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
Tag Archives: Home Funeral
From The Old American Way of Death to the New American Way
A fan sends me a strong message to please examine the funeral business
As SevenPonds grows, I continue to be deeply touched by fans who reach out to me in a multitude of ways. I receive emails, calls, letters and some even approach me at conferences and events. I cannot begin to tell … Continue reading
An Interview with Jerrigrace Lyons: Part Two
One of the first home funeral consultants shares her wisdom
Jerrigrace Lyons is a family funeral guide and educator—one of the original pioneers of the home funeral movement. She is a founding member of the Home Funeral Alliance, and the founder and director of Final Passages, through which she both guides families … Continue reading
An Interview with Jerrigrace Lyons: Part One
One of the first home funeral consultants shares her wisdom
Jerrigrace Lyons is a family funeral guide and educator—one of the original pioneers of the home funeral movement. She is a founding member of the Home Funeral Alliance, and the founder and director of Final Passages, through which she both guides families … Continue reading
An Interview with Jerrigrace Lyons: The Introduction
One of the first home funeral consultants shares her wisdom
Jerrigrace Lyons is a family funeral guide and educator—one of the original pioneers of the home funeral movement. She is a founding member of the Home Funeral Alliance, and the founder and director of Final Passages, through which she both … Continue reading
What is End-of-Life Planning? An Interview with Sally Shannon
No Time Like the Present: Get your Affairs in Order Today!
Dedicated to helping people prepare for end of life, Sally Shannon is an uplifting life coach, organizer, and home funeral guide. She is a member of the San Francisco Home Funerals Alliance, with a focus on preplanning. Aurora: What does … Continue reading
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 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
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What is a green funeral? An Interview with Esmerelda Kent
The founder of Kinkaraco Green Burial Products talks shrouds
Kinkaraco is a San Francisco based green business, providing elegant biodegradable burial and cremation shrouds, ranging in design from classic to ornate. These shrouds and other green burial products draw from a diverse history of sacred traditions — the company … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Cremation, Green Burial, History, Home Funeral, Shrouds
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Amy’s Choice
How My Family Honored My Sister’s Wish to Die at Home
The following is an account of how my family coped with the death of my sister Amy in our own way by having a home funeral.
My sister Amy battled breast cancer for many years. Wanting to aid her in her quest for recovery, I flew to Ireland to secure an alternative cancer treatment for her. Unfortunately, this was to no avail. A few years later, at the age of 43, Amy became so ill it was apparent she had lost her battle and was dying.
Amy was adamant she did not want to die in a hospital, hooked up to equipment; she wanted to die at her home in Seattle. As her health rapidly deteriorated, my sister Victoria flew from New York City to help Amy’s husband Bob care for her. One morning a week later, I got a call from Bob letting me know it was time for our family to come up to Seattle because Amy was very close to passing. My father and I immediately jumped onto a plane and flew up from San Francisco. My mother Arlene and my other sister Leslie booked a flight for the following morning. Continue reading
