The Family Plot Blog
EternityGardens.com Sponsors Before I Die Festival in New Mexico
Two pioneers in death education, Gail Rubin, CT, and EternityGardens.com, a funeral industry technology platform, have teamed up to help people talk about and plan ahead for end-of-life issues. EternityGardens.com is the first national sponsor of the Before I Die ABQ Festival, taking place in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe metro markets October 30 to November 4, 2018. Chicago-based EternityGardens.com provides a website that connects individuals and...
Death News: Green Burial, Decomposition, Obituary Scams, and Buying Local Urns
It's the day after Easter. As the days get longer, we celebrate spring and the revival of life after a cold, dark winter. Here are several recent news stories about new trends in death, including how decomposition works, green burial, how to avoid scammers who harvest information from obituaries, and how one funeral home is buying local artists' urns to offer their customers. The New York Times, March 31, 2018: Decomposition: An Easter Story...
April 29: Share your thoughts at the next Death Cafe
The objective of the Death Cafe is “To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” It’s all about an interesting, unstructured conversation – open and free-flowing with no specific agenda. The Death Cafe concept was started in the United Kingdom by Jon Underwood. He was influenced by the ideas of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who started holding Cafe Mortel events in France and...
Lessons on Grief and Mourning in Cartoons
Who can resist Saturday morning cartoons? Come laugh and learn at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 21 at the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association's (ICCFA) annual convention in Las Vegas, NV. At that time, Certified Thanatologist Gail Rubin will present "Lessons on Grief and Mourning in Cartoons." Animated movies designed for children can also address the grief of adults. This presentation incorporates clips from popular...
Couples Focus on Winning The Newly-Dead Game
Since 2011, The Newly-Dead Game® has been a feature of the wild and wacky Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival. At the 2018 event, four different couples competed in three sessions of the game. The Newly-Dead Game® tests how well couples know their partners' last wishes. Each session takes about 20 minutes to complete with four couples playing. An emcee (in this case, game creator Gail Rubin) explains the rules: The emcee will ask all four couples...
Ease Pet Loss Issues with EternityGardens.com
The market for pet funerals, cremations, and burial is characterized as the fastest-growing segment of the US funeral industry. In a recent report by the Pet Loss Professionals Association, as many as 1.9 million pets were mourned with a funeral service – with the vast number of those pets being cremated. EternityGardens.com, a technology platform that connects cremation families with cemeteries and scattering services where they can lay to...
Trey Ganem’s Personalized Caskets Featured on National TV
The reporter on the NBC-TV story called Trey Ganem "The Louis Vuitton of the casket industry." Based in tiny Edna, Texas, his highly-personalized caskets are available at a comparable cost to ordinary caskets, yet they are incredibly personalized. Many run $2,000 to $4,000 and can be delivered in 24 hours. I first met Trey Ganem at the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association's convention and expo in 2014. Check out this...
Popular Mechanics on Cremation and Memorialization
"Burning Out: What Really Happens Inside a Crematorium," a huge feature story in the March 2018 issue of Popular Mechanics, covers just about everything you'd want to know about cremation. You can read the full article by Caren Chesler online. Among the topics covered in this impressive article: Cemeteries and columbaria - how the growing trend toward cremation is changing memorialization of the dead. Why the U.S. cremation rate skyrocketed...
Grandpa’s in the TUFF SHED at Frozen Dead Guy Days
Frozen Dead Guy Days, held March 9-11, 2018, a wild and wacky celebration of all things dead and frozen, is coming soon! The festival features a parade of hearses, coffin races on a snowy obstacle course, costumed polar plunging, frozen T-shirt contests, The Newly-Dead Game®, music, parties, and much more. Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death® and creator of The Newly-Dead Game®, will host screenings of the 25-minute 1998 documentary, “Grandpa’s in...
Pre-Need Funeral Planning in the News
The New York Times and the Huffington Post in Canada just ran separate articles on pre-need funeral planning. I hope this prompts more people to take action and actually plan ahead for this inevitable life cycle event. Smarter Living (and Dying!) The New York Times Smarter Living section ran Want to Plan for Your Death and Funeral? Here's How on February 20, 2018. The story by Christine Colby covers: What constitutes pre-need funeral...
If Your Home Was on Fire, What Would You Save?
If your house was on fire and you had one minute to grab any item, what would you take and why? National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday featured an interview with actresses Ellen Burstyn and Amber Tamblyn talking with host Lulu Garcia-Navarro about their latest film project, Nostalgia. In this seven-and-a-half minute interview, they discuss the value we place on the objects in our lives. The ensemble cast includes Jon Hamm and Catherine...
Can You Actually Benefit from Sadness?
We live in an era when sadness is avoided at great cost to our emotional psyches. Funerals are now celebrations of life. Even though death and loss breaks hearts, many people strive to stay positive and upbeat. “Must not cry” is the unconscious mantra of many grievers – and it’s harmful. In “The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage,” a TEDWomen 2017 talk by psychologist Susan David, she explains why it’s good to embrace so-called “negative”...
Dogs Find Lost Cremated Remains and Other News
Keeping the cremated remains of loved ones around the house? This NPR story on Weekend Edition Sunday will make you consider finding a permanent final resting place for those remains. Forensic Search Dogs Sniff Out Human Ashes in Wildfire Wreckage takes listeners to Santa Rosa, California, where wildfires in October reduced hundreds of homes to ashes. How do you find human ashes within home ashes? These amazing dogs are finding them and helping...
How to Decompose Naturally and Other News
Is minimizing your post-mortem carbon footprint a concern for you? Mark your calendar for February 17, to attend "Green Burial Options in New Mexico," my talk at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park. There's more info below, along with a blog post about tips to make pet loss more bearable and eco-friendly. February 14, there's "Do This For The People You Love," a talk on downsizing and organizing for end-of-life issues. Scroll down for more...
The Funny Obituary for Terry Ward That Went Viral
When a well-written obituary goes viral, it confirms that our life stories are worthy of sharing. Terry Ward's obituary, written by his daughter Jean Lahm, will have you laughing and wishing you knew the man. She works at Geisen Funeral Home, and knew the obituary had to match her dad's personality. Here's what appeared on the Geisen Funeral Homes' website: Terry Wayne Ward, age 71, of DeMotte, IN, escaped this mortal realm on Tuesday, January...
Feb. 24: ABQ Death Cafe
The next Albuquerque Death Cafe will be held Saturday, February 24, 2018, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. This event will take place in the Community Room at Manzano Del Sol Village, 5201 Roma NE, Albuquerque. It is located just south of Lomas Blvd. and just west of San Mateo Blvd. Refreshments will be provided. The event is free and donations are welcome. Send a note to Gail [at] AGoodGoodbye.com to RSVP. As an alternative, join the Albuquerque Death...
A Week’s Worth of Interesting Death News
Over the past week, I've seen some interesting news stories and opinion pieces on death, cleaning up after "lonely" deaths in Japan, what cremated remains mean to us, clutter clearing, dementia-specific advance directives, and a TED talk video on the importance of talking about your death while you are still healthy. Click on the headlines to read each story. Death: The Greatest Teacher Lion's Roar January 12, 2018 by Judy Leif -- The Buddha...
Five Tips About Eco-Friendly Pet Cremation You Need to Know NOW
There’s never a convenient time for a pet to die. But according Phillip Vallelunga from Adoring Pet Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Fraser, Michigan, pet owners can take these key steps to ease the pain of saying goodbye to a beloved dog, cat or other companion animal. 1. Pets are part of the family. Just like our human relatives, pets deserve a dignified and personalized memorial service. This recognition can help process the intense...
Feb. 17: Green Burial Options in New Mexico
In New Mexico's high desert climate, “green” burial is actually “brown” burial. However, you have many options to minimize your after-death carbon footprint. Make your final disposition more eco-friendly by avoiding embalming, rethinking cremation, choosing biodegradable caskets and urns, and even considering holding a home/DIY funeral. Come learn about your options for returning to the earth as naturally as possible in the Land of...
Review: Caitlin Doughty’s New Book ‘From Here to Eternity’
Caitlin Doughty is a woman on a mission to redefine death. Most of the established funeral industry can't stand her, and in her newest book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find The Good Death, you sense the feeling is mutual. Yet, when it comes to discussing death and funerals, she is making an impact. Doughty has made remarkable strides over the past few years to get people, especially younger people, to discuss mortality...
News and Videos on Life and Death
These past two weeks we've had news stories about celebrity deaths, funeral business developments, and a nuclear annihilation false alarm. Could the zeitgeist be shifting to discussing death honestly? Links to these and other news stories follow. There's an Albuquerque Death Cafe at my house this Saturday, January 20 at 3:00 p.m. Please email Gail[at]AGoodGoodbye.com if you'd like to attend and I'll send you directions. It's going to be a big...