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Who Wrote the Saddest Song of the Century?
Oh Where Oh Where Can My Baby Be?Everybody knows the song “Last Kiss.” Everybody’s heard it at least once, and after they do, they tend to remember it. The haunting refrain “Oh Where Oh Where Can My Baby Be?” just stays with you, cuts through whatever else is going on around you and makes you listen a little closer. It makes you…
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An Interview with Dr. Marc E. Agronin
The author of “How We Age” breaks it downHow We Age is Dr. Marc E. Agronin’s memoir about his exposure to aging and death, primarily through his medical practice at a Miami nursing home many call “God’s waiting room.” Through interviews with his patients, personal anecdotes, and expert medical insight, Marc Agronin delivers a deeply sensitive and hopeful treatise on the condition of…
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
A reflection on the transient nature of precious thingsNature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief,So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay. Though it’s a mere eight lines, Robert Frost’s compact poem about the inevitability of loss has found an enduring place…
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“Life Eternal”
Heavy metal ballad touches on themes of eternal loveYour loved one was a rocker, maybe even a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead whose wardrobe consisted of black concert T-shirts. The kinds of songs played at other people’s funerals would be all wrong for your group of mourners. This loved one would find traditional songs of love, loss and hope for reunion boring. To really represent your…
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15 quotes on how memories keep loved ones alive
Those who are gone live on in the hearts and minds of friends and familySince the time of Euripides — and no doubt before — people have had the sense that the dead are not truly gone, as long as they live on in our memories and dreams. In this collection of quotes, that Greek tragedian is joined by thinkers, writers and everyday philosophers who in the years since…
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“Where Rainbows Never Die”
A moving tribute to the popular singer’s recently deceased husbandIt is a rare song (or songwriter) that can level its gaze at death and, rather than conjure denial or confrontation, evoke golden landscapes rippled with ecstatic nostalgia. “Where Rainbows Never Die” by The SteelDrivers does just that. A rich, warm fingerpicked melody blossoms with slide guitar. Glittering banjo and ascendant fiddles carry lead singer…
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Composting Bodies is Now Legal in 14 States
Honoring Earth Day with a new kind of return to natureNew Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a bill making the Garden State the 14th state to legalize a process known as natural organic reduction (NOR), or human composting. The practice, which first gained legal approval in Washington state in 2019, has steadily grown in popularity as people look for more environmentally friendly alternatives to…
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“Hand to Earth” Book Review: Andy Goldworthy makes art in the natural environment
Goldsworthy’s work using natural, found resources can serve as inspiration for incorporating art into lossRowan Leaves Laid Around Hole, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 1987 Photo Credit: Moss & Fog
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Trans Remembrance Project Provides a Community of Grieving
Online shrine offers commiseration, resources and hope around the world“Celebrating the lives of those who have passed,” reads the simple summary on the homepage of The Trans Remembrance Project. What started as a candlelight vigil 25 years ago has turned into a living online memorial for the trans community. An initiative of Advocates for Transgender Equality, the Project features on its website names, images…
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“7 Ways to Create an Amazing Celebration of Life”
