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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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10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know" />
10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know: NHPCO stresses that hospice is about living fully, not preparing for death. -
Man of Many Faces" />
Man of Many Faces: A niece says goodbye to her favorite gay uncle, in whom she confided about her own sexuality -
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off" />
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off: A look at the religion's final prayer procession for the dying
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Author Archives: Kelly Larsen (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)
What is Green Cremation? An Interview with George Frankel
The CEO of Eternal Reefs talks conservation memorialization and shares his wisdom
George Frankel has served as CEO of Eternal Reefs, Inc. since 2000, and has recently been appointed to the Green Burial Council Advisory Board. All photos courtesy of Eternal Reefs’s website. Kelly: For those who may not be familiar, what … Continue reading
Parting Ways
Katherine Gallagher's poem shows that everything is about perspective
I chose this week’s poem because I loved its mixture of imagery and metaphor. Its title alone, “Cloud-Eye,” foreshadows this use of figurative language. And incidentally, foreshadowing is an important part of the poem as well. Katherine Gallagher uses each … Continue reading
Posted in The Next Chapter
Tagged Cloud-Eye, Katherine Gallagher, Katherine Gallagher Poems, Poems About Loss
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“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Photo Credit: Hawaiian SeaMonkey
Honoring an Old Friend
Robert Burns's "Epitaph on William Muir" offers a sweet final farewell
Photo Credit: deshow.net Written for a good friend of his, “Epitaph on William Muir,” by Robert Burns, is everything an epitaph should be: it conveys love and reverence, and shows hope for Muir, rather than pessimism. It’s brief, but still meaningful: … Continue reading
Posted in The Next Chapter
Tagged Epitaph on William Muir, Famous Epitaphs, Robert Burns, Robert Burns Poems
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The “Unity” of Life and Death
Jay DeFoe's masterpiece, "The Rose," brings two opposite concepts together
Photo Credit: abstract-art.com “Death has kind of a negative connotation,” artist Jay DeFeo once said when speaking of her life’s major work, The Rose. She wanted the piece to represent the “unity” of life and death, not merely death. Completed … Continue reading
The Perfection of “Perfection Wasted”
The lovely John Updike poem turns a simple idea into so much more
Photo Credit: The Weather Channel Sometimes, there are obvious truths in life that, when pointed out, take on a whole new meaning. At least, that’s how I felt after I read “Perfection Wasted,” by John Updike. Maybe my opinion of … Continue reading
“We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.”
-Bryan White
Photo Credit: Moving Again
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
-Albert Camus
Photo Credit: 4shared
Looking Forward
Delmore Schwartz's famous short story illustrates that it's the future we can change, not the past
Photo Credit: Crandell Theatre I was cleaning out my garage the other day, and I found a book of short stories that I had bought for a class in college. I immediately went to the table of contents and searched … Continue reading
Finding Happiness
Christina Rossetti reminds us that grief need not be permanent
Photo Credit: myheartramblings Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” took me somewhat by surprise. The final message in the poem is that, in a sense, ignorance is bliss; Rossetti feels that not thinking about a loss and therefore not feeling the emotional pain … Continue reading
“My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn’t pay the bill he gave me six months more.”
-Walter Matthau
Photo Credit: myzerowaste.com
Posted in Laughter is Medicine
Tagged Funny Quotes about Life, Walter Matthau, Walter Matthau Quotes
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“Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come, whispering that it will be happier.”
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Photo Credit: Be in the Know
Posted in A Right of Passage
Tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, Quotes about New Year's, Tennyson Quotes
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The Year’s “Death”
William Cullen Bryant compares the end of the year to the end-of-life experience
It’s the end of the year; what a fitting time for a blog about, well, “the end.” And just as fittingly, this week’s selection is “A Song for New Year’s Eve,” by William Cullen Bryant. The piece is about how … Continue reading
Art and the Death Penalty
Artist Julie Green's "The Last Supper" exhibit makes a major statement about the death penalty
Photo Credit: Joan Mitchell Foundation In an effort to illuminate the gravity of the death penalty issue, Julie Green, an associate professor of art at Oregon State University, has painted a series of 500 plates depicting the final meal requests … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Death Penalty, Julie Green, The Last Supper, The Last Supper Exhibit
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The Holiday Spirit
The poem that inspired "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" carries an important message
Photo Credit: wallpaperhere.com You’ve probably heard the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” at some point (maybe even this Christmas season), but did you know that it was inspired by a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? The … Continue reading
“Did you ever notice that life seems to follow certain patterns? Like I noticed that every year around this time, I hear Christmas music.”
-Tom Sims
Photo Credit: Positive Life Radio
Posted in Laughter is Medicine
Tagged Quotes about Christmas, Tom Sims, Tom Sims Funny Quote, Tom Sims Quotes
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“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.”
-John W. Gardner
Photo Credit: katemalinoski.wordpress.com
Posted in A Right of Passage
Tagged John W. Gardner, John W. Gardner Quotes, Life Quotes, Quotes about Life
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The Inevitability of Grief
Discussing this unavoidable state as it pertains to "The Changeling"
A couple months ago, I mentioned a book of plays that I had loaned to my mom. I didn’t think I’d ever bring that story up on this site again, but in fact, this week I’m examining a passage from … Continue reading
Dealing with Grief
Ted Kooser's "New Moon" illustrates how difficult it can be to handle sorrow
Photo Credit: Farmers’ Almanac Reading Ted Kooser’s poem “New Moon” got me thinking about when I find the moon most beautiful. I have to say, I don’t think anything tops a brightly-lit full moon that almost makes it seem like … Continue reading
Posted in The Next Chapter
Tagged New Moon, New Moon Poem, Poems about Grief, Poems about Sorrow, Ted Kooser
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