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What Do We Need to Know About Green Caskets? (Interview)
An interview with Jonas Zahn, founder of Northwoods Casket CompanyIn this interview about green caskets, I am talking to Jonas Zahn, the founder of Northwoods Casket Company in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Jonas built his first casket two days before Christmas in 2002 — for his grandfather, who was a big John Wayne and Clint Eastwood fan. When his family couldn’t agree whether to bury…
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“Passing On”
A brave and practical book about end-of-life conversationsWhile 92 percent of Americans say it’s important to discuss their wishes for end-of-life care, only 32 percent have had such a conversation, according to a national survey taken this year. The documentary “Passing On,” narrated by NPR journalist Scott Simon, encourages us to follow the examples of a number of elderly dying patients who engage in talks…
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Newlywed Couple First Met As Child Cancer Patients
The couple were reunited years later when they both started working at St. Jude’s in MemphisLindsey Wilkerson and Joel Alsup first met in 1993. Then, they were both cancer patients at St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She was 12 years old, and he was 13. Now, they’re a newly married couple who decided to get hitched at the same place they met 25 years ago. St. Jude’s has…
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“Go Rest High On That Mountain”
The famed country singer’s beautiful eulogic ballad for his late brotherWhen Vince Gill, accompanied by Allison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs, performed “Go Rest High On That Mountain” at Carnegie Hall, the artist stepped up to the mic to introduce the tune, saying “This is a song I wrote about my brother after he passed away some years back. This song has brought and awful lot…
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Matthew Shepard Finds a Home
Twenty years after his death, the young man’s ashes were interred at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.Last week in Washington D.C., thousands of Americans gathered to honor the memory of Matthew Shepard as his ashes were interred at the National Cathedral 20 years after his death at the age of 21. Matthew, an openly gay University of Wyoming college student, was robbed and severely beaten by Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney…
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New Report Highlights Opioid Misuse in the Elderly
The numbers of seniors who appear to be misusing painkillers is on the riseWhen most of us think about the opioid crisis, we tend to think of young people or people in middle age who have been dealing with addiction for a long time. Seniors, we assume, have little interest in recreational drug use and are unlikely to misuse opioids prescribed for pain. But according to a new…
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New York Academy of Art Students Help Identify Migrants Who Died at the Border
Unidentified remains can be reconstructed to a reasonable likenessJoe Mullins, a forensic artist with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cannot give the gift of life back to eight unknown migrants whose dehydrated remains were found in the Arizona desert near the U.S.-Mexico border a few years back. But, by combining fine arts and forensic science, he is working on reclaiming their…
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How Did You Become Involved with Reimagine End of Life? (Interview)
An interview with Jeannie Blaustein, Founding Chair of Reimagine End of Life, Part TwoIn this second part of a two part interview, I talk with Jeannie Blaustein to hear about her experience with end of life, and how she became the founding chair of Reimagine. Jeannie has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from City College of New York as well as her Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Studies and Counseling from New York’s Hebrew Union…
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