Leslene Della Madre is a midwife, not to birth but to the passage out of this life. Culturally we have learned to look the other way at the time of death, until we find ourselves afraid of the process and of handling the body that remains. But in recent years, more and more people are returning to ancient practices of caring for the body of a deceased loved one at home, rather than relinquishing it to the care of a funeral home.