The Family Plot Blog
Shrouds and Green Burial Products
Since today's A Good Goodbye Radio show is about the green burial documentary A Will for the Woods, here's a short video about green burial products, filmed at the recent ICCFA convention and expo. Esmerelda Kent was a costume designer in Hollywood, until she saw the TV show Six Feet Under. It prompted her to make a career change, and she went into the death care industry - but focused on green burial. Her first shroud was featured in the show,...
News and Notes: Death and Taxes
It's April 15, and that means your tax returns are due! For a timely laugh on death and taxes, check out this Non Sequitur cartoon. A group of people are standing around a grave in a cemetery. The headstone reads, "Never have to pay taxes again!" A woman says, "He always looked for the bright side of everything." Here's hoping you are able to look on the bright side, too, even when we look at death and taxes. Last week's International Cemetery,...
An Afikomen Song for Passover
Passover starts tomorrow night, and here at the Rubin-Bleicher household, we are getting ready to have 17 people come for the seder and dinner. Why is this night different from all other nights? Don't ask! (How often do you have so many people come to dinner, plus cleaning out leavened food products and making special dishes for the seder?) Singing is a big part of the seder, and there are a number of songs written to the tune of songs in...
A Will for the Woods Puts a Human Face on Green Burial
While the nationwide cremation rate in the United States has shot up more than 11% between 2007 to 2012, there's also a growing interest in green burial. There aren't hard statistics, but a building cache of anecdotes indicate more and more people would like to return to the earth as naturally as possible. A Will for the Woods, a 2013 documentary, focuses on musician, folk dancer, and psychiatrist Clark Wang as he prepares for his own death and...
ICCFA Expo Opening and The Body Bag Store
If you've ever wondered what funeral directors go shopping for at a convention, I'm bringing you an insider's look from the Expo at the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. The Expo brings together products and services that you never knew existed for cemeteries, funeral homes, and cremationists. I had a great conversation with two representatives of American Airlines Cargo and U.S. Airways Cargo about regulations...
News and Notes: This Won’t Stay in Vegas
This is the week for the All Star convention and expo of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA), taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to presenting a breakout session later this week, I will be covering the Expo for The Family Plot Blog. Look for blog posts on the many interesting elements of the funeral/cremation business you never knew existed! Also, for Breaking Bad fans, there's a feature story I...
Jewish Funeral Traditions and Superstitions on DVD
Are you in an interfaith couple and have no clue about funeral traditions on the Jewish side of the family? Have you ever attended a Jewish funeral and wondered why things were done the way they were? At the funeral of my great-aunt Mary when I was in my early 20s, the Jewish funeral traditions I encountered confused me. Even though I had a good Jewish education, grew up in a Conservative congregation, attended Sunday School and Hebrew School,...
When a Loved One is Dying: The Soul Sitter’s Handbook
People are afraid of death and being around the dying. They are afraid they will say or do something wrong. Your presence can be a great gift, if you check your ego at the door. Stacey Canfield and Candace Conradi, authors of The Soul Sitter’s Handbook, join host Gail Rubin on A Good Goodbye Radio on Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT on TogiNet Talk Radio to discuss what to do to ease anxiety when a loved one is dying. Download...
Options for Cremated Remains: A Good Goodbye TV
Cremation opens the door to many different options for families when it comes to keeping the cremated remains of a loved one around the house. In this segment from A Good Goodbye TV, host Gail Rubin discusses options for cremated remains with Tom Antram, president and CEO of FRENCH Funerals-Cremations and Buck Dyck, FRENCH location manager. This episode was all about cremation issues. Among the options discussed are artful urns, glass...
News and Notes: Laughing at Adversity
Humor is therapeutic. When we can laugh at our troubles, we can lighten up adverse situations and better deal with stress and sorrow. Allen Klein, author of 15 books including The Healing Power of Humor and Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss, has walked that road himself. He calls himself the world's only Jollytologist®, spreading good news about the life-changing benefits of humor. Allen Klein is my guest on...
Online Planners to Help You Put It All Together
The New York Times recently ran a "Your Money" story about online sites that can securely store your funeral planning and financial information for your family to access in the event of your death. Titled "Navigating the Logistics of Death Ahead of Time," this article highlights one new company, called Everplans, a website that helps people create detailed end-of-life plans. From the article: "The site, which she [Abby Schneiderman] founded...
Talk Video: Funeral Planning by the Numbers
Americans are consumers who tend to avoid funeral planning – a big mistake for those who want to get the most for their money! A funeral is one of the top five expenses a family will incur. This upbeat outreach talk by Gail Rubin, CT, covers these numbers: One life to live Two events – the similar elements of weddings and funerals Three or more reasons people avoid talking about death and funeral planning Four important reasons to pre-plan a...
Federal Trade Commission Issues New Funeral Rule Brochures
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has revised two brochures to help consumers make funeral choices, either in advance or at a time of need. These are great free resources for funeral planning! Paying Final Respects summarizes consumer rights under the FTC’s Funeral Rule, which helps to ensure that people get information so they can compare prices among funeral homes. For example, consumers have a right...
How Can Humor Help Us Better Deal with Death?
Can humor help us approach the topics of death and funeral planning? Once a death has occurred, is it too late to laugh in the face of death? Allen Klein calls himself a Jollytologist® because he goes around the country giving keynote presentations and workshops on therapeutic humor. He joins host Gail Rubin, CT, on A Good Goodbye Radio on Wednesday, April 2 (right after April Fool's Day) to discuss the healing power of humor. He is the author...
A Few Funeral Jokes
A few jokes to help us laugh in the face of death... Two entrepreneurs at a networking event tried to make small talk. "Hey, do you believe in survival of the fittest?" one asked, "I don't believe in the survival of anybody," the other replied. "I'm an undertaker." ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Jim grabbed his suitcase off the airport luggage carousel and headed outside to hail a taxi. A taxi promptly picked him up and they were on their way. Twenty...
News and Notes: On Ethical Wills and Jewish Traditions
Ethical wills are a different kind of will - more of a testament of your values and the lessons you've learned in this lifetime. Over the weekend, I ran a two-part guest blog post about ethical wills by Gary Newman, an actively retired life underwriter and practitioner of related family and small business financial security disciplines. He provides great guidance on how to tackle writing your own ethical will. Writing an ethical will is one...
Ethical Wills – Part Two
Here is part two of the guest blog post by Gary Newman on ethical wills. OUR GREATER “WEALTH” – WORTH BEQUEATHING! After you think you’ve done all of your thinking and deciding, allow it to “marinate” some more, then think and decide again. Then lay it all out, and feel free to fuel it with uninhibited feelings. Then, edit, and improve it over and over again, “marinating” and tweaking it until it’s polished and really feels like the just-right...
Ethical Wills – Part One
Today we have a guest blog post by Gary Newman on ethical wills, in two parts. OUR GREATER “WEALTH” – WORTH BEQUEATHING! We decree our awesome last wills and testaments and all the other commanding documents bequeathing our worldly wealth. But how about creating our other pronouncement, the welcome but neglected spiritual one that indeed can preserve and pass on even far greater “wealth”? Our own personal “legacy letters,” known as ethical...
Leading Funeral Home CEO Discusses New Trends in Funerals
In a business notoriously slow to change, funeral and burial trends in the U.S. have changed markedly over the past ten years. Cremation rates have shot up, prompting funeral homes to add the word “cremation” to their names. The rise of social media and “life celebrations” have funeral homes scrambling to figure out how to remain relevant. How does a forward-thinking funeral provider respond to change? Tom Antram has been with the FRENCH Family...
News and Notes: Comparing Funeral Traditions
Thanks to everyone who responded to last week's question about reading Norwegian! The Frozen Dead Guy Days story in the Norwegian newspaper Budstikka came out over the weekend. The article by Sidsel Havaal is titled: Bredo døde for 25 år siden. Nå ligger han på tørris og har egen festival (Translation) Bredo died 25 years ago. Now he lies on dry ice and has his own festival. I was fascinated to learn more about the family and Grandpa Bredo's...
Budstikka Story on Frozen Dead Guy Days
The story about the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival and the history of Bredo Morstoel has appeared in the Norway publication, Budstikka. The article by Sidsel Havaal is titled: Bredo døde for 25 år siden. Nå ligger han på tørris og har egen festival Translation: Bredo died 25 years ago. Now he lies on dry ice and has his own festival En død bestefar fra Gjettum trekker tusenvis til festivalen Frozen Dead Guy Days i fjellbyen Colorado i USA....