-
Happy Thanksgiving Day 2012
From all of us at SevenPondsAn American Thanksgiving, enjoy your day and Thanksgiving dinner!
/
-
Remembering Loss and the First Thanksgiving
As we rejoice and give thanks, many are suffering illness or death during the holiday seasonTomorrow in America is our national day of Thanksgiving, a day to gather with family and loved ones to celebrate the beginning of the winter holiday season and to remember all that we’re thankful for in life. Unfortunately, for some, there can still be sickness or death during the holidays, and the festivities this time…
/
-
Norman Rockwell’s ‘Thanksgiving Picture’
The famous painting reminds us to cherish these moments with our loved onesNorman Rockwell’s famous painting of a family at Thanksgiving dinner, Freedom from Want, is a simple and beautiful depiction of the bond of a family. The painting, which originally appeared as part of the Four Freedoms series in a 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, has become an enduring symbol of this long-lived American…
/
-
What Is Palliative Care? (Interview)
Why palliative care physicians are fairy godmothers, not “Grim Reapers”Dawn Gross, MD, PhD, is a hospice physician at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Her background is in hematology and immunology, and she now works for the hospital’s Palliative Care Service, specializing in treating patients facing life-altering illnesses and end-of-life. We spoke with Dawn about the importance of palliative care, as well as how…
/
-
“In Bruges”
Madcap hitman movie that treats with humor some of life’s deeper questionsThis hilarious, moody, very violent film by writer-director Martin McDonagh is incredibly difficult to characterize. Is it a comedy? An action/heist flick? A downer drama? Hard to say. Whatever it is, it blends elements of all these genres brilliantly, features excellent comic performances by the three leads, and even while you’re cracking up, you may…
/
-
“I’m trying to die correctly, but it’s very difficult, you know.”
-Lawrence DurrellImage source: Michiel Van Balen (Creative Commons)
/
-
Franny’s Last Ride by Mike DeStefano
The comedian and storyteller shares his struggle to support his wife at the end of lifeComedian Mike DeStefano died of a heart attack March 6, 2011. In 2007, he appeared with The Moth storytelling organization to tell the story of his wife, Fran, who was dying in hospice after a drug addiction and affliction with AIDS. “I don’t wanna be here telling this story,” he says. “But I promised her…
/
-
“Sorrow’s Uses”
Learning different lessons from the poems of Ella Wheeler WilcoxLast December, I wrote about the necessity of grief when discussing “Sorrow’s Uses,” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Today, I’m looking at a poem called “A Song of Life,” by the same author, but which has a very different tone (though all Ella Wheeler Wilcox’ poems are wonderful). It’s about letting go of sadness in order…
/
-
Linds Redding’s Poignant Message on Creative Life Before His Death
The ad exec expressed a grave disappointment in his path through lifeSo was it worth it? Can you make money from your art and still lead a fulfilling life? This is just the question that Dept. of Motion Graphics art director Linds Redding addressed in a blog post earlier this year. Redding died last month from an inoperable esophageal cancer, at age 52. The blog post…
/
Want an Easier Way to Plan a Memorial Event? Get our FREE guide
“7 Ways to Create an Amazing Celebration of Life”
