man wakes up in morgue

This is a link to the story that professor Cox brought up in class today about the man who woke up in the cooler in a morgue. Kind of creepy that his family just assumed he was dead without checking.
http://gawker.com/5824648/dead-guy-wakes-up-in-morgue

Since class has started

since class has started i have gone on a crusade to tell everyone about making a will. When my mother died she did not have a will, she had nothing prepared. It is very ovewhelming to care of the affairs of the recently deceed. I took charge of it because my sisters didnt want to but also because my neeed to control. But i have to say that at times i would just shut down because there is so much that needs to be done when closing down an estate its almost been 6 months and i am still working on getting things in order. i spend countless hours calling and sending and organizing my mother life just to prepair for her death notifications, it has also cost me money, which i do not care about the money just thank god that i like to save my money or else we would have more problems. At one point i was angry at my mom for leaving me with all of her mess. So all that to say no matter what age you are, get a will, get money for your services what ever they may be, have a list or some sort or organizational plan in place so to not add stress to you family and loved ones.

todays presentations

very iteresting presentations today. the two that stood out was the childs book and the plague. The child book presentation stood out, not because of the book but because of the comment made by the presenter that when asked questions by a child she had no awnser, and they did not know how to tell the child that he would not receive a letter back from grandma. this touched me because, questions about death are hard to awnser. I can awnser on my beliefs but everyones are so different that it can be very confusing for a child when he ask different people the same question and gets different awnsers. So when anwsering a question i think i would make clear to the child that what i am about to anwser is my opinion and my beliefs but they are not shared by everyone. I can see where it get very difficult to address.
the other presentation that touched me was the plague presentation. i found it very informative but it also allowed my imagination to put myself in that position and how would i react, what would life be like if we are centered around when we are going to die. what would i do, what would my family do. I could not reflect too much because i had to pay attention but this is an interesting subject that i will bring up at dinner tonight with my boyfriend and his family. to see how they would react if the plague was invading sw florida. would we run, would we stay put, would we lock our selves away, would we help the dying. I think it will be great dinner conversation :) thanks everyone for the great presentations today. i also was moved by the suicide presentation.

Alive in the morgue

After class today i was extremely intrigued to see how many people are actually reported dead that are in fact alive. Surprisingly there were several incidents reported with individuals that were alive when placed in the morgue. That would be an experience to wake up to after a nap; in Ireland there was a man however that was accidently pronounced dead at the hospital and then transferred to the morgue. On the hospitals side that is complete negligence, and I do not understand how any sane doctor could not tell whether their patient was dead or alive. The story is very interesting and I have placed the link below if you would like to check it out. The funny part of the story is when they went to transfer him to the morgue is when they found out he was indeed still alive. Shortly after this incident the man was released from the hospital to come home. Talk about a near death experience...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/morgue-staff-found-dead-man-very-much-alive-446299.html

Living Will

Hi Everyone,

We discussed in one of the previous classes the topic of creatign a Living Will in the event we are still live but not able to speak for ourselves and needing to have others make important medical decisions for us. As discussed in class we were told that we could go online and obtain or print out the Five Wishes Living Will paper work. However, this afternoon I discovered that the Five wishes Living Will very small book let is sold at our Florida Gulf Coast University Bookstore and it is very inexpensive. The cost for students is $1.50. This is the best thing the bookstore could have ever done, because it something so important yet sold relatively cheap. Everyone should take advantage of this cheap opportunity.

Supriya Konkol Blog Entry # 6

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part Two

With the last installment of the Harry Potter Movies it signifies the end of a worldwide phenomenon. A phenomenon that centered on an orphaned boy finally came to a conclusion that revolved around death. The whole series is centered on dealing with the loss of his parents. However, in the conclusion everyone Harry knows and loves is enmeshed in death, dying, and possibly facing their own death. However, none have come as close as Harry has when has to fake his own death towards the end of the movie. The series final depicted a broad range of emotions displayed through the characters.

Due to the recent release of the new Harry Potter Movie author J.K. Rowling has been doing some publicity. In an article by MSNBC.Com the author, J.K. Rowling, of the Harry Potter Series explained that on every page of her books it has to do with her mother, who died shortly after she graduated from college. J.K. Rowling also allows for us to know that without her mother’s death the series would not have been able to be what it is and actually become the Harry Potter Series that it is. I feel that this information is a touching fit to the last installment of the series.

Life Time Network over the weekend released a movie that is an unauthorized biography of J.K Rowling. The Life Time movie features loss, grief, and mourning in depicting struggling with her mother’s illness and eventually taking her mother’s life. The movie also illustrated that the loss of J.K. Rowling’s mother is felt even years later when she has become a success and wishes her mother were there to see her success.

Let’s hope J.K Rowling writes more on Harry’s life with more adventures because even though they revolve around death they are really phenomenal stories.

Supriya Konkol Entry #5

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/ns/today-wild_about_harry/t/finished-potter-rowling-tells-what-happens-next/

Moment Of Death

I saw this on my Netflix queue. I watched this the other day, and I believed it was mentioned in class. The documentary talks about what happens the second after we die. It addresses such issues as whether we have a soul or not, and where does it go and what happens to our physical bodies. It was a great documentary. Highly recommended.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM&ob=av2e

If I Die Young

If I Die Young is written by The Band Perry and is such a great song. It carries such meaning in the verses which is somewhat surprising considering that the author, Kimberly Perry, is only 26.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM&ob=av2e

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors
Oh, and life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger
I've never known the loving of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand

There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time

So put on your best, boys, and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singing
Funny, when you're dead how people start listening

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life
Well, I've had just enough time
So put on your best, boys
And I'll wear my pearls

Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me was a series on Showtime that approached death from the afterlife perspective. I personally found it interesting because it gave a comical edge to a somewhat touchy topic. Like we discussed in class, death is still a 'pornography' of sorts. In the show, a young woman dies and becomes a grim reaper. Her co-workers, so to speak, are just like she. They are all normal looking people, they don't carry sickles and they aren't dressed in black robes. It reminds me of the episode of the Twilight Zone that we watched in class. Mr. Death, was a normal person, and death came as a whisper, not a bang, which is how death is depicted in this series as well.
Georgia struggles with her job. At first mourning her own death, she finds it hard to take someones soul, but through the series, the learns that with life comes death.

This is the link to the season 1 trailer. Check it out, though I don't think it gives the show justice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3BTBuevmw

Romeo and Juliet

This is a well known and older story about death; there is a remake of the movie that depicts a more modern age view of the story. After watching it and really grasping more of the story now then I did when I was younger forced to read the play; I really enjoyed the beauty of their deaths. That might sound a little strange that by commiting suicide their deaths were beautiful, but Shakespeare wrote and intended it to be viewed that way. If he saw the importance of love or dying to be with the one you love back then makes me question a quote in the book. In the 15th century it was an actual reason of death, "dying from a broken heart." Romeo nor Juliet did do to poison and a sword but a broken heart drove them to do act as they did. There are always news reports of death because they were depressed from a break up or divorce. Whether it is considered suicide, I feel that the reasoning behind why they actually did take there lives should be considered in the report as well. Suicide by a broken heart or something to that nature... Now society does not put any backing behind dying from a broken heart regardless if the stress from a death close to you caused an heart attack. It is still just that, a heart attack. As a fan of romance and the behind scene reasoning of death; should it be specific when someone dies on why they died or why they took their own lives?

How much do we vaule life

A recent story on the news about a boy that is seventeen brutally killed both his parents with a hammer. The crime was planned and the teenager even through a party after the said crime with his parents dead in their room. The topic is not really on the boy's crime but the fact he is getting tried as a juvenile versus an adult. The reasoning behind this decision is because the fact he is not of age as an adult, and if he was put in a trial as an adult he would face the death penalty. Is it right that he is not facing the death penalty after clearly showing no remorse after killing both his parents? Is it right that being tried as a juvenile he could be out in ten years after this murder? The story really is mind blowing to think that there is no justice in this situation. It is a very sad story within itself, but does our country really care about the life of this young boy when he did such an act? There are people doing life for murders that were unintentional but regardless they happened and they are facing the consequences. Our society is always saying, an eye for an eye, but if that is the case; why are there so many different cases where the criminals in their own way... get away?

Has our media gone too far?

The question that seems to be on every news channel is whether Casey Anthony is safe after being released from jail? Does are media not realize that a child has been murdered and whoever has done this awful act is free! It is extremely sad when rather than memorialize the death of a child, the media publicizes the trial of the child's mother. Regardless if anyone believes she did it or not; does the media take it too far focusing on the mother versus the crime? When she leaves jail at the end of today, her child is not coming home with her. Caylee Anthony died a terrible death way too early in life. There should be recognition for the lost life displayed somewhere in the reports. All that has been said lately is the safety of the mother. So, I will end this blog and leave you again with the same question mention before, has the media gone too far?

These are a few links to recent articles about the case and death of Caylee Anythony:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/28660098/detail.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/25/abc-news-after-casey-anthony-debacle-bans-paying-news-subjects-for-photos.html

Living Life to the Fullest

I can not lie; on the first day of class I walked in not really knowing how this class would really play out. I was scared to an extent that it would be very dry and depressing. Needless to say I was very wrong! I have more of an appreciation for the dying process and more value for the time I have left here myself. To bring up a blog made by a previous student entitled the, "bucket list" really sums up my thoughts reaching the end of this class. Every year it is the same question, "What do you want to do for your birthday?" Each year I always laugh and say I want to go sky diving. I recently took the time and signed up for a day to go and actually do my dream activity. My parents being very protective keep telling me to hold off and wait until I am older. When is the time to do these things though? Should I wait until I am older? The times have somewhat shifted; my grandparents now travel everywhere but went no where when they were my age. I would rather spend my time now being young doing all those things I would put on my 'bucket list' rather than wait until I am older. Is it wrong and selfish of me to postpone life to enjoy my youth, get all my dreams out of the way and then decide to settle down? It really has me thinking that maybe I am doing the sequence out of order.

The Bucket List

I saw the movie The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson back in 2007. This class has made me think about the concept of a bucket list especially after our discussion on the topic. However, one question still remains with me. Is creating a bucket list just another way to measure who we are and what we have done or not done in life? I would like to come up with a bucket list but I am hesitant to do it because I fear the end result. I think that if I produce a bucket list I may fail at completing it. Often people forget about their bucket list due to living life and it’s only when life comes to a halt that we look at our list. Another issue is losing the list or setting goals too high that the completion of the list may not be obtainable.

Perhaps my hesitation and question is just a way of me staling to come up with a list. Maybe people do not need a list and I am just following along with what society feels helps us. People may speculate my reasoning and question. However, I believe that the bigger picture is why do we really want a bucket list is just for our self or to prove to others? I leave with a final question. Will a bucket list or the concept of a bucket list really matter when we are dead?

Supriya Konkol Entry # 4

Serving Life- TV Series

There is a new TV series/ documentary showing on the OWN network called Serving Life. This series documents people in prision who are serving on death row who help patients dying in the prision hospice care. I think this is an interesting conept and I can't wait to see it when it comes out. What is everyone elses view on this? How do you think this affects the prisoners on death row?

Here is the link to the article written about the show:
http://www.aoltv.com/2011/07/22/exclusive-forest-whitaker-own-serving-life-preview/

Pain Management

http://enidnews.com/localnews/x227001781/Box-death-ruled-accidental

This article talks about a football player who was found dead and had five different painkillers and an anti-anxiety medication in his system. They spoke in the article about investigating to find out what physician prescribed the drugs, or how else he might have obtained them. Due to his many football injuries and surgeries, I am sure that he had a level of pain he had to deal with every day. Because he was on so many painkillers, it makes me wonder if he was just self-medicating because the medications he was prescribed were not doing the job. This brings me to our class discussion on doctors not knowing how to properly treat pain. Just found it interesting.

Perception of Death

With only a week left in class I wanted to take some time to see how far I have come when looking at death and dying. After taking this class my awareness of death has grown to a significant extent. For example, i have learned about experiences that I would rather avoid. I'm not talking about death itself but leaving loved ones to deal with my mess upon death. This class has shown a great deal of information on death and dying and has helped me. Also, this class has shown me that death doesn't have to be scary and you can make it less scary for people who are on the way out. I mean dying. So, thank you for this wonderful class and lessons well learned!

Death of a Soul Icon

The musician Amy Winehouse died in her London apartment on Saturday, July 23rd.  She was pronounced dead at the scene.  She was 27 years old.  Amy Winehouse was a singer-songwriter best known for her 2006 album Back to Black which won five grammys including Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.  She was credited as a large influence in the current rise of soul music and the popularity of female musicians.  As of now the cause of death is unknown.  Amy Winehouse is a talented musician that will truly be missed.
R.I.P.  Amy Winehouse



Beth Arnold

Missing man found in backyard

After our discussion this week of how in some states you can still bury a love one in your backyard. I found an article about a woman in North Carolina who buried her husband in her backyard and never told anyone. She invented a story about him moving to New Jersey to live in a nursing home to recover from a stroke that he had suffered. Its been more than a decaded later that police found his remains and the only reason why they found him is because the wife died about a year ago and she was still receiving his social security checks in with she collected over $93,000 dollars.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/308487

The Origins of The Grim Reaper

The Discovery Channel Website has a section that is entitled “What People are Curious About. This portion of the website helps to shed some light onto the origins of the Grim Reaper. The concept of an Angel of Death has been around for ages. The current image of The Grim Reaper originated from The Black Death. People during that time and were consumed with death and dying due to the epidemic that took so many lives so quickly.

Due to the over whelming amount of bodies that collected due to the wide spread disease the dead bodies were placed in piles among the streets. The dead bodies decayed and caused people to view death as bones. The dark robe gives the look of mystery since during these times the disease came quickly and was unknown, which lead to mystery in its very presence. The scythe was designed that way due to The Black death. The scythe was not originally apart of the image. It became a part of the image because it was originally from Agrarian Society. People of Europe felt that The Grim Reaper harvested people like farmers of Agrarian Society harvested crops. Below are two links that will bring people to the Discovery Channel Websites.

Supriya Konkol Blog Entry # 1

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/where-idea-grim-reaper-originate
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/westtech/x14thc.htm

Stories that lie beneath

I recently read in article in "Florida Weekly" titled "Stories that Lie Beneath". Anyway, I found the article to have great significance to our region because of its evaluation of historical grave sites in Lee, Collier, Glades and Hendry Counties. I would like to discuss all of the stories as they were extremely interesting however there was one that stood out to me. It was a section on the Rosemary Cemetery in Naples. This cemetery borders Pine Ridge Rd. and a strip mall. The story mentioned the movement of bodies from one area to this area as well as unmarked graves. What I want to know is is it right for people to move the dead and build on top of them. Also, I wonder how many people even know it's there. Its certainly an interesting piece of history, but not a proper way to treat the dead.

Death Quotes

Here is a website with some quotes about death that I thought was pretty interesting.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_death.html

Death in Paradise-Kipu Falls, Hawaii Swimming Hole, Is A Deadly Tourist Trap

We know that death can happen at any time but would you risk your life knowing that others have died doing the same things you are about to do? In Lihue Hawaii, there is a glorious little hidden place called Kipu Falls. It has a gorgeous waterfall and natural pools. In the past five years five visitors have plunged to their deaths. Those who have survived the jump have suffered chest injuries, rope burns, perforated eardrums and broken and sprained ankles. One teenage girl was paralyzed after her jump. It was seems that there's a powerful whirlpool current at this location. The latest victim was a 26 year old male whose body was found an hour later at the bootom of the pool on June 26. Due to all these fatalities Kuai's Bisitors Bureau is urging hotel concierges and tour operators to steer peopple away from the area.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/07/18/kipu-falls-hawaii-swimming-hole_n_903502.html

Saga of Biorn

Hello everyone!

This link will lead you to a youtube page for the video I presented in class today, the Saga of Biorn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV5w262XvCU

It is a video created by Benjamin J. Kousholt, Daniel D. Christensen, Mads Lundgaard Christensen, Jesper A. Jensen, Jonas K. Doctor, Steffen Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen, Frederik Bjerre-Poulsen, and Jonas Georgakakis for the Bachelor film project 2011 from The Animation Workshop:
http://www.animwork.dk/en/

Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me

Dead Like Me was a (HomeBox)HBO Television Series that also became a movie. The Show deals with Death and Dying by looking at this topic with creative perceptions and dark comedy. It engages viewers with subfields of Death and Dying known as Loss, Grief, Mourning, and Life after death. The HBO award winning show revolves around a small group of individuals that have all died and entered the Afterlife as Grim Reapers.

Dead Like Me was narrated by Ellen Muth, who, was also the main character of the show. Muth portrayed an 18 year old named Georgia Lass, who went to college for one semester and dropped out due to having no interest or direction in her life. Her parents decided that since Georgia dropped out of college she must obtain a job and find direction in her life. Unfortunately, while Georgia is on her way to a job interview she is suddenly killed in a hilarious manner and enters the afterlife as a new Grim Reaper that becomes a part of a small team of Grim Reapers.

The series observes the Lass Family struggling with loss, grief, and mourning over their deceased loved one while also exploring the afterlife with Georgia the newly made Grim Reaper and her team. The team of Grim Reapers looks at the meaning of life and who they are in their present afterlives and past lives while each one takes the souls of individuals they are assigned to take at precise times on a daily basis.

I absolutely loved this show, because it was extremely funny to me and interested me in the whole idea of an Afterlife. Also, Dead Like Me looked at the role of a Grim Reaper based on old ideas mixed with new ideas regarding this iconic figure. Below are two links one connecting to episodes from the show and the other to the movie based on the series.

Supriya Konkol- Blog Entry # 2


The Movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5c3rsIsOJs
The HBO Series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwcVyeuZXEw&playnext=1&list=PL11D9923B89A2C2C2

3 Hikers Presumed Dead

Three hikers were swept over a 317-foot waterfall Tuesday afternoon in Yosemite National Park. Witnesses said they observed the three getting too close to the cold, fast flowing water and urged them to come back to shore, but they refused and was swept over the waterfall. The snowpacks this winter have been larger than normal, resulting in rivers and streams being especially dangerous in the Yosemite and Central California. As usual the family and friends were right there on site watching them take that deadly risk. Afterwards, witnesses said that it was horrible to watch them get swept away. It seems to me like the risk is only worth it if we put it all on the line. Children, women, men, everyone watched it and was in shock. It doesn't matter where we go or what we're doing, death is ever present.

Death Clock

I found this website that called the Death Clock, it states on the homepage it's a friendly reminder that life is slipping away. It will ask you several questions about you for example date of birth, sex, BMI Body Mass Index. based on what you enter, it will tell you the day and year you will die.
http://www.deathclock.com

A Curious Dog

Its interesting to me that if you just google the word death and look at the images, how everything looks exactly the same. They all have some scary creature that looks like it's going to hack you up. It goes with the twilight episode where shes afraid of death because of how she portrays it in her mind. I think the fear of the unknown gets people's imaginations to become their own worst enemy. Just saying, I found that interesting.

Believe what you want...

http://animalslook.com/hospital-cat-predicts-death/

Thief.

It has been about 10 years since my younger brother almost lost his life to asthma... He spent two weeks in ICU and during that time I remember driving in the car with my dad on a way to a friends house and he played these two songs for me from Our Lady of Peace... that helped me understand a little more of what might happen to my brother.

4 am deals with saying I love you to the ones you love even if you haven't talked in a while.

Thief is about brain cancer and is actually dedicated to children who lose their battle with cancer.

These songs are related to death and how different people deal with it.

I thought I would share how creative death can be for some people.

4 am : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYEMskcDRKY&feature=related

Thief: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtt0J7nmCY&feature=related

A very sweet picture...

http://imgur.com/gallery/ASGyu

Different Outlook On Death

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about her grandfather and she was telling me what he does for a living.  She said he works in a morgue as a morgue beautician and surprisingly he really loves his job.  She told me he once described to her how the deceased bodies have a sort of gold tint to them that he finds beautiful.  I really thought this was a really interesting take on death that I could share with the class.

Beth Arnold

Ever since the Casey Anthony trial ended I was wondering whether we as people have the right to take the life of another human being. I am specifically talking about the death sentence, which was talked about as a possible punishment for Casey Anthony. In all honesty I believe we do not have the right to take another persons life and many will say that she in turn did not have the right to takes Caylee's life. Although life is far more complex than good guys and bad guys we have to differentiate ourselves from the individuals that are doing harm. If we go ahead and kill that individual and call it justice we have blurred the line between the individuals that do harm and the ones that try to look after innocent people that can't protect themselves.

Baseball Fan Dies

Just a few days ago a Texas Rangers baseball fan fell and died trying to catch a baseball. Shannon Stone, a 39-year old firefighter attended a baseball game with his 8-year old son. The Rangers star outfield player, Josh Hamilton caught a foul ball and tossed it 20-feet up in the stands to Mr. Stone. Sadly Mr. Stone leaned too far forward over the rail to try and catch the ball and fell 20-feet head first on a concrete pad. The last thing Mr. Stone said was please check on my son. Several of the baseball players said that it was not fair that someone had to die at a baseball game and in front of his son. I remember watching the incident on the late news. It was kind of difficult to continue to watch how everything unfolded, even though he fell out of sight between the stands and the scoreboard. When you think about it, every death is unfair. Truth be said, we're not asked. They said later that evening, the Rangers players were really shook up. That's what death does, it shakes you up, makes you appreciate life a little bit more and changes you forever.

The Importance of Making Your Own Decisions

During the exercise we had in class of Thursday we had to make decisions about what we would do when certain instances came out when dealing with the illness and or death of our child. One of the topics dealt with a child who was 16 not wanting to go through any more procedures, and live what was left of their life not in a hospital or sick. This topic hit home for me because one of my best friends went through something similar when he was 17. My friend was 15 when he was diagnosed with Chrones Disease and had been though over 10 procedures in two years attempting to improve his life. Although not all procedures helped, along with many pills a day he was able to live a normal life as a high school student as possible and was even captain of his wrestling team and helped them win state his senior year. Later that year he got very ill and was told about a new procedure that "might" work. It would include removing over 40% of his intestine and although he wouldn't be able to live a normal life he would have 30% chance of living longer. He talked about this decision with many of his close friends including myself and we all told him that we would support any decision that he made. So latter that night he spoke with his mother and said that he didn't want the procedure and that he would rather remain taking the meds to mediate his symptoms and not have to suffer through such a serious procedure again. His mom said she understood but since he wasn't 18, she would be making that decision for him. We all met at his house to wish him good luck before his procedure...and that was the last time anyone ever saw his again. Gary died that night on the operating table at 3:39 p.m., before the procedure even began. The doctor said there were no signs for why his death occured and that he was strong enough to go through the surgery. We all believed that he made the decision for himself that he didn't want to suffer any more, and allowed himself to give up. He died knowing that all of his friends and family cared about him, and that his friends knew what he really wanted out of this illness. After that experience I learned how important it is take what ever anyone says seriously, and grant what ever their wishes are because you never know what is coming around the corner. Garry's mother never forgave herself and would have given anything to have listened to her son. But that is a decision she will never forget and had changed her life and our lives forever.

Pet Loss

The other day in class we were talking about the importance of dealing with the death of pets, and how it can affect many people in many different ways. A few years ago I worked as a vet tech for four years and I soon learned that there are two extremes for how people feel when they have to put down a pet. There are those that feel like they are losing their best friend or a child, which is how I even felt when I was having to kill their beloved pet. But then we have the other half of the people who at times just dropped there pet off like it was trash to be taken out. These types of people were either afraid of death itself or they felt as if their pets death wasn't relevant, and didn't require any mourning because they are replaceable. There was one case in particular that I will never forget and it was one a middle aged man was bringing in his mothers pet to be put down because he was sending her to an assisted living facility. This dog was not even four years old and it's only health issue was that it hadn't been groomed in a while and was severely matted. The man dropped off the dog like a piece of garbage, when he tried to pay I told him not to worry about it...so he didn't and he left. I decided to give this dog a second chance and not kill it like the owners son had wanted me to. I bathed the dog and he looked like new and became our office dog until I could get him adopted. This experience taught me that not everyone thinks about death the same, and how some don't even think our pets deserve the respect that we give our own species. I don't know if I am the only one but I feel like these are the people who don't deserve to own a pet, and who take for granted a pets ability to love it's owner no matter what. To me their death is just as important as a humans, and at times I even feel more pain for the death of an animal then I do for our own species.

The Coble Family’s Tragedy and Miracle

After talking about how to grief the loss of a child I remembered watching an episode from the Oprah show titled "The Coble Family's Tragedy ahnd Miracle" which was extremley sad. A mother who took her kids out to a local mall to ride a Ferris wheel the day after her sons birthday. On their way back home they were hit from behind by a big rig loaded with 40,000 pounds of cargo going 55 miles per hour. The mom survived but she lost all three of her children (Kyle 5, Emma 4 and Katie 2). The parents talked about how they each dealt with grief process and how they at times wanted to be with their children, but they made a pact to stay with each other. About three months after losing their kids they decided that they would like to have more kids one day. They were eventually blessed with tirplets, one boy and two girls who were born exactly one year after the tragic accident. The couple daid this is a sign from up above. The story is very sad but also very interesting to see how people coped with the loss and how they found strength to include the three children who passed aways into the new triplets lives.
https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Coble-Family-Miracle/1

The Deathly Hallows

I don't know how many of you are Harry Potter fans, but I am.
In the books they have a fable about death, that appeared in the 7th movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iU2M1PvuwI
in the video 3 bothers get rewards from death, and two of them meet and ill fate for their hubris, but the third brother choices to live a long life and "greets death as an old friend".
Ever since I first read this story I really enjoyed it and wondered what everyone else thinks of the story.
I think its a great thing to teach people not to fear the inevitable.
enjoy,
Tabitha Burke.

I do not fear death

I remember as a child growing up, thinking and crying to myself "if my mother was going to die i do not know what i would do with myself, life would be over for me and happiness would disappear with her". Well that day came and my mother died and i am not as sad as i though i would be, i am not devastated and life as i know it is not over. I find that same childhood fear coming back to me when i think about my dog Rambo dying. but then i feel comfort in the fact that i had the same feelings for my mother and I am Okay. Even with my own death, i do not fear it and almost welcome it when it is going to come. I express this to my family as often as the opportunity arises. like a couple days ago my sister text ed me and told me that in her dream i died in a motorcycle accident( i have a sports bike) I immediately wrote her back and told her that i am sorry she had a night mare but is i was to die on my bike to remember that i loved her and Caleb her son, that i love my family very much and that i have lived a very happy and full filling life and if it was to end then i would welcome death and not be sad for the transition. Then i added that if i died so soon then it would be my mother calling me to her side to explore what lies beyond life as we know it. My acceptance of death is routed in my belief system that there is life after death. I have no idea in what shape or form it is, i could not paint a picture of it or describe it in a story, it is a simple hope i have. I am not sure where i got this belief system from because neither of my parents talked about after life and my dad actually doesn't believe in anything after death. My mother was catholic but never practised and never talked about religion. this belief system is just there, my sisters have their own, not just like mine but similar. My Best friend and soul sister believes the same after life beliefs i do. Its funny how that worked out, but it is what it is. And its this simple belief that allows me to face death of loved ones and myself with open arms and my chin up. there is nothing to fear about change and death is just a change.
I do not expect everyone to be as open about death as i am, and this class has shown me that death is dealt with very differently by everyone and that's okay, i just hope that peace can find all of you that have dealt with, are dealing with or going to deal with death. Another thing that's helps me is putting myself in the spirit of dead, how would i want other people to react. I don't want to make people cry, i don't want to cut them so deep that they are stricken with grief. i just want them to know that i loved them and that i will always be around whether in spirit or in mind or in memory. And as an end note, care for the ones you love like there is no tomorrow.

Another song

Hey guys!
I thought of another song I actually did a dance too, it is about suicide.  The dance was portrayed as one girl was known for cutting, the rest of us was comforting her, then at the end we reveal we all also cut ( in the dance, not real life) .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diaHnF-zfEg

Feeling Okay?

Hi class! I am curious about how everyone is feeling about the subject now that we are basically half way through the class. The first three or four classes were strange for me because my grandmother has become very sick with stage four cancer since the first meeting. Sitting in class and then going home and dealing with the reality of death has been kind of an emotional roller coaster, but I am noticing that the more classes we have, the more comfortable I become with thinking, and more importantly talking about death. For those of you who are comfortable sharing, do any of you feel a little gloomy after class? I should mention that overall I am really enjoying the class, and I'm glad I decided to stick it out. I think the information we are learning will help us all be better, more rounded members of our society.

Amelia

Not Guilty

Like most of Amerika, I followed the Casey Anthony trail the past several weeks. You all know, the mother who was accused of killing her 2-year old daughter Caylee Anthony. At first, it seemed like the persecution had a closed tight case against the young Orlando mom. But as the trail progressed, the persecution failed to provide significant evidence to proove that Casey Anthony was guilty. What I noticed through the entire trail was as it prolonged, Casey Anthony became more and more popular with the media and tens of thousands of Americans. So this 5th day of July, she was found not guilty of first-degree murder,manslaughter and child abuse, and only guilty of 4 misdemeanor charges. They said the jury was exhausted and wanted to go home. The media quickly started talking about multi-million dollar book deals and hollywood status. It just shows, we live in a society that does'nt really want to discuss death for all too long, it's uncomfortable, yeah maybe still a taboo. Not guilty, business as usual.

My Sisters Keeper

During todays discussion all I could think about was the movie My Sisters Keeper, if you haven't seen it, it is a very moving film that makes you realize the conflicts that go on between parents and children battling cancer, or any life-threatening illness I suppose. In the film, Kate is now 15 years old and has acute promyelocytic leukemia (cancer of the blood and bone marrow). When diagnosed at age 4, her parents decided the only way to save her was to have a 100% genetic match, so here came Anna, conceived by means of in vitro in fertilization. The main gist of the story is that Anna is trying to sue her parents for medical emancipation, after enduring countless procedures to donate umbilical cord blood, bone marrow etc. Now she was being asked to donate a kidney as Kate was going into renal failure and without one, would ultimately die. Her mother, who had become obsessed with trying to save Kate, tries numerous times to talk her out of it. Even telling her that she is going to kill her sister if she doesn't go through with the procedure. It isn't until the end of the film, and after Anna moved in to the fire station her father worked at because things were too heated at home, that we find out it was Kate's idea all along. That she was tired of fighting, and knew that the procedure wasn't even guaranteed, that she could die anyways and her sister would've given up her kidney for no reason. Stripping away her chances of playing soccer, cheer leading, or having children of her own one day. Even then it was impossible for her mother to understand, she kept telling Kate she wasn't going to die, although throughout the movie you watch Kate's condition drastically worsen. There is a scene towards the end when Kate asks her doctor how much time he has left and he says, not long, her mother interjects and changes the subject saying that Kate needs to get rest to be ready for the surgery. At the end of the film, Kate shows her mother a scrapbook she had made for her, and basically apologizes for stripping the family of a normal life. Kate and her mother fall asleep in the hospital bed and Kate dies. It was mentioned in class how children know more about their own bodies. And I'm a strong believer that children are much stronger, and more acceptive of their fates than the parents. To force your child to go against their will for treatment is selfish. I do agree at certain ages it is appropriate but when you've exhausted yourself and you no longer have hope, I honestly don't think that the treatment would be successful. If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend watching it, it may change your opinion by giving you an insight to the daily life of a child battling such an overbearing illness.

Departures

We watched an excellent film last week in class. In short, it was about a Japanese musician Daigo who believed that music would be his life. Like most of the time, things don't work out as we plan them to. He loses his job as a musician, moves back to his home town with his wife Mika where he grew up in and starts to work secretly as an mortician. Daigo meets an old friend while leaving work and walking home who tells him to get a real job. As life so often is, the same friend's mom dies weeks after that and Daigo earns the respect of his old friend, but more importantly his wife Mika. Finally, he gets a phone call that his father died who left him and his mom when Daigo was only ten years old. Daigo and Mika drive to where his father died, and at first cannot recognize his dad. Daigo finds a stone in his father's hand and remebers the stone-letter story his dad told him as a boy. It's like all the anger and disapointment that Daigo kept inside for all those years melted away in an instant. The message is, it's never to late to find closure with someone who departed or passed on.

The Death Penalty - What Do You Think?

The state of Illinois recently abolished their death penalty legislation. If interested here is the link to the article...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/01/illinois-death-penalty-of_n_888668.html

Critics from law enforcement feel the death penalty forces those who are convicted of deadly crimes to admit they're guilty; those supporting the death penalty ban feel death row is immoral and the justice system has failed to deliver 100% error-free decisions regarding individuals convicted of harsh crimes.

In short, do you support the death penalty?

When answering think to yourself...."why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?"

Death - The Last Taboo

Hi Everyone!

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Death-The-Last-Taboo/

The link above is to the Australian Museum and it is a section that discusses death as the last taboo. There are various links about different things we have discussed in class including what death is, what happens after death, the decomposition process, and the cremation process etc.

Check it out

-Christina

Maze of death

A friend of mine found this maze a few hours ago:
http://i.imgur.com/vbbYM.png

I am curious to hear how everyone interprets it.
Happy sharing!

- Devon Di Pentima

working with the dying

Ive been thinking about working for hospice ever since my experience with my mother passing away. My family was very glad i was around for my mother death because i am the one who could stay around and do the thing that were unconfortable. Some exaples of unconfortable momments were dispensing the drugs, taking baths, and talking about assest after the death. I had no problem doing these things and actually was glad that i could. I was also the one who insisted that my mother stay home with us at all cost. My aunt who had flown in from conneticut told me that when it was her time to go she was going to call me to care for her. Well all this to say that i am very interested in working with hospice. I brought it up to my boyfriend to see how he would feel about it. He told me that he was concerned that i would never be around because it was a demanding job and he also said that no matter how tough i think i am, working with the dying all the time could really take a toll on my sanity. I agreed with him but it does not deter my passion for caring.im not in a medical field, im in psychology so maybe i can be a counselor to the family during the death of a loved one and after if needed. i would also love to talk to the dying about their fears and beliefs and to talk about anything that they want to talk about. Ill see how the paths lay out in the futur. But its still all very interesting to me.