Last Thursday I did a workshop on grieving at the El Cerrito Public Library. My film, The Heart of Grieving, was screened and people shared their stories of loss. Very soon we were talking about the mystery that can surround death – things like people timing their death to accommodate the needs of their family, […]
The wind was blowing strong and fierce the other day — a warm, dry Santa Ana wind that rustled through the plastic tarps in the backyard, knocking off garbage lids and whipping the trees. Unusual for this time of year even for the Bay Area. It is the kind of wind that signals to my […]
Over the last few decades, advances in medical technology have dramatically changed the way we die. In the good ole days (not always so good), families waited patiently at the bedside of dying loved ones while nature took its course. With the wide array of medical drugs, procedures and devices that are now available, it […]
As the saying goes: Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes. Taxes, however, come due at predictable times, which forces us to prepare, even if we hate doing it. Death, on the other had, is completely unpredictable and so much easier to put it out of our minds until it is too late. […]
My sister Kip and her husband Richard had two adorable brown sable Burmese kitties — Mina and Clovis. They were litter mates, housemate, and playmates. Last November, during that terrible Sandy storm that left parts of Lower Manhattan without power, Mina stopped eating. At first they assumed it was the stress of the storm. But […]
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few days after his eightieth birthday. His dementia was fairly advanced. We ignored the signs as long as we could. After his diagnosis my father deteriorated rapidly. It seemed that now that we knew the truth, he could stop pretending and let nature take its course. His participation […]
As my parents moved into their “golden years” and closer to that ultimate life passage we call death, my mother often said that if she and my father lost their wits and assumed a vegetable like state they would drive off a cliff. It was a bit of a joke but also the only clear […]
A few weeks ago I was struggling with negative thoughts about my website designer. I say struggling because a) they were making me feel powerless and victimized and b) I was afraid these thoughts might be contributing to the problem. I believe in the power of intention — that thoughts have energy and can actually […]
