Author Archives: Julie Gesin (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

In Adelaide’s Memory

A grieving mother finds comfort and purpose in creating clothing for children lost through pregnancy

When Keira found out she was pregnant with identical twin girls, her joy doubled. There were two car seats, two cribs, two minds — Keira’s and her husband’s — coming together to figure out how to help these girls find … Continue reading

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“Tenth of December: Stories” by George Saunders

George Saunders' Tenth of December reveals a sparkling moment of hope as fates of a young boy and a terminally ill man intersect

It’s no surprise that George Saunders’ Tenth of December: Stories won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2014. The book was hailed by The New York Times Magazine as “the best book you’ll read this year.” “Tenth of December,” the … Continue reading

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Who is Left to Pay?

In some cultures, lavish funerals take families to the brink of bankruptcy

In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, an impoverished widow spends her last rubles on her husband’s funeral and ends up destitute with her three children. The bitter satire of that chapter can still ring as true today as it did in … Continue reading

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What is DNA Banking? An Interview with Jeff Harbeson, Part Two

The DNA Memorial offers the bereaved a chance to keep the DNA of their dead loved ones close and accessible for future medical advances

Today, in the second part of a two-part interview, SevenPonds speaks with Jeff Harbeson, the CEO of CG Labs in Ontario, Canada and the founder of Family Choice Funerals and Cremations, a Virginia-based company with a vision of becoming the … Continue reading

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What is DNA Banking? An Interview with Jeff Harbeson, Part One

The DNA Memorial offers the bereaved a chance to keep the DNA of their dead loved ones close and accessible for future medical advances

Today, in the first part of a two-part interview, SevenPonds speaks with Jeff Harbeson, the CEO of CG Labs in Ontario, Canada, and the founder of Family Choice Funerals and Cremations, a Virginia-based company with a vision of becoming the … Continue reading

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You Will Laugh, You Will Cry: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s film, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, reveals beauty through the death of a teen

It is not surprising that Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, an award winning coming-of-age film centered on a teen dying of terminal illness, got a standing ovation at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The story follows awkward, insecure … Continue reading

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