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Examining the Archaeology of the Undead
In an essay, scientist Rebecca Batley explores the ancient roots of fearing the deadCountless books, films and oral traditions stretching back through the farthest reaches of recorded thought have conjured images of reanimated corpses rising from the earth to extract their lost lifeforce from those who survived them. It’s a notion that startles us from childhood nightmares, strolls the streets on Halloween, and rakes in millions at the…
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Does Advance Care Planning Help Patients?
Advance care planning program SHARING Choices shows 12% increase in end of life documentationA study involving nearly 65,000 older patients sought to understand whether primary care practitioners could play a key role in helping more people make end-of-life plans — and if such guidance could also reduce burdensome care. The finding? Yes and no. That is, such guidance in planning helped, but in some cases, it also presented…
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9 Quotes about Letting Go and Holding On
Inspiration for how to spend this precious life before it endsAs Mary Oliver asked in a poem, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This is the time of year, as summer heats up, that gives many of us time and space to contemplate the idea of arrivals and departures, whether it means traveling or learning…
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The Growing Crisis of Unclaimed Bodies
A hidden issue in America’s death care systemAcross the United States, medical examiners, coroners, and funeral directors are seeing a troubling rise in the number of deceased individuals whose bodies go unclaimed. This points to, and results, in a number of problems: Why is this the case? And where do the bodies go? The answers to the first are many, and as…
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“Someone Died, And The Waltz Goes On”
A beautiful composition he wrote 50 years agoA few months ago while on vacation I was driving north and heard an interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins on our local NPR radio station, KQED. I had no idea that, in addition to playing the roles like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, Sir Anthony Hopkins is also a musical composer. I had the…
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“Broken Halos”
A touching tribute “to people who’ve passed away before their time”The song, “Broken Halos,” co-written by Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson, is the perfect country ballad to listen to when you need a good, cleansing cry. The first single off Stapleton’s second album, “From a Room: Volume 1,” “Broken Halos” seems written with that exact intention in mind, as long as you don’t interpret the…
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This Mountain Sanctuary Is Charting a New Path in Death Care
Center for Conscious Living & Dying completes one year in operationNestled in a 6-acre swath of the Swannanoa Valley in Appalachian North Carolina, the Center for Conscious Living & Dying (CCLD) offers something invaluable for free: community. Powered by nearly 300 volunteers, the center provides end-of-life care in the comfort of a homelike environment. While this is a noble endeavor in itself, what sets this…
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A Chance To Make Memories
After the roller coaster of emotions slows down, there is time to decide how you want to be rememberedIt could be argued that there is no upside to learning that you have a terminal illness. Coming face to face with your own mortality is terrifying and disorienting. And while it’s an experience that each one of us will face at some time in our lives, it’s not one that most us would seek…
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Canada’s Medical Aid in Dying: “I cannot get through a day. It’s physical torture.”
Paula Ritchie’s choice of medical aid in dying to end her life illustrates both sides of the moral and legislative debateThe New York Times recently published the profile of Paula Ritchie, a Canadian woman who elected to take part in the country’s controversial medical assistance in dying (MAID) program. Her life, one plagued by emotional and physical suffering, once again draws the debate over MAID into focus: who has the right to decide when or…
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