The Family Plot Blog
July 21: Free Habitat for Humanity Funeral Planning Talk
On Friday, July 21 at noon, Gail Rubin presents “A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die” at the conference room next to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore at 4900 Menaul Blvd. NE. Despite the fact that humans have a 100% mortality rate, less than 25% of adults do any end-of-life planning: wills or trusts, advance medical directives and pre-need funeral planning. That means 75% of our loved ones will scramble to collect...
July 19: Free Habitat for Humanity Downsizing Talk
On Wednesday, July 19 at noon, Gail Rubin presents "Kicking the Bucket List: Downsizing Things to Do Before You Die" at the conference room next to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore at 4900 Menaul Blvd. NE. Do you plan to live forever? Do you ever plan to move? Depending on where you're going, you can't take it with you. Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, will show you how to: tackle downsizing without being overwhelmed evaluate what to keep,...
Easy How To Tips for Writing a Condolence Card or Note
Use journalism’s “Five Ws” to guide your way writing as condolence card or sympathy note: Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
Green Burial Interest Keeps Growing
Interest in green burial keeps growing, and funeral homes are starting to take notice. "This is How I Want to Be Dead," an opinion column by Richard Conniff in the New York Times, is generating hundreds of comments about green burial and other alternatives to the "traditional" funeral. Among the topics he covers: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, conventional cemeteries and conservation burial grounds. From his column: It might be tempting to...
Death Cafe Founder Lived Life to the Fullest
The world of those who start positive conversations about mortality issues was shaken this week with news of the death of Jon Underwood, 44, founder of the international Death Cafe movement. 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.” When announcing the news at the DeathCafe.com website, his wife Donna Molloy wrote, "Through his work helping people...
Celebrating the Life of Death Cafe Founder Jon Underwood
Jon Underwood, founder of the Death Cafe movement which has grown to 51 countries worldwide, died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage caused by undiagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. The news was reported today by his family on the Death Cafe website. His wife Donna Molloy wrote, "As you all know the objective of Death Cafe is helping us all 'make the most of our finite lives'. With shocking poignancy on...
July 15: Albuquerque Death Cafe
Mark your calendars to attend the next Albuquerque Death Cafe, scheduled for Saturday, July 15, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Gail Rubin’s home. 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 an interesting, unstructured conversation – open and free-flowing with no specific agenda and respectful of all points of view. It’s an opportunity to discuss...
July 12: Jewish Funeral Traditions Osher Class
UPDATE: This class has been cancelled due to low registration numbers. Curious about Jewish funeral traditions? In an interfaith relationship and want to know more about your partner's Jewish roots? Sign up for this Osher Lifelong Learning Institute class on Wednesday, July 12 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Continuing Education Center, 1634 University Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131 (located on the NE side of Indian...
Newsflash: Funeral Planning Not A Priority For Americans
Funeral planning is a serious consumer issue, yet Americans persist in NOT planning ahead for their eventual mortality. It's even worse than I thought. For the fifth consecutive year, the National Funeral Directors Association's (NFDA) annual Consumer Awareness and Preferences Study indicates that consumers acknowledge the importance of preplanning their own funeral, but fail to do so in practice. This year's findings reveal that 62.5 percent...
June 25: Meet the Author Book Signing at NM Arts & Crafts Fair
The 56th annual New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair ranks among the largest events in the state and one of the top arts shows in the nation. With a book signing event with Gail Rubin, author of KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die and other books, it's a hotbed of art and literature! Look for Gail at the LPD Press/Rio Grande Books booths at EXPO New Mexico on Sunday, June 25 between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00...
Funeral Directors: What Are Your Biggest Changes and Challenges?
When the award-winning book A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die was published in 2010, funeral service was quite different. A lot has changed in seven years, and author Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, wants funeral director input for updates to the second edition. “In November of 2010 when A Good Goodbye first came out, the national cremation rate was still under 50%, death discussion movements like the Death...
Introducing the First “Before I Die” Albuquerque Festival
Even though humans have a 100% mortality rate, less than 30% of us make any end-of-life plans. What will get adults to discuss and plan for their eventual demise? Put some "fun" in funeral planning to get people to discuss this serious topic. Announcing the inaugural “Before I Die” Albuquerque Festival, to be held Friday, October 20 to Wednesday, October 25, 2017 at various locations around Albuquerque, New Mexico. The six-day festival offers...
Home Funerals Explained on Redfin Real Estate Site
You don't expect to find an article about home funerals on a real estate website. But, homes are where you would hold a home funeral, and the real estate website Redfin recently posted this story about how to plan a home memorial service. "As the project manager for this article, I wanted to create a piece of content that related to the importance of a home outside of investment, decor, or upkeep advice," said Bailey Chauner with Redfin....
SouthWest Writers Interview with Gail Rubin
The respected writers organization SouthWest Writers recently posted an interview with Gail Rubin about her latest book, KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die. Here is a portion of the Q&A related to KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: What’s your elevator pitch for Kicking the Bucket List? Kicking the Bucket List is two-thirds about downsizing and one-third about organizing for end-of-life issues. We’re...
TEDMED Talk: Lucy Kalanithi on Living Fully When Facing Death
A friend recommended this TED talk presented by Lucy Kalanithi, "What Makes Life Worth Living in the Face of Death." It's a thoughtful discussion of medical care, end-of-life issues and choices. Lucy Kalanithi is the widow of neurosurgeon and writer Paul Kalanithi, who was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer at age 36. She's also an internist at Stanford. Shortly after his diagnosis, Paul wrote about his transformation from doctor to patient,...
Loving Our Pets, and People Too
Here's some news you can use if you are a pet parent. My article titled "What is a Pet Trust and How Can It Protect Your Furry Friend?" recently ran on the popular women's website, Sixty and Me. You can also read the story on The Family Plot Blog. Need a little push to get those downsizing and end-of-life plans in place? Attend this June 13 University of New Mexico Continuing Education class, “Keys to Downsize and Organize Your Life.” The class...
How To Protect Your Pet With a Pet Trust
As I write this, my big black cat Ilsa is stretched out on my desk, snoozing on top of my calendar organizer. Her little sister Yvonne stares intently out the window at the enticing birdies she can’t reach and kill. Such a blessing, our pets. But what would happen to Ilsa and Yvonne should my husband and I die, or no longer be able to care for them? These scenarios that we don’t want to think about are good reasons to set up a pet trust. What’s...
June 13: Osher Class on End-of-Life Downsizing and Organizing
Need a little push to get those downsizing and end-of-life plans in place? Attend this June 13 University of New Mexico Continuing Education class, "Keys to Downsize and Organize Your Life." The class, taught by Certified Thanatologist Gail Rubin, will take place at Del Webb Alegria Active Adult Community in Bernalillo from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Here's the class description: You don’t have to be old or dying to downsize. When you’ve lived in the...
Memorial Day Stories at Sunset Memorial Park
For Memorial Day 2017, Sunset Memorial Park here in Albuquerque, New Mexico hosted a unique storytelling event honoring those U.S. servicemen and women who died in wars. The storytellers were actors who looked like green toy soldiers. "On a day like today, for many of us it's a day off, it's barbecues, it's time for family, and it is. It should be all of those things, but the reason we have all of that available to us is that there are people...
Love New Hampshire’s Motto: Live Free or Die
Just got back from New Hampshire, the Granite State with the motto "Live Free or Die." Of course, you can live free or not. Given humans' 100% mortality rate, the "Die" part is not optional. Phaneuf Funeral Homes & Crematorium in Manchester held two community outreach education events on May 23 with Gail Rubin presenting "Kicking the Bucket List: Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die." Approximately 75 people attended the...
June 17: Albuquerque Death Cafe
Mark your calendars to attend the next Albuquerque Death Cafe, scheduled for Saturday, June 17, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Gail Rubin’s home. 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 an interesting, unstructured conversation – open and free-flowing with no specific agenda and respectful of all points of view. It’s an opportunity to discuss...