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“Tattered Kaddish”
A poem honoring those who die by suicideFor seven decades, Adrienne Rich wrote and published stunning poetry and prose that touched her readers, made them think, and challenged them to shift their perspectives. Much of Rich’s work is explicitly rooted in her identities as mother, housewife, poet, Jew, out lesbian and radical feminist. She wrote about the evolving place of women in modern society,…
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The Breathtaking Simple Beauty of Iqaluit Municipal Cemetery
An Arctic burial ground wins awards for its simple but stunning visual designGlittering snow. Skies of piercing blue. Vistas of frozen tundra. A breathtaking cemetery rising above the fragile permafrost. While it may not be what you expected, this is what you’ll see at the Iqaluit Municipal Cemetery in the Nunavut region of Northern Canada. It’s a place that celebrates the people, past and present, as well…
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Recomposition and Other Burial Innovations Give Our Bodies New Purpose After Death
Washington introduces a bill allowing two new green burial practices: recomposition and alkaline hydrolysisWhen planning for the end of life, new burial alternatives mean that we can now ask ourselves: What do I want to be when I die? A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature would add two environmentally friendly options for individuals and families to consider: alkaline hydrolysis and recomposition. Alkaline hydrolysis or “resomation” dissolves the…
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“The Dead Moms Club”
The memoir gracefully blends comedy and heartbreak to portray the messiness of griefKate Spencer’s mother, Martha, died from pancreatic cancer when Kate was 27 years old. “The Dead Moms Club” is the 2017 memoir that chronicles Kate’s experience dealing with grief and life following her mother’s death. Spencer is a comedian by trade, so the book is full of wit, sarcasm and comical asides and metaphors. I found…
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Our Monthly Tip: Give Friendship Bracelets as a Memorial Gift
When a teenager dies, give their friends a simple piece of jewelry to remember them byOur Tip of the Month The death of a teenager is always especially tragic. Teens are so full of hope and enthusiasm. Though they are old enough to begin to grasp the realities of adulthood, they retain enough innocence to see unlimited potential in every minute of every day. Catapulting through life at breakneck speed,…
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Over 1,000 Strangers Attend Funeral of Vietnam War Veteran Peter Turnpu
The Army veteran had no known living family membersMore than 1,000 people attended the funeral service for Peter Turnpu, an Army veteran with no known family. Peter Turnpu, 77, served during the Vietnam War. He died of natural causes alone in his home on December 9 in Waterford, New Jersey. According to a story on philly.com, Turnpu lived alone and had few acquaintances.…
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When Is the Right Time for Hospice Care?
Many patients living with serious illnesses wait far too long to ask for helpIn an ideal world, every person who lives with a serious illness would have the ongoing support of a palliative care team. As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, palliative care offers patients and families who are living with a life-limiting illness the kind of ongoing support that has been shown to improve outcomes in numerous…
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How do Child-life Specialists Help Children Cope with Illness and Death? (Interview)
A conversation with Kelsey Mora, a child-life specialist who empowers children and adolescents to better understand and cope with life’s most challenging events, Part OneIn this interview, SevenPonds speaks with Kelsey Mora, a certified child-life specialist (CCLS) at Advocate Health in Chicago and chair of their system-wide pediatric and perinatal bereavement support group. Her work as a CCLS provides in-person support for children and adolescents facing acute and chronic medical challenges of their own or that of a family member. …
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