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Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
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Poetree: The Innovative Urn: Margaux Ruyant's urn honors the life of the deceased while cultivating the new life of a tree -
Putting It Back Together: Exploring Grief through a near-death experience: A 21-year-old woman's near-fatal accident alters her relationship with life. -
Buddhism and the Eastern Middle Ground: In Buddhist tradition, our death falls into a plane of existence that continues even after our final breath
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Categories
Monthly Archives: May 2011
What is Aid in Dying? An Interview with Carole van Aelstyn
Compassion & Choices talks to SevenPonds about advance directives, aid in dying, and beginning the conversation...
Compassion & Choices is an end-of-life education and advocacy organization dedicated to assisting the terminally ill and enhancing end-of-life options, including aid in dying. Carole van Aelstyn is the Client Support Coordinator for Northern California. She has been a nurse … Continue reading
Film Review: How to Die With Pathos
HBO’s How to Die in Oregon is a Heart-Wrenching Experience
Peter Richardson’s documentary How to Die in Oregon, which premiered last night on HBO, is not easy viewing. Throughout its 108 minutes people die, discuss their death beforehand, say last goodbyes to their children, and slog through the last stages … Continue reading
Do Animals Experience Grief?
Behavior in some animals after the death of a companion suggests animals grieve, too.
We can easily look at this picture of Gana the mother Gorilla carrying her dead baby and see the loss in her face. But, are we simply projecting human emotions onto her, imagining her grief as the only explanation for … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged Animal, Grief, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Psychology Today
3 Comments
Letters from the Holocaust
An amazing historical tale of love, endurance, and the meaning of family
This week’s very special Opening our Hearts represents a collaboration between Judy Vasos and Aurora Wells. All material is part of the Rosi Mosbacher-Baczewski private collection — which she had saved for nearly 70 years before passing on to her … Continue reading
Posted in Opening our Hearts
Tagged Cultural Perspectives, History, Homicide, Losing a Parent, Unexpected Loss
11 Comments
El Malei Rachamim
A traditional Jewish prayer
El malei rachamim shokhen ba-m’romim ha-m’tzei m’nuchah n’khonah tachat kanfei ha-sh’khinah b’ma’alot k’doshim u’t’horim c’zohar ha-rakiah maz’hirim l’nishmot yakireinu u’k’dosheinu she-hal’khu l’olamam. Ana ba’al ha-rachamim ha-s’tirem b’tzel k’nafekha l’olamim u-tz’ror bitz’ror ha-chayim et nishmatam. Adonai hu nachalatam v’yanuchu b’shalom al … Continue reading
Posted in A Right of Passage
Tagged Cultural Perspectives, Memorial Service, Poetry, Religion, Spirituality and Belief
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What are your End-of-life Options?
The eight most common misconceptions about death and dying
Many years ago, I was at the New York City Gift Show and I happened to mention my knowledge of the end-of-life industry to a woman at a booth. Her eyes widened and a look of grave concern overtook her … Continue reading
Posted in Sharing Suzette
Tagged Cremation, end-of-life, Funeral, Funeral home, Green Burial, Shrouds, The FCA
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What is the Funeral Consumers Alliance? An Interview with Joshua Slocum
The Funeral Consumers Alliance talks about your rights...
Joshua Slocum is the Executive Director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a nonprofit dedicated to education and advocacy surrounding funeral consumer rights. Coming out next month, his groundbreaking (sorry) book Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death digs deep … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Books and Literature, Financial Matters, Funeral, Funeral Homes, Home Funeral, The FCA
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What is a Good Death?
Elizabeth Edwards’ Death by Metastatic Cancer and Our Conception of a Good Death
Every person might have a different idea of what constitutes a “good death.” Perhaps a good death would center on emersion in the love of family or reconciling conflicts with those who were once important to us. Our culture’s discomfort … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged Cancer, Elizabeth Edwards, Good Death, Health, John Edwards, Metastatic Cancer, Palliative Care
1 Comment
When We Buried You, Rosi
Jewish ritual, natural burial, and a life-changing funeral
This is the story of Judy Vasos, as told by Aurora Wells… Of those bizarre and wonderful adventures we shared in Mexico, you would always tell me to write about it. Simply, write about it. Like the day I met you … Continue reading
Glee Funeral Episode – Who Dies on Glee?
Rumors of Glee character death are confirmed in second-to-last episode
SPOILER ALERT! In this week’s episode of the TV show Glee, amidst the drama of preparing for show choir Nationals, the students of the glee club decide to take on an unusual task: planning a funeral. Rumors of a death … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
6 Comments
“While We Have The Sun” Lyrics
by Mirah
Let’s take the time to walk together while we have the sun You never know when temperamental weather’s gonna come And if you want to face the death you’re never that far from Just take a breath and sing to … Continue reading
Funeral Urns: Art to Honor Life
Funeria urns and art exhibit stand as memorial to individuals we've lost
Funeria is an international arts agency that enlists top artists to create unique art you might not expect: funeral urns. Each piece is a fascinating memorial to the individual it was created to honor, a beautiful work of art that … Continue reading
What are Home Funerals? An Interview with Ann-Ellice Parker
The inspiring woman behind "Seasons of Change" home funeral services
Ann-Ellice Parker is the wonderfully insightful “death midwife” who runs Seasons of Change home funeral and end-of-life practice in Berkeley, CA. Join SevenPonds for an extra in-depth interview about death and dying, home funerals, aid in dying, and more… Aurora: … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Aid in Dying, Dying at Home, Dying Compassionately, Home Funeral, Hospice, Organ Donation, Palliative Care, Suicide
2 Comments
The State of Organ Donation Today
The Waitlist is Growing for an Organ Donation Many May Never Receive
Organ donation remains one of the most pressing and complex subjects in medical care. The recipient waitlist continues to grow: currently over 110,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for some form of major organ donation, and many of them … Continue reading
Cherishing an Angel
"My prom date was murdered"
This is the story of Aarika, as told by Aurora Wells… The year was 1966. The entire day had been a desperate flurry of preparation and tulle. Back in that time, you had to have your shoes dyed to match … Continue reading
Death and Dying
It came to haunt me on Facebook today
Death and dying can come any time — even at the most benign moment, while casually surfing Facebook. When I logged on yesterday, up popped the beautiful faces of long gone P. Scott Makela’s children. Fresh, grown-up yet innocent faces. … Continue reading
A Tribute through Portrait
Richard Avedon's photographs of his father's last years
Throughout the 20th Century, Richard Avedon was hailed for his unique portraiture, capturing the raw essence of the American people. Perhaps some of his most captivating portraits are those he took in the early 1970′s of his dying father. The … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Art, Jacob Israel Avedon, Losing a Parent, minimalism, photography, portraiture, Richard Avedon
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What is NODA? An Interview with Carleen McCornack
The Program Coordinator of No One Dies Alone enlightens and uplifts, sharing her experience with death and dying
No One Dies Alone is a wonderfully compassionate, volunteer-driven service pioneered through the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, OR. Carleen McCormack is the Program Coordinator. She can be reached at 541.222.2263 or cmccornack@peacehealth.org. Aurora: What is the history of No … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Aid in Dying, Caregiving, Palliative Care, Spirituality and Belief, Volunteer Services
1 Comment
The Legal Progress of Aid in Dying
Does an Election in Vermont Suggest a Changing Political Reality?
There are a handful of issues in American politics that consistently enflame passions, aggravate divisions, and defy solutions. Debates over the death penalty, abortion, and Second Amendment protection call into question our basic understanding of life and its relation to … Continue reading
