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  • Sara Williams Fights for Affordable Funeral Options (Interview)President of Funeral Consumers Alliance balances weighty end-of-life issues with humor and candor

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    Mitch Lobrovich

    Sara Williams Fights for Affordable Funeral Options (Interview)
    President of Funeral Consumers Alliance balances weighty end-of-life issues with humor and candor

  • Our Monthly Tip: Conversations About Death at Thanksgiving DinnerSome tips for discussing death with your loved ones at Thanksgiving

    Our Monthly Tip: Conversations About Death at Thanksgiving Dinner
    Some tips for discussing death with your loved ones at Thanksgiving

    If you follow this site, you know that dying here in America isn’t always what it should be. According to the Stanford School of Medicine, 80 percent of Americans say they would prefer to die at home, though 60 percent actually die in hospitals. Of course, there is more to the question of dying than…

    Colleen Ferguson

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  • Dinners with Love Provides Meals for Hospice Patients and Their CaregiversThe Vermont-based organization has provided over 12,000 meals in nine years

    Dinners with Love Provides Meals for Hospice Patients and Their Caregivers
    The Vermont-based organization has provided over 12,000 meals in nine years

    As anyone who has ever cared for a dying loved one will tell you, caring for a hospice patient at home is a physically and emotionally draining experience. Most caregivers have little, if any, time to care for their own needs, and many subsist on too little sleep and too little food. More than a…

    Kathleen Clohessy

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  • “The Dead”A poem that imagines the dead watching over us

    “The Dead”
    A poem that imagines the dead watching over us

    Former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who Bruce Weber of the The New York Times called “the most popular poet in America,” writes conversational, playful poems that drop observational truth bombs with a deft, lighthearted touch. Collins is a poet who brings his warmth and wit to the most sobering of topics, including death. His technique buoys his readers while he serves them tender…

    Ellary Allis

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  • Walls of Demand: Father of Slain Student Uses Art to Turn Tragedy Into ChangeManuel Oliver takes his murals on the road to demand change as he grieves the loss of his son

    Walls of Demand: Father of Slain Student Uses Art to Turn Tragedy Into Change
    Manuel Oliver takes his murals on the road to demand change as he grieves the loss of his son

    I’m sure we all remember the day. It was Valentine’s Day, just this past February. A former student walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Dade County, Florida, with an assault rifle and killed 17 innocent people — including 14 students. The whole of America watched as law enforcement searched for the shooter, who…

    Colleen Ferguson

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  • Minimally Invasive Surgery for Cervical Cancer Poses Higher Risk of DeathTwo new studies reported in NEJM show startling results

    Minimally Invasive Surgery for Cervical Cancer Poses Higher Risk of Death
    Two new studies reported in NEJM show startling results

    Two recent studies of survival rates in women with early stage cervical cancer show that opting for minimally invasive surgery is associated with a significantly higher chance of dying from the disease. According to an article published last week in the Houston Chronicle, the studies compared survival rates in women who opted for an “open”…

    Kathleen Clohessy

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  • “When You Die You Will Not Be Scared to Die”Contemporary meditations that set you free from the fear of death

    “When You Die You Will Not Be Scared to Die”
    Contemporary meditations that set you free from the fear of death

    When I first saw “when you die you will not be scared to die”, I could not help but be drawn to its little black cover stamped with its intriguing words in white. Although it’s both an art book and a book of meditations, it was the meditations that I fell in love with. For the life…

    Suzette Sherman

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  • Behind Glass — A Barcelona Death RitualGlass allows family and friends close proximity to their loved one who has died

    Behind Glass — A Barcelona Death Ritual
    Glass allows family and friends close proximity to their loved one who has died

    Caitlin Doughty describes in detail numerous funerary practices from around the world in her book “From Here To Eternity.” One of the stops she makes is to the Altima funeral home in Barcelona, Spain. Here she learns about the Catalan practice of staying with a loved one who has died for an entire day, behind…

    Lucas Morgan

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  • Hallucinogen DMT Simulates Near Death ExperienceBritish scientists are testing the effects of the compound found in ayahuasca

    Hallucinogen DMT Simulates Near Death Experience
    British scientists are testing the effects of the compound found in ayahuasca

    What if it was possible to experience death without actually dying? It’s a question that is currently being pondered by scientists in the U.K, with the assistance of a drug known as DMT. DMT is the hallucinogenic compound in ayahuasca, a traditional spiritual medicine common among the peoples of the Amazon basin. Ayahuasca use has been…

    Matt Driscoll

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  • Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?Too many families are torn apart when a loved one is dying

    Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?
    Too many families are torn apart when a loved one is dying

    Last week, I learned that my 90-year-old aunt was in the hospital with pneumonia and sepsis. This is her second admission in a little less than six months, and she is not doing well. According to her daughter, she is unable to sit unassisted and can barely speak. And while she does have a DNR…

    Kathleen Clohessy

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