Author Archives: Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

“I’ll Be the Water: A Story of a Grandparent’s Love” by Alec Aspinwall

A beautiful illustration of the transcendent bond between child and grandparent
Posted on January 6, 2023 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

“I’ll Be the Water” tells the story of a grandfather’s aging and dying through the eyes of a young boy named Joshua. The two of them engage in numerous adventures together — eating peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches, toasting with ice cream … Continue reading →

Posted in Lending Insight | Leave a comment

Senior Deaths from Drug and Alcohol Abuse are Rising

Death rates from drug overdoses have more than tripled for those 65 and older in the past two decades
Posted on December 28, 2022 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

Two new reports from the Centers for Disease Control show that drug and alcohol abuse are having an increasingly deadly impact on seniors in the United States, similar to their effect on youth. In 2020, more than 5,000 people aged 65 … Continue reading →

Posted in Something Special | Leave a comment

How to Break the News that Someone Has Died

Tips for sensitively sharing a loved one’s death with others
Posted on December 13, 2022 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

“Where were you when you learned Princess Diana had died?” This seemingly innocuous question, common among those who were highschool-aged or older when the British royal princess died in 1997, points to something significant: When, and how, we break the … Continue reading →

Posted in Something Special | Leave a comment

“The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them.”

- Francis Weller
Posted on November 18, 2022 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)
Posted in A Rite of Passage | Leave a comment

The Healing Sound of Singing Bowls

Jesse Stark explains how sound healing creates a positive outlook on life and death
Posted on November 14, 2022 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

Jesse Stark’s first exposure to singing bowls occurred roughly a decade ago when his mother brought a good-sized crystal singing bowl over to his Santa Rosa apartment. They put it down in the middle of his living room, and touched … Continue reading →

Posted in Professional Advice | 1 Comment

“Mortality” by Christopher Hitchens

The bestselling author, fervent anti-theist and respected intellectual explores his cancer and impending death
Posted on October 25, 2022 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

It may be ironic that the first book I’ve read by Christopher Hitchens is his last: “Mortality,” a short memoir of his fatal encounter with esophageal cancer. Beginning with his diagnosis and ending, abruptly, with some unfinished jottings (followed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Lending Insight | Leave a comment