Author Archives: Kimberly Lane (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

Transforming Loss (2013) by Judith R. Burdick

Director Judith R. Burdick shows how grief can help surviving family members strive to make the world a better place

The death of a loved one is never easy. Whether the loss is sudden and unexpected, or if it is a long time coming, the grief that we feel in the moments, days, or even years after losing someone who … Continue reading

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Bringing the Spirit Home in Xhosa Burial Rituals

How the funeral rites of the Xhosa people of South Africa can transform a spirit into an ancestral guide

For most people, the culture, traditions, and even the existence of the Xhosa people would have remained unknown were it not for the death of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela. Although the world will mourn his loss for years to come, with … Continue reading

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How to Communicate with a Friend from Beyond the Grave

Friendship will always trump death
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”Suggestion to persons entering heaven: leave your dog outside. Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and the dog would go in.”

-Mark Twain
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Embracing Death with the Jain Ritual of Santhara

A look at the spiritually liberating Jain ritual of fasting to death at the end of life

For most of us, learning to embrace death is the most difficult challenge of our lives. We all die, whether we want to or not. Many of us may find out more about ourselves in our final moments than we … Continue reading

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What can the Funeral Consumers Alliance do for you? An Interview with Marjorie Bridges

Marjorie Bridges informs us on the many resources that the FCA provides to help plan funeral and memorial services

Today SevenPonds talks with Marjorie Bridges, who has been an active volunteer with Funeral Consumers Alliance of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties for 15 years. A former president of the FCA and its sister non-profit, Funeral Education Foundation, lately she … Continue reading

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