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Monday Hearts for Madalene
Page Hodel creates the most beautiful hearts in an ongoing celebration of loveRemembering Beautiful Summer Days! It’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…
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SFMOMA and Pauletta Chanco’s “Living on Shifting Sands”
Two new SFMOMA exhibits on the possibility of light as a medium for discussing life, death and terminal illnessSFMOMA opened two sister exhibits last night — How the Light Gets In: Bay Area Photo and Pauletta Chanco: Living on Shifting Sands. While the shows vary in their subject matter and medium, both touch on the importance of light, illumination and how we choose to interpret them in relation to life and death.…
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How Can a Celebrant Assist Grieving Loved Ones with Planning Memorial Services? (Interview)
Lissin Lev Chaya shares the advantages and challenges of having a celebrant plan memorial servicesToday SevenPonds speaks with Lissin Lev Chaya, a certified life-cycle celebrant. Currently based in Pacifica, California, she received her training and certification from the Celebrant Foundation and Institute. She has been performing rituals and ceremonies for over 20 years. Today, she talks with us about what inspired her to become a celebrant, her personal approach…
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“August: Osage County“
A film that encapsulates how funerals can create the most intense family stress everIt would be easy to say August: Osage County was a great film and it was, but the truth is, it was also incredibly stressful to watch. It takes place over just a few weeks yet its densely-packed chock full of emotional drama scenes managed to both tax my nerves and rivet me. Spoiler Alert: The…
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Friends Forever
Friends are with you until the endCheck out more “Laughter is Medicine” posts here.
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Fearing the Return of the Dead in Romani Burial Traditions
Romani funeral traditions are heavily influenced by beliefs in the supernaturalRomani funeral traditions are characterized by abundance. Enormous, full of relatives, public mourning and solemn ritual, their burial rites amount to a massive procession taken very seriously by everyone involved. Their zeal may arise from a widespread belief in the supernatural. For the Romani people, spirits everywhere must be warded off by spells and charms,…
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Honoring Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders, Founder of Modern Hospice Movement
We look back at her extraordinary life and ongoing legacyJust 9 years ago from last Monday, Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders’ life came to a close after 87 years. Born in 1918, she marched across the 20th century as a self-starting woman destined to be remembered as the founder of the modern hospice movement. Thus, in honor of her death day, this week we…
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“Dance with my Father”
A bittersweet song about a family remembering and mourning the loss of a father and a husbandLosing someone with whom you were extremely close to is never easy. It will stick with you for the rest of your life. As some of you may have seen in other articles on the site, such as our review of Transforming Loss, grief has the power to change you, depending on what you make…
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