The Family Plot Blog

Celebrating the Life of Mary Woods

Celebrating the Life of Mary Woods

Mary Woods' life was celebrated with a Rosary and Vigil service at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. After the Rosary is recited, about 30 minutes into this video, you can hear comments from family and friends about Mary. A Funeral Mass was held the next morning with Archbishop John C. Wester presiding. The video was recorded and edited by Gail Rubin, who writes The Family Plot Blog. Mary Woods Rosary...

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Connect with Baby Boomers on End-of-Life Issues With the Before I Die Festival in a Box™

Connect with Baby Boomers on End-of-Life Issues With the Before I Die Festival in a Box™

Funeral directors and cemeterians who want to generate pre-need sales can learn how to hold an end-of-life conversation-starting event with the Before I Die Festival in a Box™ by Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and The Doyenne of Death®. (A doyenne is a woman considered senior in a group who knows a lot about a particular subject.) The book and additional materials will be released March 15, 2023. “Before I Die Festivals provide...

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News: Sex and Death, Eco-Friendly Funerals and Downsizing

News: Sex and Death, Eco-Friendly Funerals and Downsizing

These recent news stories and opinion pieces offer insights into love and death, pet loss grief, downsizing and eco-friendly funerals. If you could, would you want to know when you will die? From The Washington Post, opinion by Steven Petrow: "Would you want to know when you’re going to die? I’ve thought about this question quite a bit recently.... The question is not entirely a hypothetical one. A few months ago, out of a morbid curiosity, I...

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Islamic Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast

Islamic Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast

Islamic funeral traditions and Jewish funeral traditions are remarkably similar. There are approximately eight million Muslims in the United States, double the number of Jews in the U.S. What do Americans need to know about the different observances of these two religions? Dr. Ahmad-Rufai Abdullah speaks with host Gail Rubin on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast about Muslim traditions regarding funerals and burials. Topics discussed on this program...

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End-of-Life and Funeral News Stories

End-of-Life and Funeral News Stories

There have been several recent news stories about death doulas and end-of-life issues in the media. Here's a roundup of those stories. NPR: End-of-life doulas are working to make conversations about death easier Talking about dying can be uncomfortable, awkward and heartbreaking. But a growing number of people called end-of-life doulas are working to make conversations about the inevitability of death easier for patients and their families.......

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Let’s Play Death Ed Bingo!

Let’s Play Death Ed Bingo!

Do you like playing Bingo? Do you wish there was an easy way to get people to talk about death and funeral planning? Be one of the first people to play Gail Rubin's new game, Death Ed Bingo! Laugh and learn about end-of-life issues while playing this word Bingo game online. Gail will debut Death Ed Bingo! with an online Zoom session on Saturday, January 21, 2023. Join her Death Cafe Albuquerque Meetup group to participate. Death Ed Bingo! Just...

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Next Online Death Cafe with Gail Rubin Coming February 12

Next Online Death Cafe with Gail Rubin Coming February 12

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, February 12 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...

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Jewish Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death Podcast

Jewish Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death Podcast

Although Jewish funeral traditions are thousands of years old, many Jews today are unfamiliar with those rites. David Zinner, founder and past executive director of Kavod v’Nichum (Honor and Comfort), discusses these traditions with Gail Rubin, host of The Doyenne of Death® Podcast. Topics discussed during the show include: The differences between Jewish and Christian funeral traditions; What are the Chevrah Kaddisha, shmira and tahara;...

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Eulogies by Steve Martin and Martin Short

Eulogies by Steve Martin and Martin Short

Eulogies can be hard to write. How can you incorporate humor? You can't get any better than this off-the-rails exchange of eulogies by Steve Martin and Martin Short, when they hosted Saturday Night Live on December 10, 2022. You might want to avoid getting into discussing sexual matters, though, unless you're actually hosting Saturday Night Live.  

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Next Online ABQ Death Cafe January 8, 2023

Next Online ABQ Death Cafe January 8, 2023

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, January 8 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...

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Greek Orthodox Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast

Greek Orthodox Funeral Traditions on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast

How do Greek Orthodox funeral traditions vary from other church funerals? Father Conan Gill with St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Albuquerque, NM, talks about funeral traditions in the Greek Orthodox church with host Gail Rubin on The Doyenne of Death® Podcast. Among the topics discussed in this two-part conversation: The Trisagion Service Cremation is forbidden The Meal of Mercy Burial services The Presbytera Remembrance rituals Listen to...

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Keeper and GatheringUs Merge Online Memorial Services

Keeper and GatheringUs Merge Online Memorial Services

Keeper and GatheringUs, two companies that specialize in online and hybrid memorial services, are joining forces. Both companies have supported and participated in Before I Die Festivals in New Mexico in years past. Here's today's news from Mandy Benoualid, President of Keeper Memorials. Online memorial platform Keeper Memorials has acquired GatheringUs, a leader in virtual and hybrid memorial services. The acquisition is part of Keeper’s...

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How to Consider Your Own Mortality: New Doyenne of Death Podcast Episode

How to Consider Your Own Mortality: New Doyenne of Death Podcast Episode

Would you face your own mortality by building your own coffin? Dr. Jeffrey Piehler joined The Doyenne of Death® Gail Rubin to discuss facing mortality and funeral planning issues. His essay in The New York Times on making a plain pine box for his eventual cremation (see below) had generated a huge reaction. This podcast was originally recorded February 12, 2014. Dr. Piehler died peacefully on November 14, 2014, surrounded by his family and...

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Thanksgiving Thoughts from The Doyenne of Death®

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...

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On The Doyenne of Death® Podcast: Physical Impacts of Grief

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...

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Online ABQ Death Cafe Scheduled November 27

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...

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New on The Doyenne of Death Podcast: Near-Death Experiences

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,...

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Caskets Galore at the National Funeral Directors Association Expo

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...

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On My Bucket List This Week: Dayton’s Before I Die Festival Ohio

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...

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Funeral Director Todd Harra Interviewed on First Doyenne of Death® Podcast

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,...

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Who’s Supposed to Plan a Memorial Service Anyway?

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...

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A Good Goodbye