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Our Monthly Tip: A Fresh Floral Wall Offers a Unique Way to Enhance a Celebration of Life Experience
A budget friendly idea that doesn’t look like a budget effortOur Tip of the Month Flowers are a classic element at memorial services, and a unique way to bring their soothing, mood-lifting qualities to a ceremony is by creating a fresh floral design on the blank walls of the venue. It serves as decoration and a floral display all in one. It’s also a beautiful…
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How to Divide Family Heirlooms
My mom’s five tips to a peaceful division of family treasuresIt’s rather expected that every mother has her own set of rules she expects her children to abide by. As far back as I can remember, one of my mother’s top rules was a method she wanted us to use to divide family heirlooms. I would agree it’s not your usual kind of mom rule;…
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Sara Williams Fights for Affordable Funeral Options (Interview)
President of Funeral Consumers Alliance balances weighty end-of-life issues with humor and candorSpend a little time with Sara Williams and you’ll detect an upbeat, even playful spirit, which at first might make her deep, lifelong interest in death a bit of a head-scratcher. She’s president of the nonprofit Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a trained home funeral guide and hospice volunteer — and runs a Death Cafe near…
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Dying Inmates’ End-of-Life Choices Are Routinely Ignored
Organizations work to provide a dignified death for those behind barsKFF Health News, a nonprofit organization that reports on health policy in the United States, recently published an investigative piece revealing how end-of-life choices made by inmates are routinely ignored or overridden. Coupled with the fact that our country’s prison population has been aging rapidly over the last few decades – with thousands dying behind…
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“Dying for Sex”
The FX miniseries – inspired by a true story – is raw, real and more than a little raunchyDying for Sex, a comedy/drama miniseries loosely based on the true story of Molly Kochan, is about a woman who leaves her husband in order to explore her sexual desires after being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate bring to life a friendship that’s as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, showing…
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New Research Reveals That Light Emitted During Life Is Extinguished After Death
We glow until we dieNew research using ultrasensitive cameras published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters has revealed that a certain type of light emitted by living organisms fades during the death process. All living things emit a (very) soft glow, known as biological ultraweak photon emission (UPE). A byproduct of metabolism, this faint illumination had already been…
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On TikTok, Maddy Baloy Shared Her Final Days With Candor and Humor
Around 9,000 young adults die annually from cancerWe’ve probably all felt a pang of sadness when encountering a story about a child with terminal cancer. But less common in the media, and almost as poignant, are the accounts of someone in their early 20s having to make end-of-life plans. While the idea of never outgrowing childhood is tragic, someone facing the end…
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11 Memorial Day Quotes
What words or thoughts are sufficient to pay homage to those who have died for something larger than themselves?Memorial Day pays tribute to those who have given their lives in service to a greater ideal. It’s a sacrifice unfathomable to many. Whether you visit a graveyard or observe these deaths in other ways, what words or thoughts are sufficient to pay homage to those who have died for something larger than themselves? …
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“My Brother” by Effie Waller Smith
Although she was more well known for her poetry describing the Appalachian Mountains, Smith’s poem captures her grief over losing her brother too soonBorn to formerly enslaved parents in the rural mountain community of Chloe Creek, Kentucky, Effie Waller Smith was a prolific poet in the early 20th century. She is most notable for achieving moderate literary success despite being a woman and a person of color during a time of widespread racism and sexism, but her artistry…
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