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“Ordinary People”
Movie gives us an intimate look at a grieving family as they try to cope with loss.In Robert Redford’s 1980 directorial debut, a wealthy family deals with coping with loss as they struggle with the death of the oldest son, Buck Jarrett. “Ordinary People” explores how grief can affect people differently, as well as how losing a family member can reveal what truly happens behind closed doors. It remains an intriguing…
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Death: The “Great Equalizer”? African American Deathways and Inequality (Interview)
Death scholar and associate professor Dr. Kami Fletcher gives an interview on the history of death in the Black community.Dr. Kami Fletcher is a death scholar and associate professor of U.S. and African American history at Albright College. Her work focuses on African American deathways and deathwork, examining African American norms and ideas surrounding death as well as ways that death intersects with race, class, gender, religion, and region. Back in 2010, when Dr.…
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“Wind Phone” Provides Grievers a Chance To Call Their Loved Ones
A man set up a special phone to call his recently deceased cousin – and the idea has caught on.Little did Itaru Sasaki know that a phone he set up to use to call his deceased cousin would end up resonating with so many people. Sasaki in 2010 built a phone booth and installed it in his garden, some 300 miles northeast of Tokyo. He used the disconnected phone to talk to his cousin,…
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Research on Lithium Shows Potential To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease
A new Harvard study on mice revealed that small doses of the metal reversed symptoms.At Harvard Medical School, research scientists may have found a key ingredient that could have a major impact on ways to detect and treat Alzheimer’s disease. As a bonus, it’s a cheap and accessible metal that naturally occurs in the body and has already been used in medicine: lithium. The study, published in August in…
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“Death Canoe”
The innovative and deeply vulnerable Maggie Nelson explores the transformational nature of inescapable griefGrief flows from Maggie Nelson—as a vessel carried away by a current. Take the first lines of “Death Canoe”: “Surprised by blood passing, a large clot for morning, surprised later on in the day by the ice cold commitment to dispersal in which I am drowning.” There’s nothing neat about grief. This poem from one…
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Our Monthly Tip: Add a Personal Touch to a Cremation Ceremony
Make a cremation viewing more meaningful by bringing sentimental items to place in the casket with your loved oneOur Tip of the Month: Bring a Meaningful Object To Be Included in the Casket During the Cremation Ceremony Saying goodbye during a cremation ceremony, or cremation viewing, can feel both profound and overwhelming, and many families look for a way to make the moment more intimate. One way to do so is to place…
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14 Quotes About Time, Life and Death
Live for the now, but appreciate the passage of time as wellWe should live in the here and now, say many. As a former president of Uruguay put it, life only gets shorter. An actress called time “priceless. Your time is limited, said the founder of Apple. In fact, Steve Jobs thought a lot about time; he’s quoted twice in the list below of contemplations from…
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Family-Directed Home Funerals Are Having a Resurgence (Interview)
Heidi Boucher discusses how an age-old practice has been revived for our modern worldHeidi Boucher is a home funeral guide who has helped more than 100 families say goodbye to their loved ones, in their homes. It’s a practice that emphasizes a hands-on approach guided by intimacy, love and spirituality. She began learning how to care for the dead as a teenager while living in Sacramento with Nancy…
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Increased Demand for Organ Transplants Leads to Frightening Deathbed Scenes
Investigation finds instances of premature attempts to harvest organs from potential donors.The New York Times in July reported a rise in disturbing cases of organ donation after circulatory death, in which would-be organ donors were prepared for organ harvesting under questionable circumstances. In addition to numerous harrowing stories detailed in the article, 55 medical workers in 19 states said they had witnessed at least one “disturbing…
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