The Family Plot Blog
Downsize Before Death With This Helpful Book
Do you plan to live forever? Good for you! Do you ever plan to move? Depending on where you’re going, you can’t take it with you. KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die is your guide to a clean house and a clear mind. LEARN MORE HERE Kicking the Bucket List has a foreword by funeral director Amy Cunningham, who provides a thoughtful introduction to the idea of downsizing and preparing for end-of-life....
More Obituaries Weighing in on Election 2016 Choices
In greater numbers than ever before, the dead are making presidential vote requests in their obituaries. Obituary website Legacy.com's vice president for operations Katie Falzone was interviewed on Weekend Edition about the growing number of vote requests included in ever more colorful obituaries. For example: When Elaine Fydrych in New Jersey passed away at the age of 63, her obituary included the request, "in lieu of flowers, please do not...
New Mexico’s highest court denies right to aid in dying
Yesterday, the New Mexico Supreme Court killed any hopes for a court-approved route for the state to allow physician aid to help terminally ill patients achieve a peaceful death. The next step in the journey is through the state legislature. The headline in the Albuquerque Journal was confusing: "New Mexico assisted suicide law affirmed." New Mexico’s highest court Thursday said there is no fundamental or even important right under the state...
Live Long and Prosper: Star Ship Enterprise Featured in Smithsonian
The original Star Trek spaceship Enterprise is now enshrined in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum's main Hall of Flight. The 11-foot long model of the ship from the original TV series, last remodeled in 1967, was rescued from deterioration in the museum's gift shop by museum conservator Malcolm Collum. This article in the Washington Post detailed the changes made in the restoration. From the story: When Paramount donated the ship to the...
![[Video] Examining Grief Reactions on A Good Goodbye TV](https://i0.wp.com/agoodgoodbye.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/diane-polasky.jpg?resize=241%2C250&ssl=1)
[Video] Examining Grief Reactions on A Good Goodbye TV
Grief can affect us physically in many different ways. This episode of A Good Goodbye TV, now available on YouTube, features Dr. Diane Polasky, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and certified death educator, discussing what individuals can do to recognize and embrace the grieving process. In this 25-minute conversation with host Gail Rubin, CT, she explains: The differences between grief over anticipated death versus traumatic deaths What parts of...
Hearses Through History at AFDA is a Hit!
The Alabama Funeral Directors Association held the 130th annual meeting of their members June 19 to 22, 2016 at the beautiful Grand Hotel Resort at Point Clear, AL. It's amazing to think this organization has gathered every year since 1886. This year, they proudly elected their first woman funeral director president: Carrell Ann Wyatt Spears from Wyatt Funeral Home in Opp, Alabama. Congratulations to Carrell Ann! Immediate past president Doug...
Eliminate Household Clutter Before You Go Crazy
For the next twenty years, an average of 10,000 people each day will reach age 65. All those retiring baby boomers face major life changes which may include downsizing into smaller living quarters, retirement communities or assisted living settings. When you’ve lived in the same place for years, stuff tends to accumulate. Here are seven ways to reduce materials goods before making a move. Decide Your Approach There are different ways to tackle...
![[Video] Funeral Costs Examined on A Good Goodbye TV](https://i0.wp.com/agoodgoodbye.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Jeff-Harbeson-2.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
[Video] Funeral Costs Examined on A Good Goodbye TV
Funeral costs are something most people don't research in advance. If you don't do funeral planning BEFORE there's a death in the family, sticker shock may set in when you start making funeral arrangements. This episode of A Good Goodbye TV, now available on YouTube, focuses on the costs of funerals and memorial services and different ways to pay, either in advance or at-need. Guest expert Jeff Harbeson, The Funeral Commander and founder of The...
We Mourn Unexpected Deaths and Religious Intolerance
Saturday night's mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando by a man claiming allegiance to ISIS terrorists has rocked our world. Not only did 49 mostly young people die, once again, the religion of Islam and its adherents are also victims of the violence. Here in New Mexico, hundreds have gathered to publicly mourn. Abdur’Rauf R. Campos-Marquetti, made a statement on behalf of the Islamic Center of New Mexico. He noted that America and the...
![[Video] How to Discuss End-of-Life Care](https://i0.wp.com/agoodgoodbye.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/mindi-horwitch.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
[Video] How to Discuss End-of-Life Care
If you find it difficult to start a conversation about hospice and palliative care, watch this episode of A Good Goodbye TV, now available on YouTube. Host Gail Rubin interviews Mindi Horwitch, LISW, with No Regrets Advanced Care Planning, on discussing and planning for end-of-life care. Surveys show about 70% of people say they want to die at home, but in actuality, 70% of patients wind up dying in the hospital. Because so many people are...
We treat dogs better than people for a peaceful end-of-life
Today, June 9, 2016, the state of California begins allowing physician aid in dying. Terminally-ill people desperate for a peaceful end-of-life option are breathing a sigh of relief. We've been giving this option to our dogs and cats for decades - now a few more people can get it too. It took the actions of 29-year old Brittany Maynard, a Californian with brain cancer, to get the state to sit up and take action on physician aid in dying. She...
June 21: Alabama Funeral Directors Association Presentations
Gail Rubin, CT, is the featured speaker at the 2016 Alabama Funeral Directors Association convention at the Marriott Grand Hotel and Spa Resort in Point Clear, Alabama June 19-22. She is presenting two two-hour continuing education sessions and the evening entertainment on June 21. More than 300 people have registered to attend to date. Here's a description of the talks Gail will present: Jewish Funeral Traditions on Film Yes, there are Jews in...
![[Video] Money Saving Funeral Planning Tips](https://i0.wp.com/agoodgoodbye.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/DVD-Cover.jpg?resize=365%2C250&ssl=1)
[Video] Money Saving Funeral Planning Tips
You can learn a wealth of money-saving tips on this episode of A Good Goodbye TV. Teresa Civello, Medicaid Trust Expert, is interviewed about different ways families can save money on funeral planning. The episode is now available on YouTube. By pre-planning and pre-paying funeral arrangements, that money is not counted when assets are examined for Medicaid qualification. The money is placed in an irrevocable prepaid trust. It can only be spent...
Before I Die Festival Starts End-of-Life Conversations
Cemetery and crematorium visits, a chalk wall to write what you'd like to do before you die, films, book discussions and death-related art were all a part of Indianapolis' Before I Die Festival. I'm all for this kind of event, designed to get people thinking ahead — about topics like what they want to accomplish in their remaining days, end-of-life care, funeral arrangements, wills, organ donation, good deaths and bad — and to spark...
An Honest Obituary: Steven Sacks
You don't often see an obituary that's so honest about the cause of death. Not long ago, medical errors were identified as the third-leading cause of death. Medical errors leading to sepsis caused the death of this man who had done thorough research before hip replacement surgery. In this presidential election year, a suggestion to vote for his candidate closed the piece. Whoever wrote this obituary really conveyed a sense of who this man was....
Facts about Mausoleums, Entombment and Decomposition
Did you know about the decomposition issues that can develop when you put a body in an above-ground mausoleum? We're talking about odorous gasses, leakage and crypt flies. The Doyenne of Death® gets some pretty interesting emails. This just arrived from Jeff Sanger with BioShield, provider of the Hermetic Entombment System, and the CryptFix Hermetic Re-Entombment System. Jeff provides a glimpse into a little-known part of the cemetery business....
ABQ Death Cafe: Don’t Fear the Reaper
Dr. Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death, introduced his Terror Management Theory in 1973. We humans are the only animal (we're aware of) that knows we are going to eventually die. And that thought terrifies us. It takes good self-esteem to consider your own mortality, and it's estimated two-thirds of adults have low self-esteem. As a result, the majority of us manage that terror by avoiding the topic. But, as you've...
More Cowbell: The 40th anniversary of ‘(Don’t Fear) the Reaper’
"(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult first hit the airwaves in May, 1976. I was just graduating from high school, the class of '76. Saturday Night Live was in its infancy. Little did we know the meme "More Cowbell" would come from the convergence of these two pop culture phenomena. The New York Times just explained the amazing life of a song about death in this story, "(Don't Fear) the Reaper is a Creepy Tune, Even With the Cowbell."...
University of Michigan Grief Awareness Week
More than 150 doctors, social workers, medical technicians, and a few funeral directors gathered on Wednesday at the University of Michigan Hospital for my Grief Awareness Week keynote speech, "Laughing in the Face of Death: Movies, Medicine and Mortality." Leading up to the event, two public radio stations did interviews with me about the concept of laughter to break down barriers to discussing end-of-life issues. Check out Michigan Radio's...
Book Review: MORGUE – A Life in Death
People are fascinated by TV crime investigation dramas CSI and NCIS. I've visited our local Office of the Medical Investigator and seen the real-world version of forensic pathology. It's not what they show you on television. That's why it's so refreshing to read MORGUE: A Life in Death by Dr. Vincent DiMaio and Ron Franscell (St. Martin's Press, May 2016). Dr. DiMaio is a forensic pathologist who's performed more than 9,000 autopsies and is an...
Using Computers and Lasers to Create a 3D Sculpture Urn
My husband Dave had his head scanned at the ICCFA convention. No, he wasn't having a medical procedure to examine the inside of his head. Tyler Fraser, CEO of UPD Urns, was using a laser light gun to show how he creates realistic-looking 3D sculptures for memorial urns. "We make 3D printed memorials," said Fraser. "The quality is striking. It's an accurate portrayal of what the person looked like when they were scanned." "This is primarily a...