a gathering place for death literacy, long before the end

Stories

Busting Taboos

Busting Taboos

This social entrepreneur says when someone is dying, caring or grieving, we need to know what to do.

the big ideas, wisdomCaren MartineauJune 20, 2018groundswell, jessie williams, death literacy, grief, dying well, a good death, community, dying at home, compassionate communities

Dressing the Dead

Dressing the Dead

A career in fashion leads to her calling in all things end of life. But for this Ph.D., it makes brilliant sense.

cultureCaren MartineauJune 20, 2018fashion, style, Pia Interlandi, shroud, transformation, dressing the dead

A Sacred Death

A Sacred Death

Death is rarely a romantic notion, except, of course, in the hands of one of literature’s greats.

cultureCaren MartineauJune 14, 2018art, style, flowers, emile zola, zola, rebecca louise law, Rebecca Louise Law, Zola, film, albine, Albine, Death of Albine, death of albine, suffocated by flowers, suffocation, Emile Zola

Come Fly with Me

Come Fly with Me

That final visit, no tickets required.

celebrateCaren MartineauJune 13, 2018drone, visit, tour, memory, family, travel, a flight to remember, flight, video, drone camera, tours, drone tours, places

In the Swim

In the Swim

An artist creates a glorious water dance so her friends can say goodbye.

celebrateCaren MartineauJune 13, 2018memorial, celebrate, water ballet, friends, public art, joy, Rose Bates

Like a Butterfly

Like a Butterfly

A filmmaker learns the butterflies had a different story to tell.

film, cultureCaren MartineauJune 12, 2018film, grief, bereavement, monarch, butterfly, butterflies, Mexico, stories

Blossoming

Blossoming

A designer’s painstaking floral tribute to mom.

art, artists, cultureCaren MartineauJune 12, 2018Kristy Mitchell, Wonderland, grief, photography, legacy, flowers, beauty

Max'd Out

Max'd Out

A poet’s afternoon becomes an animation of the same name.

cultureCaren MartineauJune 12, 2018Max Ritvo, poetry, afternoon, new yorker, animation, video

Making a Statement

Making a Statement

Your final appearance need not be a repeat of funerary cliché.

celebrateCaren MartineauJune 12, 2018burial, funerals, funeral, casket, green burials, eco burial, buried at sea, cremation, ashes, space, personalization, customization

Only The Best (for Fifi and Fido)

Only The Best (for Fifi and Fido)

Only the luckiest pets get to spend their eternity at two of America’s most famous pet cemeteries.

celebrateCaren MartineauJune 12, 2018pets, pet cemetery, pet cemeteries, Foothill, Bubbling Well, Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, lion, dog, cat, animals