The Family Plot Blog
Chicago, Chicago!
So excited to be heading out to Chicago for a TV interview and FOUR speaking engagements on funeral planning issues! Chicago Book Tour! Tuesday, January 24: Jewish Funeral Traditions Talk in Chicago 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. Emanuel Congregation with Congregation Or Chadash, Chicago Jewish Day School, 5959 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago PH: 773-561-5173 – Sponsored by Piser Funeral Services Wednesday, January 25: Gail is interviewed on WGN-TV Midday...
Funeral Planning Talk
"Everything You Wanted to Know About Funerals ** But Were Afraid to Ask" was the title of this talk to the University of New Mexico Retirees Association. I covered topics such as: Why most people avoid talking about funeral planning What it's like to talk with a funeral director when there's no death imminent Why the cremation rate in the U.S. has skyrocketed over the past five years How to "green" your final arrangements What funerals cost...
Remembering Robert Burkhardt
It's hard to believe it's been a year since Your Funeral Guy, R. Brian Burkhardt, died of a heart attack on January 19, 2011. The last post on his very popular Your Funeral Guy blog was January 17, 2011. I didn't find out about his death until a few months after the fact. He was such an active blogger, to see that he hadn't posted in two months was a sign of concern. I left a message on his cell phone, but didn't get a return call until months...
New Traditions: A Secular Shiva
Yesterday's New York Times had a "This Life" column in the Sunday Styles section by Bruce Feiler titled Mourning in a Digital Age. It explored how old traditions for mourning and grieving are impacted by our busy modern age, Facebook and email and how new traditions could be formed. Of special interest is how he suggests a secular use of the shiva period of mourning, a Jewish tradition where the family retreats to the home for a week and...
Celebrity Death Quiz
Yesterday was my husband's 60th birthday. My brother gave him this "Celebrity Death Quiz" card, and Dave, who has an amazing capacity to remember trivial information, got all the answers right. The challenge - match the celebrity to their death. Here's the list of ways they died and who they were: 1. Decapitation a. Mama Cass 2. Plane Crash b. John Belushi 3. Drowned ...
Video of Toastmasters Talk on Cremation
http://youtu.be/T7-wIG6Si5k I recently gave a Toastmasters talk about cremation trends titled The Crème de la "Crem." You can watch the YouTube video (would love to get your feedback!) or read the written version of the talk below. In the film, Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood, there’s a scene set in London. Ten-year-old Marcus is attending the funeral of his twin brother, Jason, who was killed in a car accident. Marcus, his mother, and...
William Breitbart Talk on Confronting Our Mortality
Last night I attended a talk by William S. Breitbart, MD titled "Confronting Our Mortality: A Crisis of Spirit, an Opportunity for Meaning." The event was held by IDEAS in Psychiatry, a non-profit institute affiliated with the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Breitbart's insightful lecture provided much to ponder regarding end-of-life issues. Breitbart has dedicated much of his career to helping people find hope and...
Frozen Dead Guy Days Round Two
Mark your calendars for March 2-4, 2012 for the 11th annual Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland, Colorado! I'll be at this wild and wacky celebration of all things dead and frozen, bringing back The Newly-Dead Game™ which debuted there last year. Frozen Dead Guy Days is enjoying a surge of publicity over the past few days. The New York Times recently did a story about how festival manager Amanda MacDonald bought the festival from...
Jewish and Hmong Memorial Monuments
Katzman Monument Company makes memorial markers for Jewish and Hmong cemetery headstones.
Healthy New Year Short Video
While you usually see me writing about end-of-life and funeral planning, I'm all about making the most of this lifetime - living and dying. In my spare time, I'm a yoga and Pilates instructor at my neighborhood YMCA. I live a generally healthy lifestyle (including eating dark chocolate) and encourage my students to do so as well. Recently saw this great video about the best thing you can do for your health - it's easy, it's free, and it only...
50 Truths of Life
Nancy Weil, founder of The Laugh Academy, just turned 50. In honor of reaching the Big 5-0, she wrote this thought-provoking list of her 50 Truths of Life. It's got some good insights on living and dying. Enjoy! HEALTH 1. A pedicure in winter is the best, especially because it is your own private treat. 2. If you eat whatever you want and you do not go to the gym, you will gain weight. I have tested this theory a million times and I always get...
Hidden Retirement Trend – The Good Death
MoneyWatch reporter Steve Vernon did a story titled "Five hidden retirement trends of 2011." He reported on some important emerging trends that might not have made the headlines, but they still require your attention in the months and years to come. One of them involves end-of-life issues. They include: 1. New products and services to generate retirement income 2. The Department of Labor issues regulations on expert advice in 401(k) plans 3....
A Winter Solstice Poem
Last night we visited the Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery, which is a hub of activity on Christmas Eve. Hundreds of people decorated the graves of their relatives with luminarias, mini-Christmas trees, multicolored lights, and mini-displays complete with music. The video below shows the extent of the holiday decorations lighting up the night. The poem I'm reading during the video is Winter Solstice by Isaac C. Eastvold. The text of the poem is...
A Good Goodbye Book Reviews
Two book reviews of A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die recently appeared at BookPleasures.com and AllTheSingleGirlfriends.com. Here is an excerpt from David Menefee's review at BookPleasures.com: Loved ones often die unexpectedly, and we have precious little time to prepare a funeral. Most of us feel broadsided by shock and grief, and most of us have no idea what must be done, or how to avoid being taken advantage...
A Note from The Universe
Every weekday, I get a "Note from The Universe" in my email. I loved today's message and wanted to share it with you. The top 10 things dead people want to tell living people, Gail, are: 1. They're not dead. 2. They're sorry for any pain they caused. 3. There's no such thing as a devil or hell. 4. They were ready to go when they went. 5. You're not ready. 6. They finally understand what they were missing. 7. Nothing can prepare you for the...
Ideas for Children at Funerals
Dear Abby recently ran a column about ways to help children grieve and address the dearly departed at a funeral. As so often happens, her readers had some very good ideas. DEAR ABBY: "Saddened in New Jersey" (Oct. 2) complained that her sister's 4-year-old daughter put stickers on the hands and face of her deceased grandmother during her wake. Perhaps the child's mother didn't anticipate her daughter's actions. Children need to grieve, too....
Lucky Bingo Urn and Ashes
News out of Rochester, New Hampshire: Diane Bozzi regularly took the ashes of her mother to Bingo games for good luck. Then she had a run of bad luck - the urn containing her good luck ashes was stolen out of her van last week. But, oh happy day! - the urn has been returned. Diane Bozzi and her mother loved playing Bingo together. Before her mother died in 2002, Bozzi promised her mother to take some of her ashes with her to play. Her mother...
Funerals in Commercials
Collected a few fun funeral-themed commercials on YouTube for your amusement today! When I played this classic Beetle commercial, my husband (who can quote movie and TV show lines by heart) started saying the lines. http://youtu.be/fCHWhIHIuhY Love this Cell Phone Karma commercial from Kyocera: http://youtu.be/qnqhQMUeMkQ The Golden Gate Funeral Home did this interesting take on the deceased visiting his own funeral: http://youtu.be/TojWqx1G9EY...
The Social Security Death Benefit
Social Security provides the grand sum of $255.00, paid either to the funeral home or next of kin, when someone dies. Why $255? That was what a funeral cost in 1937 when Social Security first started. The benefit has never been raised over more than 70 years. At a recent book event, a man told me that he was going to let the funeral home have the $255 and leave them to figure out what to do with his lifeless carcass. He really didn't care. At...
Good Tips on Funeral Planning
You can find tons of great funeral planning information in this article by Tom Murphy of the Associated Press.
The Origin of Star Trek’s Live Long and Prosper Greeting
Did you know that Star Trek's Vulcan "Live long and prosper" greeting with the distinctive upraised hand sign comes from Jewish tradition? Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on the original TV series, grew up attending an Orthodox synagogue. In these YouTube videos of interviews with him and talks he has given, he describes how the saying and the hand gesture came onto the set of Star Trek. He opens this talk with the question, "Is there...