The Amateur's Guide To Death & Dying
Enhancing Life Near Death
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, the beach is awesome, but what if it had more death?” If yes, then oh boy, we have a treat for you. This pink coffin pool float (complete with lid) was created by Canadian designers Andrew Greenbaum and Ian Felton who launched a Pom Pom Floats brand to make their dream come true. It perfectly encapsulates most people’s two biggest fears of being buried alive and drowning. So much fun, right?
The answer might seem simple, but in the hands of Lesley Hazleton, the question takes us on a surprisingly humorous and thought-provoking journey into what it would actually mean to live forever. And whether we’d truly want to. A frequent TED.com speaker and ‘Accidental Theologist,’ Hazleton uses wit and wisdom to challenge our ideas not only about death, but about what it is to live well.
Lesley Hazleton has traced the roots of conflict in several books, including compelling ‘flesh-and-blood’ biographies of Muhammad and Mary, and casts “an agnostic eye on politics, religion, and existence” on her blog, AccidentalTheologist.com. Her newest book, Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, celebrates the agnostic stance as “rising above the flat two-dimensional line of belief/unbelief, creating new possibilities for how we think about being in the world.” In it, she explores what we mean by the search for meaning, invokes the humbling perspective of infinity and reconsiders what we talk about when we talk about soul.
In this Oscar-nominated animated short, a young woman receives a mysterious package that contains a vinyl record. She soon realizes that she can go forward or backward in time by simply adjusting the position of the needle as the record plays on her stereo.
Tim Boon, RN is the CEO of Good Shepherd Community Care in Newton, MA. Share this poem with ALL the loved ones.
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[W]e all love to fantasise that when we pass away people will be lining the roads mourning – the world absolutely devastated, unable to go on without you. No? Just me?
In reality, it’s not quite such an extreme display of mourning, but at least you can always rely on your close family to at least shed a few tears, right? Well, not always, it seems.
The children of one Minnesota woman, who died at 80 last week, have said she will ‘not be missed’ and that the world is ‘a better place without her. Savage.
Most of the obituary reads as any other would, explaining that the woman, Kathleen, was born on 19 March 1938, and that she got married to someone called Dennis in 1957. However, things take a bit of a strange – and absolutely fascinating – turn halfway through.
The obituary read: “Kathleen Dehmlow (Schunk) was born on March 19, 1938 to Joseph and Gertrude Schunk of Wabasso.
“She married Dennis Dehmlow at St. Anne’s in Wabasso in 1957 and had two children Gin and Jay.”
So far, so nice, right?
“In 1962 she became pregnant by her husband’s brother Lyle Dehmlow and moved to California.”
Oh, hello… Now it’s getting juicy.
“She abandoned her children, Gina and Jay, who were then raised by her parents in Clements, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schunk.
“She passed away on May 31, 2018 in Springfield and will now face judgment.”
And for a final sting, it concluded: “She will not be missed by Gina and Jay and they understand that this world is a better place without her.”
Redwood Falls Gazette, where the paid obituary was originally published, has since pulled it from its website.
However, a photo of the published piece had already gone viral – with many people on social media weighing in on the drama.
“So… what’s Dennis’ story?” one person wrote, with someone else saying: “Raised by her parents? I realize this was the 60s but Dennis gets to also abandon his kids because his wife left him?”
Another person asked: “What about Lyle’s kid? Did she have it? Did Lyle’s baby write another obituary?”
Someone else suggested: “I can think of a person who could really shed some light here… @DrPhil care to weigh in?”
Some others criticised Jay and Gina for the harsh obituary, saying that everyone deserves death with dignity.
But either way, it’s certainly a good lesson in how you probably shouldn’t piss off those who will one day end up writing your obituary…
Complete Article ↪HERE↩!
[I] might die at any moment. My roof might collapse when my millennial neighbors throw a party that is too cool! I could finally freeze to death from never buying a winter coat! We could all die from (insert terrifying thing Trump is doing today)! So it’s important to plan ahead. While most Americans opt for cremation or embalming, five years of living in Brooklyn have made me much too alt for either. Here are some other suggestions.
Roll me into the ocean—it seems like fun for both of us!
Donate all my organs to science, except for my eyes. It’s not that I’m sentimental about my eyes, it’s just that I want them to be used in that spooky “put your hand in the bowl” Halloween trick, in lieu of peeled grapes.
Add me to the “Bodies” exhibit, and make my skeleton do a gnarly skateboard trick. Have the explanatory plaque read, “Blythe was able to do this in real life and did it constantly.”
Keep losing and re-finding my bones, setting off a media frenzy every time with headlines like, “SKELETON DISCOVERED UNDER PARKING LOT.”
Plant a memorial cactus on top of me. I swear to God, I am going to be reincarnated as a succulent.
Don’t embalm me, and bury me in a natural coffin in a natural cemetery. See if you can find a plot inside a national park. Make my gravesite a geotag on Instagram.
Complete Article ↪HERE↩!