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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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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Tag Archives: AIDS
Man of Many Faces
A niece says goodbye to her favorite gay uncle, in whom she confided about her own sexuality
This is the story of Leslie, as told by Jeanette Geraci. Yesterday, Leslie was cleaning her father’s house when she stumbled upon a folder full of old photographs of her favorite uncle, Norman. In one photograph, Norman was on a … Continue reading
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
Richard Carter’s Post-Mortem Cast “Troy Simon Burdine II”
The History of Death Masks
Troy Simon Burdine II was a casualty of the AIDS epidemic, so rife in the Bay Area during the nineties. Moribund after years of fighting the virus, he petitioned his friend Richard Carter to cast his full body after death. … Continue reading
How Can We Support Men and Women Living with AIDS? An Interview with Michael Smithwick
The Executive Director of Maitri shares the facility's history and offers advice for caring for loved ones
Michael Smithwick is the Executive Director of Maitri, a residential care facility in San Francisco for people living with AIDS. Maitri was founded in 1987 when Zen teacher Issan Dorsey took in a homeless student who was dying of AIDS. The … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged AIDS, AIDS pandemic, Executive director, HIV, Issan Dorsey, Living with AIDS, Maitri, Michael Smithwick, San Francisco
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Franny’s Last Ride by Mike DeStefano
The comedian and storyteller shares his struggle to support his wife at the end of life
Comedian Mike DeStefano died of a heart attack March 6, 2011. In 2007, he appeared with The Moth storytelling organization to tell the story of his wife, Fran, who was dying in hospice after a drug addiction and affliction with … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged AIDS, Comedy, Franny's Last Ride, Hospice, Loss, Mike DeStefano, Substance abuse, The Moth
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“People are never ‘dying’. They live and then they die. And dying is in a moment.”
-Mike DeStefano
The comedian shared this advice from a social worker in his appearance with The Moth storytelling organization to tell “Franny’s Last Ride,” the story of the loss of his wife. Image source.
Posted in Laughter is Medicine
Tagged AIDS, Comedy, end-of-life, Laughter, Mike DeStefano
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The AIDS Crisis and Representations of Heaven in “Angels in America”
The play's poignant, brutally honest take on the physical, mental, emotional crisis of an AIDS patient
Tony Kushner’s Angels in America is almost too big to discuss: a sprawling three-part, six-hour play ambitiously covering themes ranging from love and abandonment, to homosexuality and Mormonism, to faith and religion, to disease and dying, to politics and justice, … Continue reading
Posted in Lending Insight
Tagged AIDS, Angels, Angels in America, Death and Dying, Heaven and Hell, terminal illness
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Commemorating one of the gravest end-of-life issues our world faces
The National AIDS Memorial Grove commemorates our culture's epic struggle
San Francisco Representative Nancy Pelosi, who famously said in 1987 that she came to Congress to help fight AIDS, was honored in San Francisco in April. She joined the Community Volunteer Workday at the National AIDS Memorial Grove to commemorate … Continue reading
Green Burial Makes its Way to South Africa
The country opens its first eco-cemetery.
Last month, South Africa opened the country’s first green cemetery. Weisenhof Legacy Park was created within the oldest privately-owned nature reserve in the country. The park set aside a portion of its space for burial and memorial sites. It will … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged AIDS, ash scattering, Burial, Cemetery, Cremation, Crematorium, Eco-cemetery, Green Burial, Natural burial, South Africa
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AIDS at 30 Years — Positive Developments at Last
Thanks to Aggressive Spending Initiatives, Worldwide HIV Infections Are Leveling Off, But Many Challenges Lie Ahead
A cure for AIDS has been discovered, if only for one person. After receiving a bone marrow transplant from an individual with a genetic immunity to the disease — about one percent of Caucasians carry such an immunity — Timothy … Continue reading