The Family Plot Blog
Thanksgiving Thoughts from The Doyenne of Death®
This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for the many blessings that God has bestowed upon me, including good health, my family, and my friends. I hope you’ll pause on this day to ponder those elements of your life for which you are thankful. When you’re The Doyenne of Death®, discussing and thinking about mortality daily, you really appreciate life and good health. I just had my annual physical, and for a 64-year-old Caucasian woman, I'm in darn good...
On The Doyenne of Death® Podcast: Physical Impacts of Grief
Did you know grief affects our bodies? However, when people go to grief counselors, chances are they just focus on their thoughts and feelings. Dr. Diane Polasky, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and certified death educator, joins host Gail Rubin on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast to discuss these issues. Stomach pain, shortness of breath, tension, sleeplessness or sleepiness: grief can affect us physically in many ways. Don’t overlook the...
Online ABQ Death Cafe Scheduled November 27
Join the Albuquerque Death Cafe online! It’s an opportunity to talk about what’s on your mind about mortality issues. We have people from across the U.S. and around the world joining in the conversation on Zoom. The next session will be held on Sunday, November 27 at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Prepare to settle in with your own cup of tea or coffee, and a nourishing snack. We’ll have an interesting, unstructured conversation that’s open...
New on The Doyenne of Death Podcast: Near-Death Experiences
What are Near-Death Experiences? Near-death experiences (NDEs) happen when a person is either clinically dead, near death, or in a situation where death is likely or expected. Today’s medical treatments can save many individuals who might have otherwise died. As a result, people return from these traumatic events with remarkable stories and insights. Could having a near-death experience reduce fear of death and of funeral planning? Lee Witting,...
Caskets Galore at the National Funeral Directors Association Expo
It's Caskets Week at AGoodGoodbye.com! With Create a Great Funeral Day (Oct. 30), Visit a Cemetery Day (the last Sunday in October), Halloween/Dia de los Muertos (Oct. 31), All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), take a look at these casket videos recorded at the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) expo. The event took place in Baltimore October 10-12, 2022. These three videos focus on different types of caskets, from...
On My Bucket List This Week: Dayton’s Before I Die Festival Ohio
What's on Your Bucket List? What would you like to do before you die? Many people create a bucket list of goals and experiences they’d like to achieve during their lifetimes. If the Before I Die Festival Ohio taking place in Dayton October 27-29, 2022, isn’t on your list, add it now! With 11 events focused on death awareness and planning for end-of-life issues, this Festival needs to be on everyone’s to-do list. The Before I Die Festival Ohio...
Funeral Director Todd Harra Interviewed on First Doyenne of Death® Podcast
The Doyenne of Death® podcast, hosted by pioneering death educator Gail Rubin, launched on Thursday, October 20, 2022. The podcast tackles end-of-life issues with a light touch on a dark subject. The first guest is Todd Harra, funeral director and author of LAST RITES: The Evolution of the American Funeral. LAST RITES provides a fascinating look at the history of American funeral traditions: embalming, cremation, burial vaults, funeral gifts,...
Who’s Supposed to Plan a Memorial Service Anyway?
Who Plans the Memorial Service? In this Dear Abby column, the writer, Disappointed Griever, is appalled that a now-deceased friend's adult sons want others to organize a memorial service for their father. Abby provides some great guidance. DEAR ABBY: I have a friend who had been ill for some time. Three years ago, two of his adult sons moved in with him because they'd been kicked out of their mom's house. They never got jobs or paid rent. My...
In-Person Death Cafe Changed to Online This Sunday
The Albuquerque Death Cafe was to take place at Historic Fairview Cemetery this Sunday, October 16, to discuss death among the tombstones. However, the weather forecast is cold and rainy (rare for Albuquerque). We will instead hold it online through Zoom and stay warm and dry at 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,...
Register Now for the Before I Die Ohio Festival
Before I Die Ohio Festival Registration Now Open! The first Before I Die Ohio Festival will take place October 27-29, 2022 in Dayton, Ohio. This series of events offers upbeat activities to think about, talk about, and do something about our inevitable mortality. Activities include Death Cafe conversations, field trips to cemeteries, funeral homes and crematoria, movies, panel discussions, and a wide range of speakers. While most events are...
Casket Lowering in a Conventional Cemetery Burial
How is a casket is lowered into the grave in a conventional cemetery burial? Watch this video. A team of two workers for the cemetery remove the supports under the casket, allowing the weight of the casket to be supported by the green lowering straps. The metal framework around the grave has poles that rotate, allowing the straps to extend downward, lowering the casket into the...
Obituary for Helen Fuller
Helen Fuller's fortunate life drew to a close on August 25, 2022, at age 89. She died peacefully surrounded by family a few weeks after falling and breaking a hip while hiking. She got her start in Denison, Texas, the second daughter of Walter Greene and Willie Rice Langston on March 19, 1933. Describing her early childhood she said, “We were loved. And we had everything.” Both of her parents died when she was 13, her mother at age 49 from...
A Funeral Fit for a Queen
A Funeral Fit For A Queen The announcement of today's death of Queen Elizabeth will put in motion funeral plans that have been in place for decades. It will be an enormous undertaking (no pun intended). What is being done for the Queen's funeral, and for the benefit of your family, how can you do the same? Have a Plan in Place Operation London Bridge is the name of the plan to be followed upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It includes how...
Gail Rubin Speaking at NFDA October 9
How to Foster Preneed Sales with a Before I Die Festival Don't miss this presentation at the National Funeral Directors Association convention in Baltimore on Sunday, October 9, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and The Doyenne of Death® will share how a Before I Die Festival can fill your preneed pipeline. One funeral home made $80,000 in preneed sales in two days! Program Description How do you encourage people to...
The Remarkable Tom Root Celebration of Life
Tom Root was a remarkable man. As a Certified Funeral Celebrant, I recently had the honor of creating a Celebration of Life service for Tom Root's family and friends. The family has given permission to share this celebration with you. You can read the service script after the video. Greeting Tom Root was a Renaissance man, a man of energy, intellect, and joy, with a zest for life...
Discussing Death Cafes on August 31
Want to know more about Death Cafes and how to hold one? Join leading Death Cafe hosts Gail Rubin, Amy Cunningham, Nancy Gershman and Harvey Newman on Wednesday, August 31 at noon ET/11:00 a.m. CT/10:00 a.m. MT/9:00 a.m. PT for an online discussion, The Roundtable Death Cafe. The Completed Life Initiative is coordinating this two-hour event, in cooperation with Reimagine Summer Events. Register for this free online event here. The Roundtable...
Obon Festival in Albuquerque’s Japanese Garden
Japan's Obon Festival, a time to honor ancestors and deceased loved ones, is like Day of the Dead in Mexico and Central America. Albuquerque's Japanese Garden in the BioPark Botanical Garden hosted their second Obon Festival on August 13, 2022. Obon is an annual Buddhist event that commemorates one's ancestors. The traditional belief is that each year during obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world to visit their relatives. In this...
Preneed Sales Tips Every Funeral Home and Cemetery Needs
If you're serious about learning how to sell preneed funerals and cemetery property, this list of tips holds the keys you need to succeed. These five tips offer takeaway ideas from my attendance at the 2022 ICCFA University J. Asher Neel College of Sales & Marketing. These "Golden Nuggets" of information for those involved in sales and marketing of funeral services and cemetery property came from the excellent speakers who presented there....
A Visit to LH Design Burial Gown Workshop
What goes into the creation of a burial gown? While visiting Atlanta for ICCFA University in July, I got to visit the home workshop of Leon Harris, owner and designer behind LH Design burial garments for women. Go behind the scenes on this video tour. Leon Harris creates spectacular burial gowns for African culture homegoing celebrations. He designs and creates dresses that show...
August 14: Next Online Death Cafe with Gail Rubin
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 next Albuquerque Death Cafe will be held online on Sunday, August 14 at 3:00 p.m. MDT. Get the link for this online conversation through this Meetup group event listing. During the...
Advanced Funeral Planning Tips Every Baby Boomer Needs
Few baby boomers are prepared for their own funerals. Even though humans have a 100% mortality rate, less than 30% of adults do advance funeral planning. But here’s a secret: you don’t have to spend your children's inheritance on a funeral. Here are some helpful tips about advanced funeral planning. As The Doyenne of Death®, I'm always encouraging people to plan for this guaranteed inevitability. While I had put my wishes on file with a funeral...