everal years ago I was reading something, perhaps The Encyclopedia of Immaturity but I’m not sure, when I discovered that one alternative to traditional funeral practices is to have remains made into artificial diamonds. I remember jokingly telling my daughters that they could split me into two diamonds and wear me forever. I’d forgotten about it until I happened on ... Read More »
esterday I found the Readers Digest at my place at the breakfast table. My husband had left it conspicuously open to an article about how doctors die. The gist of the article was that doctors rarely choose CPR, being placed indefinitely on a respirator, having surgery that most likely won’t improve their quality of life. The doctors have been in ... Read More »
Like many of you reading Today’s Gray Matters, I was saddened to hear that Robin Williams, actor and comic genius, had hanged himself this week. I never quite got the fascination with Mork, but I loved the genie in Disney’s Aladdin and Williams’ character in Good Will Hunting. I’d seen Patch Adams Dead Poets Society, and One Hour Photo. Robin ... Read More »
My sister recently brought me a box of newspaper clippings from my mother’s estate. Among the old, yellowed newspaper I found something dated 1938. I can’t tell what paper it came from, only that the author is Edgar A. Guest. His words ring as true today as they did when they were written. As we age we experience more and ... Read More »
Have you ever been in a hospital when over the intercom you’ve heard “Code Blue, code blue”? Have you seen the organized chaos that occurs in a room when a patient’s heart has stopped beating and the medical team is doing everything they can to revive the patient? When I was the on-call chaplain at a trauma hospital I saw ... Read More »
Strategy? What strategy?! I don’t know that many people who make a practice of contemplating their own deaths. It’s just not most people’s idea of fun, and some are even superstitious that if they think about death or prepare for it, they’re inviting it. I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news. Maybe it depends on how old ... Read More »
Why me? Oh, no! This is the end. How will I ever make it? Are these the kinds of things that go through your mind when you get unwelcome news about yourself and your life? Have you ever thought things were so bad you might as well end it all? Here’s a video about a man who was so despondent ... Read More »
If you’re like many people, Shakespeare isn’t at the top of your reading list. His works, however, contain many wise words. “Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. They also serve who only stand and wait” comes from Henry VI, pt II, act III, scene 3. These are words family members and medical professionals would do well to keep in ... Read More »
Have you ever shopped for cremation or funeral merchandise? Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not a shopaholic. I like to get in, get what I want, and get out. Walking into the merchandise room at a funeral home can make you want to get out even faster! Unfortunately, I’ve lost both parents in the last 20 months ... Read More »
How well do you know your doctor? Even more important, how well does your doctor know you? In Knocking on Heaven’s Door: A Better Way to Death Katy Butler writes that more and more doctors practice as skilled technicians with their own agendas. She states that “something precious–our old faith in a doctor’s calling, perhaps, or in healing that is more ... Read More »
Todays Gray Matters Valuing the Wisdom & Purpose In Aging Well