Home funerals, saying goodbye, and learning more about how we handle grief are at the top of this week’s news. We also learned more about our ancient ancestors and gained insights into what is on the mind of baby boomers when it comes to death.
New on the blog this week:
In Mexico, pinatas of Donald Trump have become so popular store owners are having trouble keeping them in stock. In certain spots in the country, the presidential candidate is being burned in effigy.
Home funerals: Rethinking the way we die
2/14/2016–mmn.com: Some home funeralistas (my term) are put off by the costs of using a professional funeral home, which can easily top $10,000 for a fairly modest affair. But others, it seems, just want to find a more intimate, personal setting. In much the same way home births are being used as a way to take back control of a natural life event that has typically become “outsourced” to professionals in recent decades, a growing number of people are taking death and its aftermath into their own hands too… Read the full story
Coping with grief the first time you lose a loved one is overwhelming. Expressing your feelings, both negative and positive, is important. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) via Chicago Tribune
How to cope with death the first time you lose someone close
2/11/2016–chicagotribute.com: When you’re young, the distinct pain of grief may be felt with the loss of a beloved pet. Sometimes years go by, though, before a family member or close friend dies. Losing someone close to you for the first time is overwhelming. The grief is an unexpected cascade of treasured memories intertwined with feelings of incomplete, unexpressed emotions. In “On Death and Dying,” author Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance… Read the full story
Hundreds of people, including strangers, attend funeral for homeless Army vet
2/11/2016–foxnews.com: A Vietnam veteran who received the Purple Heart died without a home or any close relatives, but after friends arranged for a proper burial, some 200 people paid their respects at his funeral in Kansas Thursday. Many who attended were strangers and fellow vets who learned his story after he died… Read the full story
What dying really feels like
2/10/2016–aww.com.au: Dying is one of life’s great mysteries. Whether you think death spells the end, or you believe in reincarnation no one truly knows what happens when you die. When a reader of Quora Q&A recently posed the question “what does dying feel like” many people responded with their near death experiences and spoke of the moments during their experience before they were revived. The respondent’s answers vary from blissful peace and calm to a disappointment that they had not achieved more, but although many variations on the experience occur there are also many similarities… Read the full story
Skull of skeleton T15, a 35- to 50-year-old male who was buried in a cemetery in the modern neighborhood of Casal Bertone, Rome, Italy. Isotope ratios suggest he may have been born near the Alps. Photo: Kristina Killgrove via labaratoryequipment.com
Skeletons in 2,000-year-old Cemetary Offer Clues about Ancient Immigrants
2/10/2016–laboratoryequipment.com: Isotope analysis of 2000-year-old skeletons buried in Imperial Rome reveal some were migrants from the Alps or North Africa, according to a study published February 10, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kristina Killgrove from University of West Florida, USA, and Janet Montgomery from Durham University, UK. Previous work has focused on the overall human migration patterns within the Roman Empire…
How to Have Everyday Conversations About Death and Dying
2/10/2016–huffingtonpost.com: Even though there has been increasing media attention to end-of-life issues over the past year, we still live in a death-phobic, death-avoidant culture. While our movie and videogame screens are filled with images of violent death and news reports remind us every day of various threats to life, there is still a scarcity of authentic conversation about death in our society… Read the full story
4 Ways To Think Outside The Box When Honoring A Loved One
2/10/2016–blog.funeralone.com: “I was supposed to live to be 102 and be shot by a jealous husband,” one man’s tombstone reads. Another says, “Here lies an atheist. All dressed up and no place to go.” And a psychic reads, “I knew this would happen.” It’s not disrespectful to be creative, even funny when dealing with end-of-life matters. In fact, it’s likely to help cope with the grief. Obituaries don’t have to be dry or formulaic… Read the full story
Memento Mori: Philippe de Champaigne’s Vanitas (c. 1671) is reduced to three essentials: Life, Death, and Time (via en.wikipedia.com)
Mortality Now: Top 5 Reminders of Death for Aging Baby Boomers
2/9/2016–huffingtonpost.com: Memento Mori. Remember, you will die. Not a pleasant thought, yet one that has universal application because it is an unavoidable truth. The vanity of life, the nature of impermanence, the transient quality of existence. You get the point. These are only a few of the sentiments associated with recognizing one’s mortality… Read the full story
Innovating the way we grieve
2/9/2016–theweek.com: Walker Posey’s family has been in the funeral business since 1879. For most of that time, Posey Funeral Directors in North Augusta, South Carolina, was strictly a brick-and-mortar enterprise. But in recent years, Posey has helped get the family business online — despite initial resistance from his father. “We’ve come from the horse and carriage days to the days of webcasting funerals,” said Posey, who also serves as a spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association… Read the full story
