us permission to do this episode. I mean, I would have loved to make it to 100 with Kate and I feel like this is definitely the next best thing getting to celebrate her. So thank you everyone for listening and we will encourage you to go and share more stories about Kate. Continue her message, have a look at all the other messages that we didn’t get to share today that were very very many on social media and otherwise, and keep her spirit alive as we will as well.