As a keeper of some pretty old letters, passed down from a surrogate grandmother, Iowa King Cown, to my dad and then to me, I appreciate how satisfying it can be to find a welcome home for some of the items. I recently found a…
There's great buzz in Alzheimer's circles about a new brain scan technology that can detect beta-amyloid (protein) plaques, which build up in the brain like toxic waste when you have Alzheimer's. Before now, the plaques could be confirmed only upon autopsy. The scan isn't widely…
At 8:30 this morning I opened the Tacoma paper to read a story about Referendum-74 which seeks to repeal the Marriage Equality Act by putting it on the November ballot. Signatures are needed to put the recently passed legislation to the people’s vote. Seattle Archbishop…
Before you require a green burial as referenced in Becky’s post, see what you can do to save our planet from all our own foolishness. Checkout the website of activities you can do to make a difference and if you are in the Washington, D.C.…
Gail Rubin, author of A Good Goodbye and creator of "The Newly-Dead Game" sent me an Earth Day related email that I saved just for this weekend. Here's what she wrote: Conventional funerals use enough metal to build a Golden Gate Bridge and enough concrete…
A report was released today criticizing the lives of American Catholic sisters. After reading the report, I think Jesus would want to have a conversation with the Vatican regarding their view that the members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (nuns) in the United…
Dick Clark, the teen music pied piper, died of a heart attack today. His death prompted a short discussion in our newsroom pod about his continued appearance on the New Year's Eve show, even after his stroke in 2004. It was a bad stroke, rendering…
The new edition of the Urban Dictionary showed up in my mailbox and before I donate it to our features pod reference library, I picked out some death-related-sounding phrases floating out there in slang land. Check your vitals: To check your email and Facebook. Cubicle…
We never had animals growing up nor did I have any as an adult, but I know a lot of dog and cat lovers and Cathy's answer to our column question today about pet grief is a reminder to take the time to write a…
Atlantic magazine this month has an excellent article debating whether Facebook is actually making us lonelier. It leads with this haunting anecdote about a woman who cut off all human contact but kept contact with Internet "friends." Yvette Vickers, a former Playboy playmate and B-movie…
She is recognized in our state’s capitol building as one of our most important pioneers and today is her birthday…she was born April 16, 1823. Mother Joseph arrived in the Pacific Northwest on December 8, 1856, by boat, along with four other sisters from Montreal.…
.. eye of a tornado, life can change. The people in Kansas have given thanks for their lives as their homes and possessions flew away. Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems lost property as well as mobile home owners. Wichita’s losses alone are estimated at $283 million.…
My grandma used to say, “I have never seen a hearse with a U-Haul behind it!” That statement was grandma’s way of saying that you can’t take your stuff with you to the afterlife. However, our possessions can represent what does matter: family, relationships and…
It's a pleasure to be on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention email list. Every few weeks, they report on something that is so dang interesting. Today, this: At 6:45 a.m. on August 5, 2011, a commercial airliner carrying 50 passengers, two pilots, and…
Conventional grieving wisdom says that widows and widowers shouldn't make any major changes for a year. But we're learning here at EndNotes that people grieve very differently. And it's OK. There is no one right way. Pia Hallenberg had an excellent story today on Dawn…
If you ever had your heart broken in your younger years, you may recall the profound grief that followed. Couldn't eat, perhaps, or sleep. Or those crying sessions with sympathetic listeners. A song posted on YouTube has now been viewed by 87 million people. It's…
I spent last week on the East Coast with singing children. The choir sang at various monuments in and around Washington, DC. Then we went on to New York. The two most poignant moments: singing at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland. The kids sang,…
The older I get, the more I love to see old stuff, especially written material. If you're like me, don't miss the Whitworth University library exhibit (starting Wednesday) about the King James Bible, completed 400 years ago. I wrote about the exhibit Saturday. Here was…
Just this morning my husband predicted that in his lifetime, cash would disappear. Everything will be credit cards or digital payments. Got into work and saw this story that cash will no longer be accepted at a University of Washington cafe. The university cited cash…
Please help us come up with a name that best describes how baby boomers will age. They won't do it the same as parents and grandparents. My story today explained how most boomers will likely work into their 70s and 80s, plunge into "encore careers"…
At the Age Boom Academy two weeks ago, we discussed why aging boomers won't necessarily bankrupt the health care system, as predicted and feared. One reason discussed? Boomers will be better at calling it quits when they know more medical treatment won't extend their lives…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has hit upon a good formula to get the attention of smokers. In the two weeks since it began its "Tips from Former Smokers campaign, calls to the 1-800-QUIT-NOW quitline have more than doubled," the agency said in…
I gave up worrying for Lent. No kidding. I reflected on the futile nature of worrying about things beyond my control, as most things are, and how much wasted energy I've put into worry in my 56 years. It's been easier to give it up…
Palm Sunday Mass is famous for its longevity. The Gospel reading covers the entire story of Jesus' last supper, trial, crucifixion and death. My favorite scene (I know an odd thing to say) is when Jesus asks the disciples to stay awake with him while…
The older I get, the more I love the old buildings still standing in Spokane. I was fortunate to go to high school at Marycliff, in historic old buildings on Spokane's lower South Hill, but I never appreciated the architecture until I saw it with…
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
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