The Family Plot Blog
Memorial Marker Frames at ICCFA 2014
How do you prevent weeds from growing around gravestones? Here's a twist on an idea born from recycled tire mulch mats around trees that can help cemeteries better manage their maintenance. Jeff Nepa with NEPA Innovations presented the Lasting Beauty Memorial Frame at the 2014 ICCFA expo. These frames are manufactured from recycled rubber. Placed around grave markers and headstones, they prevent unsightly weeds, provide for easy maintenance,...
Dressing the Dead
Here is a moving guest blog post by Kathy Wagoner, an award-winning essay titled "Dressing the Dead." She and her sister helped dress both their deceased parents prior to their funerals. It is a healing activity that you can ask the funeral home to allow you to do. Kathy's essay expresses it beautifully. Dressing the Dead My sister and I clutched plastic grocery bags stuffed with the remains of an old soldier’s pride as we hurried across the...
News & Notes: Media Moves
Just got news yesterday from the National Federation of Press Women that my TV show A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die is a winner in the national 2014 NFPW Communications Contest. It won second place for television talk shows. It's a thrill to have the national recognition. After more than a year of producing the weekly A Good Goodbye Internet radio show, the program is going on hiatus. Don't be surprised to hear...
U.S. Cremation Equipment at ICCFA 2014
Retorts are the high temperature ovens used for cremation. They are very big, expensive pieces of equipment. Given the rising trend toward cremation, funeral directors are looking to invest in retorts. Joe Blair with U.S. Cremation Equipment talks about his company's cremation retorts for people and pets. The company had a booth at the expo for the International Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Association's (ICCFA) 2014 convention. Since these...
The Amazing Odor Neutralizer Neutrolene
Here's another discovery at the 2014 ICCFA convention: the amazing odor neutralizer Neutrolene! Chet Robbins, co-founder of Neutrolene, talks about the company's decomposition and odor neutralizer. They have a family of environmentally-safe products that instantly neutralize - not mask - organic odors, The spray eliminates odors emitted by dead human bodies. This is important both in funeral homes and at medical schools. Medical students may...
What is a Good Death?
The public radio program The Really Big Questions just ran an hour-long program titled "What is a Good Death?" It's worth your time to listen to the podcast of this program. "Death is all around us, and Americans do everything in our power to ignore it. Not everyone though," said host Dean Olsher. He interviews a number of fascinating people, including Mary Roach, author of the book Stiff, about what happens to cadavers donated for research....
UONO Creative Caskets at ICCFA 2014
Planning to be buried but don't want any old run-of-the mill casket? Here's a video of some very unique caskets produced by a new company on the U.S. funeral scene: UONO from Germany. Andreas Spiegel with UONO shows their futuristic coffins for biodegradable burial and cremation. The products are just being introduced to the U.S. market in 2014. They offer sleek cocoon caskets, pod-shaped designs in different colors. There's also a cocoon...
Address Physical Grief Reactions as Well as Emotional
Stomach pain, shortness of breath, tension: grief can affect us physically in many ways. However, when people go to grief counselors, chances are they just focus on their thoughts and feelings. Don’t overlook the physical impacts of grief! Emotions are meant to be expressed. Repressed emotions can generate chronic physical pain and disabilities. Dr. Diane Polasky, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and certified death educator, joins host Gail Rubin...
Alkaline Hydrolysis and Burial.me: New Funeral Disposition Options
Want to be buried in your own back yard or reduce the carbon footprint of your cremation? New technologies are lowering funeral costs and expanding options for disposition of the dead. Many families choose cremation over burial because of much lower costs. But what if one could return to the earth quickly, cleanly and cheaply? Burial.me will allow families to bury their dead on private land at a quarter of the cost of a traditional burial....
How Companion Animals Teach Humans Life Lessons
Our animal companions share great love with their human families. When pets depart this physical sphere, they can teach their human friends important lessons about the eternalness of being. David Hutchings, author of I’m Still Here: Recognizing the Eternalness of Our Companion Animals, joins host Gail Rubin on A Good Goodbye Radio. He discusses lessons humans can learn about love, wellbeing and spirituality from our dogs, cats and other...
Personalized Platinum Caskets at ICCFA
Trey Ganem was inspired to make personalized caskets a few years ago, but it wasn't until 2014 that he began his new business, Personalized Platinum Caskets. At the ICCFA convention expo, he shows off his unique, personalized caskets, tailored to fit the personality of the deceased. The three caskets on display at his booth include a hunter's dream casket (or Duck Dynasty showpiece) with faux alligator lining and reeds painted on the exterior;...
A Good Goodbye TV Wins Press Women Award
The 12-episode TV series A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die took first place in the television talk show category of New Mexico Press Women's 2014 Communications Contest. Contest Chair Sherry Robinson presented program host and producer Gail Rubin with an award certificate at today's meeting of Albuquerque Press Women. The program now goes on to national level competition in the contest conducted by the National...
“I Don’t Want to be a Burden” – Five Funeral Planning Tips
In today's Dear Abby column, a single person with grown children wrote in saying, "I want to make sure I am not a burden to them even after death. I have a will and no bills. What else do I need to do?" The correspondent poses a great end-of-life preparation question. Dear Abby replied with questions about whether he/she had an advance directive for health care, at least one health care advocate named to carry out those wishes, a cemetery plot...
Discussing Death and Dying with Joan Gibson
When Joan Gibson's daughter was in kindergarten, she told her teacher, "My mother does death and dying. At the time she was teaching and consulting on bioethics and help draft New Mexico’s first Right to Die law in 1977. Gibson went on to promote advance directives and in the late 1980s created the Values History Form, a widely available document that invites people to talk about their values and what’s important to them. The information serves...
The Life Chest at ICCFA 2014
Among the interesting products for memorialization on display at the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) expo, The Life Chest was unique. The Life Chest provides a special place to keep treasures, both tangible and intangible. These special boxes serve as a stylish time capsule to hold stories and memories, family collectibles and keepsakes. They are meant to have a place in the home, on display and readily...
News and Notes: Back From the Dead!
A Good Goodbye is back from the dead. From April 22 to 27, the website was offline due to programming issues related to a WordPress upgrade (they seem to create more problems than they solve). Thanks to everyone who noticed! While struggling to get back online, plus traveling to the Association for Death Education and Counseling conference in Baltimore, emails were suspended. Because of those issues, you may have missed a few radio shows. Tips...
Holy Land Stone Keepsakes and Memorialization
There's something about the white limestone found in Jerusalem that makes a huge impression on everyone who visits. For one family, it became a ministry and a business. In this video recorded at the 2014 ICCFA convention and expo, Penny Martin, President of Holy Land Stone, talks about how her husband Jim was inspired by the sight of Jerusalem at sunset, it's limestone walls reflecting the golden light. He wanted a souvenir of the stone as a...
What Medical Professionals Need to Know About NDEs
Although media depictions of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) present mysterious, inexplicable psychic events, they are normal and fairly common in today's advanced medical settings. About 5% of patients report having NDEs, but the figure may actually be higher because patients are often reluctant to disclose their experiences. Although some patients who have had NDEs may be treated appropriately by medical professionals, others may be ignored,...
Cremation Money and Houses for the Great Beyond
In Asian funeral traditions, prior to cremation, the deceased is showered with tools for their journey beyond this earthly existence. This includes money and a home in which to live. Jewell Wu from Taiwan with Jun Guang Yi Enterprises talks about their products for cremation, including fake paper money and paper houses. The idea behind the Asian tradition of putting fake money in the casket before the deceased is cremated is to send loved ones...
Mourning Cross Pins
Kate Hamilton with Mourning Cross talks about the pins her company provides to help identify those family members who are grieving a loss. They can be worn as long as a mourner feels the need to identify as someone who has suffered a death in the family. It's a new take on the genteel tradition of black arm bands and other signs of being in mourning. The pins are also helpful for hospice workers who become close to the families and patients...
Funny Films Can Help Foster Pre-Need Funeral Planning
Comedy films that make us laugh can also help us relax into having funeral planning conversations with our loved ones. From cult classics like The Big Lebowski to true stories like Bernie and Get Low, the magic of Hollywood can put the “fun” in funeral arrangements, BEFORE there’s a death in the family. Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®, uses funny films in her public presentations to attract people to discuss serious topics like funeral...