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Elderly New Zealanders And Their DIY Coffins
Seniors across New Zealand get together to socialize and build their own coffinsAccording to the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, the average cost of a funeral there can be between $6,500 and $7,000. A coffin alone can range between $1,000 and $10,000. Now some clever New Zealand seniors have come up with an alternative to prohibitively expensive caskets: They’re creating personalized DIY coffins themselves. In the latter years of life,…
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Join Us at the End of Life Resource Fair
Sponsored by the San Francisco Jewish Community CenterThe San Francisco Jewish Community Center is featuring its second annual resource fair dedicated to death and dying, Embracing the Journey: End of Life Resource Fair. The event will be held on Sunday, November 13th from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so mark your calendars! The fair will feature a wide range of speakers and resources to help…
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Vulnerability and Connection Help Us Heal
Have the courage to be vulnerable when you feel alone and afraidLiving with a terminal illness is fraught with physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges. In the beginning, physical symptoms are typically front and center, as the person is carried off in the tidal wave of medical consultations, treatments, and tests. Soon afterward, the massive reality of life-limiting illness sets in, and the roller coaster of emotions…
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Monday Hearts for Madalene
Page Hodel creates beautiful hearts as a tribute to enduring loveIt’s an honor for SevenPonds to share with our readers the story of the Monday Hearts for Madalene project, a true account of the power of love in the midst of death.The project’s origins take us to 2005: the moment Page Hodel encountered Madalene Rodriguez and fell “instantly, dizzyingly in love with her.” The couple’s first meeting was electric,…
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Our Tip of the Week: Regularly Update Your Advance Directive
Updating advance care directives helps avoid medical error and moreOur Weekly Tip: Paperwork takes us out of the moment and seems like a bothersome chore to many people. If you’re not one to dwell on your mortality, writing an Advance Directive can get shuffled to the bottom of your priorities indefinitely. However, according to this Huffington Post article, “patients who have planned in advance…
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How Is Reiki Used for Emotional and Physical Healing? (Interview)
A Reiki practitioner uses positive energy to dispel negative energy and help clients healToday, SevenPonds speaks with Jennifer Brinn, who has been a Reiki practitioner since 2003. She achieved a Master level in 2006 and now teaches new practitioners as well. Debra: Jennifer, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me about Reiki. Could you tell me about your practice? Jennifer: You’re welcome, Debra.…
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A Intimate Glance Into the Benefits of a Home Funeral
A mother mourns her daughter with a “non-traditional” funeralLucia Maya cared for her daughter Elizabeth, diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the age of 21, when she returned to their family home to die. Historically, children often died before their parents largely due to illness and accident. Yet it is still many parents’ worst nightmare to watch their child suffer. When doctors discovered Elizabeth’s…
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“The Good Death”
In this book, a journalist examines our laws and attitudes about end-of-life careAfter Ann Neumann’s father died following a long illness, she felt lost. For more than a year, she traveled from city to city across the globe looking to fill the massive crater that her father’s death left. When she returned to the United States, she still felt as though a piece of her was missing. That’s when…
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