Eleven Memorial Day Quotes
Memorial Day pays tribute to those who have given their lives in service to a greater ideal. It’s a sacrifice unfathomable to many. Whether you visit a graveyard or observe these deaths in other ways, what words or thoughts are sufficient to pay homage to those who have died for something larger than themselves?
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“My Brother” by Effie Waller Smith
Effie Waller Smith was famous for her poems describing the Appalachian Mountains, where she grew up.
Born to formerly enslaved parents in the rural mountain community of Chloe Creek, Kentucky, Effie Waller Smith was a prolific poet in the early 20th century. She is most notable for achieving moderate literary success despite being a woman and a person of color during a time of widespread racism and sexism, but her artistry with words stands as a testament to her consummate skills. In her poem “My Brother,” about her youngest sibling, Marvin, she was able to encapsulate the unique grief associated with losing someone while they were in the prime of their life. Continue reading
“Lord We Get High” by The Fox Hunt 
Fiddles soar over a slow marching guitar strummed in time with a deep, pulsating upright bass. The sweet, sorrowful melody feels innately funerary. With a rhythm like footsteps approaching a gravesite, equal parts trepidation and determination, the beauty in the tune is that of sunshine pouring over a headstone on a perfect spring morning, or bar lights mixing with whiskey. But this is the music of rising things, of people standing to honor the dead, invisible spirits lifting into an unfathomably blue sky, glasses held high overhead.
“Life” by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte
As well as being a talented novelist, Charlotte Bronte was a skilled poet. Consider “Life,” which conveys the beautiful message that people can go on despite having experienced grief.
Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall ?
Bronte is refreshingly optimistic throughout: life is not as dark as many believe. “Life” goes on:
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The Science of Death
Image from science.org
A new, limited podcast from Science, a magazine published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, will explore death from a variety of scientific perspectives, a “hot topic” right now, as noted in the short preview of the series on April 25. Hosted by journalist Angela Saini, the series will air monthly, and feature conversations with the authors of six books that tackle the universal condition of mortality. Each episode promises unique and specialized insights into the science of death that range from biological to technological and expand to the ticking clock of the universe itself. Continue reading
Heart Disease in Rural U.S. Rising Among Younger Adults
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash
From 2010 to 2022, there was a 21% increase in death from heart disease among rural adults ages 25 to 64, with a major spike beginning in 2020. A study — the first national analysis of heart disease in rural areas during COVID-19, and published online in late 2024 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology — found that cardiovascular mortality increased by 8.1% for people living in rural areas between 2019 and 2022, compared with an increase of 3.6% for those in urban locations.
Who Cares for the Caregivers?: 
Final Messages of the Dying: 
Will I Die in Pain?: 
