Ceremonies
May 8, 2015
Mother’s Day without Mom, it changes everything. What do you do? How do you “celebrate” the day? It is my mom’s first Mother’s Day without her […]
April 22, 2015
When my grandmother died she looked grotesque. She suffered a sudden heart attack and was given CPR for quite a while before they stopped. When I […]
December 3, 2014
One of the most problematic phrases in our culture’s grief vocabulary are the words, “You shouldn’t be … (fill in the blank with whatever makes them […]
September 10, 2014
For a person in grief, there are almost no two sweeter words than, “I remember …” Those two words begin stories, spark memories, open old joys, […]
June 25, 2014
She was 13 but we only had her for the last 5 years – Coco had come to my family unexpectedly. She needed a home and […]
June 4, 2014
It is Buddhist practice to hold a memorial service for loved ones every set number of years after their death. Recently, my family and I gathered […]
March 25, 2014
The Legacy Keeper: A Celebrant’s Gift to Me My brother Jim had died on February 19th just over a month ago. The Sunday after my family […]
February 26, 2014
Last year I had never heard of a Celebrant. A what? What do they do? Sounds weird. Last week I walked into a room with 20 […]
December 4, 2013
On Tuesday night we held our 12th Annual Candlelight Remembrance Service at the Laguna Hills Community Center. These evenings are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. […]