The Family Plot Blog
Exploring Buddhist Funeral Traditions on A Good Goodbye Radio
If you were to attend a Buddhist funeral in America, would you know how to act and what to do? This A Good Goodbye Radio program can help fill your knowledge gap. Buddhist funerals incorporate many elements of other faiths’ funerals, such as programs, flowers, ushers, and working with clergy and a funeral home. Buddhist funeral traditions also incorporate many aspects unfamiliar to most non-Buddhist Americans – the Pillow Service, altar items...
Video: Funeral Cost Management
When it comes to paying for funeral costs, many families are caught short. They're surprised by the cost, which ranges from $7,000 to $12,000, in addition to cemetery expenses, obituaries and flowers. The management of funeral costs was discussed at length in episode eight of the TV interview series, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die. In this short overview, we look at an infographic from Funeralwise.com that...
News and Notes: Facing Mortality
We have a very special guest on this week's A Good Goodbye Radio program. Dr. Jeffrey Piehler wrote an essay titled "Ashes to Ashes, but First a Nice Pine Box" that appeared in the Sunday New York Times on February 2. Facing his mortality due to incurable Stage 4 prostate cancer, he decided to build his own wooden coffin for his eventual funeral and cremation (click for more background). Please join me and Jeff Piehler for an honest...
Video: Online Funeral Planners Help Budget Expenses
It is such a relief to be prepared before there's a death in the family. Sure, when someone dies, you're sad, but you don't have to be extra-stressed on top of grief. That's why preneed funeral planning is such a gift. The first episode of the TV interview series A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die looks at the many elements of preneed funeral planning. Guests Barbara Stewart and Mark Ballard, both with FRENCH...
Dr. Jeffrey Piehler on Building Your Own Coffin
Would you build your own coffin? Dr. Jeffrey Piehler has incurable Stage 4 prostate cancer. He’s been living with it for 11 years and underwent numerous conventional and trial treatments. On February 2, his essay titled “Ashes to Ashes, but First a Nice Pine Box” appeared in The New York Times Sunday Review section, prompting much response. You see, Dr. Piehler, a retired thoracic surgeon who lives near Kansas City, Kansas, built his own coffin...
News and Notes: Artists, Entertainers and Estates
The latest Albuquerque Death Cafe attracted 18 people over the weekend to Sheila's Sweets for a wide-ranging conversation about mortality issues. It's all so we can make the most out of this finite lifetime. More details in this blog post. This week's guest on A Good Goodbye Radio is Sherri Burr, a law professor and author or co-author of 19 books, including Wills & Trusts in a Nutshell 4th Edition and Entertainment Law in a Nutshell 3rd...
18 Attendees Share Thoughts at Latest ABQ Death Cafe
On Saturday, February 2, 18 people came to share their thoughts on mortality to get the most out of this [finite] lifetime at the latest Albuquerque Death Cafe. The eight men and ten women all had their individual reasons for attending the free event at Sheila's Sweets, and the conversation was fascinating, as always. Lola the plastic skeleton presided at the head of the table, wearing a cowboy outfit. Remember, "whatever Lola wants, Lola...
How To Keep Your Loved One’s Ashes Close
If you have ever wondered how you can keep the cremated remains of beloved people or pets close by, here is a brief guide to your options. Today you have quite a variety of choices in mass-manufactured and handmade urns and jewelry. For American-made products, there are handmade ceramic urns, wooden urns, copper urns, biodegradable urns, urn-like jewelry, glass jewelry and keepsakes that incorporate ashes. Handcrafted memorial pieces are as...
Artists and Entertainers Need Wills and Trusts, Too
Many people think wills and trusts are just for millionaires. However, artists, writers and entertainers whose work lives on after they’ve died have special needs for estate planning. Professor Sherri Burr joins host Gail Rubin on A Good Goodbye Radio on Wednesday, February 5 at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT on Toginet 2.0 Talk Radio to discuss estate planning for artists and entertainers, as well as your average person. Sherri Burr is a Yale Law...
News and Notes: Frozen Dead Guy Days and More
If you've never heard of Frozen Dead Guy Days, it's an icy cold, wild and wacky celebration of life - and yes, there is a real frozen dead guy at the center of it all. In 1989, the body of Bredo Morstoel traveled from Norway to the U.S., coming to rest in Nederland, Colorado, where his grandson planned to operate a cryonics lab. Though the facility never opened, “Grandpa” Bredo remains famously deep frozen by dry ice in a storage shed....
When Doctors Get Cancer…
Doctors know a lot more about statistics related to surviving diseases than your average patient. That's why the opinion column in yesterday's New York Times by Dr. Paul Kalanithi on living and dying was so important. We must live for today, even if we think we can't go on. Titled "How Long Have I Got Left?" the essay started with the revelations of a CT scan showing lung cancer spreading through his body. It's very different when you're...
Beware of Emails Bearing Funeral News
Beware of emails that purport to be alerting you to the funeral of a friend. It may be yet another tricky way to activate malware on your computer. The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently ran a column titled "Funeral service e-notice may contain malware: Plain Dealing." The article by consumer affairs writer Sheryl Harris starts out: Funeral homes – and the rest of us – need to be on alert for a nasty new email scam. This scam appears to swipe the...
Freeze the Dates for the 2014 Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival
In 1989, the body of Bredo Morstoel traveled from Norway to the U.S., coming to rest in Nederland, Colorado, where his grandson planned to operate a cryonics lab. Though the facility never opened, “Grandpa” Bredo remains famously frozen—in a storage shed. People from around the globe come to celebrate his “on ice” existence during Frozen Dead Guy Days. The 13th annual Frozen Dead Guy Days, a wild and wacky celebration with a hearse parade,...
More on Brain Death and Life Support
There's a thoughtful piece in today's Huffington Post on end-of-life considerations looking at the heart-wrenching stories of Jahi McMath and Marlise Munoz. "Death Has Become a Choice" by Rev. Kevin William Wilde, president of Loyola University, discusses the fundamental questions these cases raise about how we understand death. He lays out the stories of how McMath and Munoz came to be brain-dead, and the different situations that led their...
News and Notes: Pet Hospice a Growing Trend
Can bringing in hospice services for our pets help us better consider the benefits of hospice and palliative care for the people in our families? The topic of pet hospice is considered on tomorrow's A Good Goodbye Radio show. Our guest is Kathryn Marocchino, a professor of death and dying at California State University in Vallejo and founder of the Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets. Please join us live online at 6:00 p.m. ET | 3:00 p.m. PT for...
Coffee in Heaven Poem
Those of you who love your caffeine will get a smile from this poem. (Re-posting, as this morning's entry didn't show up on the blog.) COFFEE IN HEAVEN by John Agard You’ll be greeted by a nice cup of coffee when you get to heaven and strains of angelic harmony But wouldn’t you be devastated if they only serve decaffeinated while from the percolators of hell your soul was assaulted By Satan’s fresh espresso smell? (Note of irony: the image of...
The Value of Time
Here's one of those emails with words of wisdom that made its way into my in-box recently. It speaks of the value of time. To realize the value of a sister/brother, ask someone who doesn't have one. To realize the value of ten years, ask a newly divorced couple. To realize the value of four years, ask a graduate. To realize the value of one year, ask a student who has failed a final exam. To realize the value of one week, ask an editor...
Pet Hospice: When It’s Time to Say Goodbye
Hospice for pets is a growing trend, just as compassionate end-of-life care is growing for people. When pet owners look to ease the pain of a pet’s death, they also seek a more meaningful goodbye. Kathryn Marocchino, a professor of death and dying at California State University in Vallejo and founder of the Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets, joins host Gail Rubin on A Good Goodbye Radio to discuss the end-of-life care movement for pets. Topics...
Updates for Today’s Radio Shows!
Exciting news for today's A Good Goodbye Radio show! The interview with Erika Hayasaki, author of The Death Class: A True Story About Life, now will include Dr. Norma Bowe. She's the professor who teaches the "Death in Perspective" class at the center of this nonfiction book. Dr. Bowe, PhD, RN, MS, CHES, is a death educator who takes her classes on field trips to cemeteries, mortuaries, hospices, prisons and other real-world settings. Her...
Court Ruling: Aid in Dying Is a Fundamental Right in New Mexico
Breaking news! New Mexico Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash today issued a landmark decision that terminally ill, mentally competent patients have a fundamental right to aid in dying under the substantive due process clause of the New Mexico State Constitution. Download a PDF of the ruling. Here's the news from a release by New Mexico Compassion & Choices: Court Rules Aid in Dying Is a Fundamental Right Under New Mexico Constitution...
Mailing Cremated Remains: New Rules from the Postal Service
If you're thinking about mailing the cremated remains of a loved one, the rules have recently changed. Make sure you know the latest regulations from the U.S. Postal Service! (UPDATE: There are new rules as of September 2019 - read here.) It used to be you could send cremated remains either domestically or internationally via First Class Registered Mail service. No longer! Effective December 26, 2013, the only option now is to utilize Priority...