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Disenfranchised Grief: The Five Types and Reactions Explained (Interview)
An interview with author and gerontology professor Dr. Ken Doka“When you were 10 years old, did you dream that you’d grow up to study death and dying?” Dr. Ken Doka‘s son loves to tease him with this question. The obvious answer, says Doka, is no; in fact, even as an adult, he never thought he’d go into gerontology. In the ’70s, he was training…
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“Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles
Harry Style’s song speaks to some of the absurdities of life — including the inevitable death — in this soaring, emotional piece.Harry Styles seminal offering, “Sign of The Times,” is one of his best musical offerings to date. With pop music elements that pay homage to The Beatles, the song opens up to the sounds of a piano playing a morose slow tempo beat in the key of F major. This is accompanied by a…
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Answering Services for the Funeral Industry Overwhelmed by the Pandemic
Answering Services for Directors has been swamped during the COVID-19 pandemicFor 40 years, Answering Services for Directors has exclusively served the funeral industry. In 1972, Martin and Barbara Czachor decided to start a telephone answering business for local companies in the area surrounding their hometown of Glenolden, Pa. They are now a 200 employee company based in Media, Pa. COVID-19 has brought Answering Services for…
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Study Finds Hearing Remains Active Close to Death
New research shows brain activity in unresponsive patients exposed to soundMany people become unresponsive in the hours before death, but does that mean they can’t hear? Researchers at the University of British Columbia set out to answer this question by studying the brain activity of nine hospice patients as compared to 17 young, healthy control participants. Their findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports…
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“COVID-19 Helpers” by Beth Bacon and Kary Lee
Winner of Emory Global Health Institute’s COVID-19 e-book“COVID-19 Helpers,” an e-book about the pandemic by Beth Bacon and Kary Lee, is one of the best resources out there to explain COVID-19 and its accompanying emotional roller-coaster of anxiety and fear for children. The book is the winner of the Emory Global Health Institute’s COVID-19 Children’s eBook Competition. Jeffrey Koplan is vice president…
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“Perfect Way to Die”
R&B singer channels grief of Black mothers who’ve lost children to police violenceIn “Perfect Way to Die,” classically trained pianist and award-winning songwriter Alicia Keys laments the culture of police violence responsible for killing young Black men and women around the country. The video, which debuted at the BET Awards on June 28, opens to Keys playing piano at the center of a dark, empty cityscape, setting…
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“the oboe in Handel’s largo from Xerxes as elegy,”
A poem about childhood memories, music, and lossBorn in Saigon and raised on the north shore of Boston, poet and novelist Quan Barry is the author of four poetry books and a recipient of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize. Her second book of poetry, “Convertibles,” published in 2004 by the University of Pittsburgh Press, was praised for its refined lyricism. In…
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“Moving Through” Project Explores Parkinson’s Disease Through Dance
A series of workshops and a unique performance centers around neurodegenerative disease“They Are All,” a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Murielle Elizéon and Tommy Noonan, starts off with a single dancer facing the audience. In silence, she begins to walk backward toward a chair in the middle of the stage, her slowness both agonizing and hypnotic. Finally, she stands on top of the chair, then climbs…
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Our Monthly Tip: Create a Personal Memory Book Together as a Family
How to create a scrapbook-inspired memory book to honor your loved oneOur Tip of the Month Creating a memory book in honor of someone who has died has a few benefits. First, creating a memory book can be a very therapeutic experience; second, a memory book can help you keep the memory of your loved one alive with a physical object; and third, it makes a…
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