The Family Plot Blog
Festival Video: Making Altars to Honor the Deceased
How To Make Altars Honoring Deceased Loved Ones “How to Make an Altar Honoring Deceased Loved Ones” was a 90-minute workshop with Annie Mattingley, part of the 2021 Before I Die New Mexico Festival. In this 30-minute video, Annie gives an overview of ways to connect to our deceased loved ones. Making Altars Workshop At this hands-on workshop, participants were provided with...
Abraham Lincoln, Embalming and Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery
“Abraham Lincoln’s Impact on Modern Embalming” is a Before I Die New Mexico Festival session that covers the history of modern embalming. The practice took off in the United States during the Civil War. You’ll learn how the huge number of deaths during the war, President Lincoln’s assassination, and the funeral procession that took his body across the country influenced death care in America for the following century. The history of embalming...
Video: Gary Mayhew Memorial Service
Gail Rubin conducted this memorial service for Gary Mayhew on November 5, 2021. Speakers included his sister Debbe Noto, friends from his gaming group and music groups, and math students Gary taught. This video starts with a photo montage of Gary throughout his life, and a video message from Gary in 2013 at the end. A Moving Testimonial about Gary Mayhew Just before the event, held...
Gail Rubin Presents New Video Illustrated Talk Online December 9
On December 9, pioneering death educator Gail Rubin presents a new video-illustrated talk on Zoom: Not Planning to Die with The Kominsky Method. As the saying goes, getting old ain’t for sissies. Aging holds challenges for all of us: physical declines, beloved people and pets dying, and unrelenting changes, many not for the better. With video clips from the award-winning Netflix series, The Kominsky Method, laugh and learn about planning ahead...
Festival Video: Who Will Speak for You?
In this video from the 2021 Before I Die New Mexico Festival, Althea Halchuck, EJD, CT, presented “Who Will Speak for You? Medical Surrogacy Questions Answered.” During this presentation, you will learn why your husband or child might not be the best choice to make end-of-life decisions for you when you can’t. Learn what personality traits to look for in choosing an effective surrogate to ensure your end-of-life wishes are honored. Learn...
Why Aren’t More New Mexicans Claiming COVID-19 Funeral Expenses?
Funeral Expenses Covered for COVID-19 Deaths Would you take advantage of free funeral expenses? According to the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, just 35% of eligible New Mexicans have registered for FEMA’s COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program. This program reimburses residents for up to $9,000 in funeral costs related to deaths due to COVID-19. Authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act, the program is...
Obituary for Gary Mayhew
Gary Mayhew would rather not make a fuss over his death on October 26, 2021. He died at home on hospice for end-stage COPD at the age of 76. Born in California to Bill and Dorothy Mayhew, he inherited his dad’s dry sense of humor and his mother’s kindness. The family moved to East Palistine, Ohio, then settled in Albuquerque, where Gary lived the rest of his life. Gary graduated from the University of New Mexico, where he studied mathematics...
Register Today for Cemetery Stories Storytelling Event November 2
Cemetery Stories: Life, Death and Beyond, a live storytelling event, will take place November 2, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Historic Fairview Cemetery, located at 700 Yale Blvd. SE. It's being organized by the New Mexico Humanities Council, the Before I Die NM Festival and the cemetery. Cemetery Stories will be the closing event of the Festival. Hot cider and cookies will be served. In addition, there will be an opportunity to write out messages...
Gail Rubin to Speak at HERe Conference: Fear is So Last Year!
Fear is So Last Year! The Arizona Healthcare Financial Management Association is holding their 9th Annual Women Lead HERe Conference on Friday, November 5th, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time as a live, virtual event. The theme of "Fear is So Last Year" will be reflected in Gail Rubin's presentation at 11:00 a.m. in Arizona, noon in New Mexico (where Gail is based). Her presentation is "Laughing in the Face of Death: Funny Films for...
Green Burial Curious? Join the Conversation October 21!
The Green Burial Council’s second virtual conference, Green Life, Death & Future will take place October 21–28, 2021. On Thursday, October 21, at 3:30 pm PT / 4:30 pm MT / 5:30 pm CT / 6:30 pm ET, Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®, is hosting a free two-hour virtual conversation about what green burial means. She'll show video clips from the HBO series Six Feet Under and from the Netflix series The Kominsky Method that illustrate green...
Gail Rubin a Featured Speaker at Prime Time 50+ EXPO Wednesday
Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and the Doyenne of Death®, is a pioneering death educator who uses humor, television and film clips, and outside-the-box activities to teach about death and encourage end-of-life planning. A doyenne is a woman considered senior in a group who knows a lot about a particular subject. This Wednesday, October 13, Gail is speaking at the Prime Time 50+ EXPO, taking place at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1000 Woodward...
More Funeral News Stories
Recent Trends in Funeral News Over the past few weeks, these funeral news stories have appeared. They focus on COVID-19 pandemic deaths, unclaimed bodies, hospice care access, bucket lists, and why we treasure certain items. Idaho morgues are running out of space for bodies as covid-19 deaths mount As covid-19 deaths reach record highs in the state of 1.8 million, hard-hit areas are struggling to keep pace with the surge in victims. Some...
Funeral Businesses Can Share Before I Die NM Festival Virtual Events
Before I Die Festival Expands Nationally The Before I Die Festival concept excites and educates adults about end-of-life preparation, funeral planning and facing our mortality. Funeral homes and cemeteries nationwide can now share virtual sessions of the Before I Die NM Festival in their markets. It’s being held for the fifth consecutive year in Albuquerque and online, October 30 to November 2, 2021. “Sharing Before I Die NM Festival events...
Hilarious TV Series The Kominsky Method Helps to Discuss Death and Estate Planning
The Kominsky Method The Kominsky Method shows how to age with humor. The award-winning Netflix TV series stars Michael Douglas as Sandy Kominsky, an aging acting coach, and Alan Arkin as Norman Newlander, his long-time agent and friend. The series pokes fun at a range of aging issues: fear of death, funeral planning, diseases that can kill you, the growing multitude of medications and supplements we take, and yes, even estate planning. The...
News Stories: Open Air Cremation in Maine and More
Funeral News Round Up Here are some news stories about funeral developments, a great new Mitch Albom column about COVID and saying goodbye to loved ones, the Before I Die New Mexico Festival schedule announcement, and green burial news. Maine Considers Open Air Cremation Cremating dead bodies on open-air funeral pyres may soon be legal in Maine. A bill in the state legislature would allow designated sites in the state to conduct open air...
In Person ABQ Death Cafe Moves to Historic Fairview Cemetery
The Next Death Cafe is Moving Outdoors! With the rising numbers of cases of COVID-19 due to the Delta virus variant, in-person Death Cafe events are moving from Manzano Del Sol, a retirement community, outdoors to Historic Fairview Cemetery. How appropriate to discuss death among the tombstones. The ABQ Death Cafe offers a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or...
Video: Psychic Reading at Historic Fairview Cemetery
Psychic Tammy Holmes Visits Historic Fairview Cemetery Tammy Holmes, renowned psychic, visited Historic Fairview Cemetery, established in 1881 in Albuquerque, NM. She was immediately contacted by Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms, who is buried in a family plot with her second husband, Albert G. Simms, and her son, John Medill McCormick, who died in 1938 at the age of 21. Tammy shares information about each, and shares Ruth's uplifting message to us...
How to Operate a Back Hoe in a Cemetery
Operating a Back Hoe - Not as Easy as You'd Think Ever operated a back hoe in a cemetery? I recently attended ICCFA University, the summer continuing education event of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. Since I'm the president of Historic Fairview Cemetery in Albuquerque, NM, among other roles, I attended the College of Land Management & Grounds Operations on a scholarship. I call it cemetery summer camp. What a...
Videos: Discussing Cremation and COVID-19
Talking Cremation with J.P. DiTroia J.P. Di Troia knows cremation. He is President of U.S. Columbarium and Fresh Pond Crematory in Middle Village, Queens, NY and has worked there since 1967. Fresh Pond Crematory was first built in 1884. It's the oldest continually operating crematory in the United States. He recently spoke with Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®, pioneering death educator and the coordinator of the Before I Die NM Festival....
Announcing the 5th Annual Before I Die NM Festival
Festival Features In-Person and Online Events October 30-November 2, 2021 The Before I Die NM Festival, being held for the fifth consecutive year in New Mexico, breaks new ground with a combination of in-person/online series of events Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, 2021. The Before I Die Festival concept brings together entertaining and educational elements to start conversations. Events are designed to prompt Baby Boomers and their Millennial children to...
Body Broker Bill to Protect Families Making Body Donations
Body Donations Get You a Free Cremation, But... Do you know what actually happens to the donated body? According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), "When a family chooses to donate a loved one’s body for education or research, they do so with the hope that they will help others. Regrettably, many are unknowingly contributing to a for-profit industry in which the body of their loved one could be traded as raw material in a...