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Ghost Bikes: A Somber Public Service Announcement
Artists paint bicycles white to memorialize riders who have diedIf you’ve ever walked around a major city’s traffic-heavy downtown, you’ve probably seen one or two all-white bicycles leaning against telephone poles. What you might not realize is that they’re part of the international Ghost Bike project that originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2003. Today, the project’s founders estimate that more than 630 bikes have…
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Our Weekly Tip: Acknowledge Your Disenfranchised Grief
Grief that is not acknowledged by society hurts just as deeply as grief that is.Our Tip of the Week: In Western society, we tend to hold to a hierarchy of grief. Certain types of loss are viewed as “important” or grief-worthy, while others are minimized or not acknowledged at all. When a spouse or a close family member dies, for example, friends and family gather around to support those…
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“Love Is A Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time”
A music journalist’s tribute to his late wife and alt music of the 90s“Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time” is music journalist Rob Sheffield’s tribute to music, love and his wife, a punk rocker from Appalachia named Renee Crist, who died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism. His memoir is a love letter to the woman he clearly adored, to the alt music…
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The Revitalization of Tear Bottles
Ancient mourning ritual of capturing tears garners modern interestThe tradition of collecting one’s own tears in a lacrimatory, or tear bottle, dates back to ancient times. Tear bottles are made of terracotta or glass, and can measure up to four inches in height. In ancient Rome and Greece, they were supposedly used to catch the tears of mourners at funerals. It is hypothesized that…
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Last Texts
Texting provides a new way for victims of tragedies to say goodbye in their final momentsIn the moments before they died, some of the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando reached for their phones to send texts to let their loved ones know what was going on. A number of these texts have been shared on the internet, where the public can read the harrowing last calls for help…
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Monday Hearts for Madelene
Page Hodel creates beautiful hearts as an ongoing celebration of 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…
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Life Is More Than Just Waiting for The End
Living an authentic life is always a choiceThere’s something almost silly about the term “terminal illness.” After all, life is a terminal illness. We are all born; we all live; and we all die. Not one of us is guaranteed 80 years, 80 months, or even 80 seconds. That we take for granted the fact that we will wake to see another…
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“Strange Fruit (for David)” by Zoe Leonard Breathes New Life Into Death
Still Life tradition gets a makeover with this time-based memento mori installation“Strange Fruit (for David)” by artist Zoe Leonard is as tender and fragile as it is innovative and…sometimes smelly. This installation comprises “Orange, banana, grapefruit, lemon, and avocado peels with thread, zippers, buttons, sinew, needles, plastic, wire, stickers, fabric, and trim wax” according to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The fruit has been hollowed out, its…
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