cultureCulture, Traditions and Being Remembered

There are as many end of life rituals as their are cultures. Each intended to ease through the dying process and to help those left behind to move on, while celebrating a life lived, and honouring memories.

For some memories are triggered by a treasured momento: a piece of jewellery, a hand-knitted blanket. For many, it’s photographs, special occasion cards, scrapbooks. For some, it’s a project worked on together for a shared experience to remember: creating a puzzle together or – using available technology – iphone video conversation.  Virtual experiences offer more options: a Facebook memorial page,  a shared photo library.

Elderly and Sleep

Elderly and Sleep

We need less sleep as we get older. Everyone knows that right? Wrong! Completely and utterly wrong.
The myth that the need to sleep drops as we advance in years is one of those random misconceptions that somehow takes hold and persists – kind of like how if you eat something within five seconds of it falling on the floor it will be fine. No, it won’t.

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Ricky’s mother had a ‘good death’

Ricky’s mother had a ‘good death’

Of the three siblings, Ricky – the sole daughter – was closest to her mother, Anna. “When my marriage ended, my kids and I lived with my mother. We all adored her.” In the last three years of her life Anna- who died at age 91 – was beset by Dementia. “It was more than memory loss – it was her wonderful personality that vanished.” In spite of the pain of her beloved mother disappearing, Ricky took care of her until the end.

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A beautiful death

A beautiful death

“My mother was ‘dying’ for about 10 years – with her sickness, she seemed often on the brink of death, and then she’d rally. We’d all said our goodbyes a number of times. But on the day she actually died, my father was in her bed, his arm around her, holding on to...

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Create your own Advance Directives Plan

We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don’t disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms

 

Paulo Coehlo