WELCOME TO OUR BLOG
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
Category Archives: Something Special
Understanding Suicide
An infographic reveals crucial information on suicide's connections with culture, race, gender and history
We always enjoy hearing from our readers here at SevenPonds, as one of the website’s principal goals is to create a comfortable space for a dialogue on death and dying. And so it was a pleasure to receive an e-mail … Continue reading
TIME’s Joe Klein Talks End-of-Life Care in His Article “The Long Goodbye”
Klein recounts how the Geisinger Health System cared for his dying parents with an integral combination of clarity and sensitivity
“The circumstances of their deaths were not unusual,” begins TIME journalist Joe Klein, “[as] many of my friends have been through similar experiences with their parents in recent years.” Klein was referring to the painful and dizzying task of finding … Continue reading
“You Are All Going To Die” The Wesleyan University Commencement Address by Joss Whedon
"You are going to change the world because that is actually what the world is. You do not pass through this life, it passes through you."
Joss Whedon is a successful script writer with a strong cult following. His work in television includes the series Roseanne, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as the Hollywood blockbusters Speed, Alien: Resurrection, and Toy Story. Graduating from … Continue reading
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9 Facts About Life I’ve Learned from Writing About Death
Life lessons from end-of-life industry experts, medical professionals and those grieving loss
This month will mark my last as a blog writer for SevenPonds. I joined this team two years ago as a young writer with little insight into the end-of-life industry, only knowing that I agreed with our founder Suzette that … Continue reading
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Tagged Death, End-of-life care, End-of-Life Planning, Health, Life lessons, Palliative Care
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Traditional U.S. Military Funeral Service
How will you honor lost loved ones this Memorial Day?
Can you resist feeling moved when you hear the fire of the three-gun salute and the playing of Taps at a military funeral service? When I hear that — even when I see it in a movie! — I can’t help … Continue reading
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Tagged Funeral Service, Honoring Veterans, Memorial Day, Memorial Music, Remembrance, Taps, U.S. Military
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Vermont Passes Aid-in-Dying Legislation
Multi-year campaign pays off for supporters of choice at the end of life
Thank you, Compassion and Choices for sharing this news with us: Today, an important victory for advocates of end-of-life choice. The Vermont legislature passed the Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act. The bill is similar to Oregon’s … Continue reading
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The Fantastical Photography of Kirsty Mitchell: A Tribute to Her Mother
How the photographer memorialized her mother by creating a world of fairy tales inspired by her childhood
Kirsty Mitchell has been working on a project four years in the making, where she photographs fantastical, wildly radiant scenes of fairy-tail women in elaborate costumes. These story-book images are a tribute to the artist’s mother, who died in November … Continue reading
In the News: Will Vermont Be the First Legislature to Approve an Aid-in-Dying Bill?
This week they debate a bill similar to Oregon and Washington state ballot initiative laws
Before the Vermont legislature is set to adjourn Saturday, the Senate is still uncertain whether it will pass aid-in-dying legislation, modeled after Oregon’s and Washington state’s Death with Dignity laws approved via ballot initiatives (rather than in legislation). Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin … Continue reading
FAST Stroke Detection: Resources to Help You Be Prepared
Grab these free resources to help you detect and act if someone is having a stroke.
Do you know this acronym to help you detect the signs of a stroke? Face: Does the face look uneven? Arms: Does one arm drift down? Speech: Does their speech sound slurred or strange? Time: If you detect any of … Continue reading
10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know
NHPCO stresses that hospice is about living fully, not preparing for death.
Thank you to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization for sharing these facts with us! Some people have the wrong idea about hospice care. They think that hospice is only about dying and that hospice is the place you go when … Continue reading
Lotta’s Fountain and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
A San Francisco landmark is a poignant reminder of the past
Today marks the 107th anniversary of the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Every year on this day, residents of San Francisco gather around Lotta’s fountain (located at the intersection of Market, Geary and Kearny) to commemorate that moment of silence, right … Continue reading
All Americans Encouraged to Learn about Advance Care Planning on National Healthcare Decisions Day
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization stresses the importance of talking with your loved ones.
Yesterday was Healthcare Decisions Day and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization took the opportunity to stress the importance of people talking frankly about the care they would or would not want if ever faced with a serious medical … Continue reading
A Unique San Francisco Support Group for Children’s Grief “Josie’s Place”
Announces an evening benefitting grieving children and families entitled "Hope Springs"
More than a year ago I became aware of Josie’s Place, a San Francisco Bay Area support group for children and teens who have lost a loved one. The founder, Patricia Murphy, lost her own mother when she was a … Continue reading
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Tagged Bereavement, Children, Children and Death, Children and Grieving, Children's Grief, Fund Raiser, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Grief support, helping children cope with loss, How to Talk to Children About Death, Josie's Place, San Francisco Bay Area, Support group, Teens, Young Children and Death
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Remembering “Brownie Mary”, an Unexpected Angel to AIDS Patients in San Francisco
Today is the 14th anniversary of the death of the famed medical cannabis activist of the 1980s and '90s.
Today is the 14th anniversary of the death of Mary Jane Rathbun, better known as “Brownie Mary”, a medical cannabis activist and San Francisco General Hospital volunteer. Rathbun became known in the 1980s and ’90s for illegally distributing pot brownies … Continue reading
Does “Sick Lit” Romanticize Dying for Teens?
The young adult genre deals with sensitive issues like death, illness, and suicide.
“Sick lit”, a sub-genre of literature that features characters who are struggling with physical or mental illness, or coping with issues like suicide or self-mutilation, or loss, has created a bit of a buzz in the media lately. The novels … Continue reading
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Tagged Arts, Book, Guardian, Literature, Self-harm, Sick lit, Young-adult fiction
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10 Ways You Can Help a Loved One With Alzheimer’s Survive Hospitalization
Provide comfort and hope in a time of fear and confusion.
This is a post by Marguerite Manteau-Rao, who blogs about mindfulness practice at Mind Deep. Marguerite’s 90-year-old mother lives with Alzheimer’s. She wrote this post in response to a belittling and aggravating experience when her mother was hospitalized after a … Continue reading
How to Write Your Own Obituary by Brad Melzter
The author talks about living your life to leave the legacy you desire.
Author Brad Meltzer was so concerned about what would be in his obituary that he hired someone to write it while he could still read it. In this TEDx talk, he talks about the importance and impact to what’s in … Continue reading
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Tagged After Death Planning Guide, Brad Meltzer, How to Write an Obituary, Obituary, TEDx
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Twitter Chats on End of Life and Health Care
Chat with end-of-life professionals and peers through your favorite social network!
Want a chance to talk with health care and end-of-life professionals and peers from the comfort of your own home? We’ve compiled the list below of Twitter chats on a variety of health care and end-of-life topics. Through these regularly-scheduled … Continue reading
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Tagged Dana Lewis, end-of-life, Health care, Joel Fuhrman, Online chat, Terri O'Connell, TweetChat, Twitter, Twitter Chats
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This American Life on School Violence and Student Deaths
The Harper High School story reminds us that death and violence still happen every day.
In the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, the storytellers at This American Life brought us a show recently to remind us that student death and gun violence aren’t all that unfamiliar in many of America’s schools. The … Continue reading
Death Cafes Create a New Kind of Space to Talk about Death and Dying
They're popping up all around the world now and prompting this important conversation.
Sometimes you just need to talk about death. You don’t need a therapist. You don’t need a self-help book. You don’t need a support group. You just need to say the word death and talk about what it means to you … Continue reading
