My mom is 90 years old and she has a handful of 90-something friends left, most of them women. They all are still pretty sharp, opinionated and open to rather personal questions. Yesterday, my mom and I visited Pauline Cafaro (shown here on the left),…
The world's oldest man died last week. At 114-years-old, Walter Breuning left this world, but offers a legacy of wisdom: embrace change - "all change is good," eat only two meals each day because "that's all you need," Breuning claimed. He told people to "work…
At the Hospice Foundation of America's teleconference Wednesday, one of the national panelists told the story of a man dying of cancer who had long ago drifted from his Catholic roots. He still had several months to live and wanted to explore some questions of…
Nancy MacKerrow has now planted 120 trees throughout the world (but most of them in Spokane) in honor of her daughter, Susie, killed when hit by a bus in St. Louis in 2002. On the Susie Forest website, MacKerrow explains the project. She sometimes finds…
I spent much of today at the Hospice Foundation of America's annual bereavement teleconference. The theme: "Living with grief: spirituality and end-of-life care." It was a great conference and I'll be blogging about it all week. The conference, shown nationally today to groups gathered throughout…
I took our dog to the dog wash today, a place where master and canine get soaking wet. My 95-pound German Shepherd, Bella, protested wildly through the whole watery struggle. She is 8-years-old and was abandoned in the woods. We met her at the animal…
Each summer, Hospice of Spokane sponsors a camp for young people grieving the loss of loved ones. Camp Chmepa will be held this summer July 29-31 at the heavenly Camp Lutherhaven on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The camp is for young people between the ages of…
Every year the Hospice Foundation of America does an annual teleconference. Hospice of Spokane and Hospice of North Idaho telecast the half-day conference and follow it with panel discussions made up of local experts. Here's a description of this year's program, which takes place Wednesday…
Obituaries, once written for newspapers by obit writers and placed in the news sections, are now done by family and friends and placed as paid classified ads. As in any writing, the best obits contain specific details. A former work colleague, now at WSU, sent…
My fourth-grade teacher, a nun, taught us to "say a little prayer whenever you hear a siren." And so…I have said a little prayer for years whenever I hear a siren. I repeat Sister's prayer and add my own addendum: "Please, God, help the people…
My young friend, Laura, tells me of her burden of grief in the after years of her mom's death. Working through the pain, Laura was encouraged to write a message to her mom - on a balloon. She did - and released it into the…
The recent mishap on the Southwest Airlines flight in which a mid-flight fuselage hole depressurized the cabin in scary ways reminded me of a story a USA Today colleague told decades ago. He was having girlfriend troubles and I think they'd even fought before he…
From the obituary in today's Spokesman-Review for Liliana Stewart, 1927-2011, described as a woman of Jewish-Italian heritage and a Holocaust survivor: Entering her home you often found her singing and cooking, sauces simmering on the stove, bread being pulled from the oven and warm butter…
The spring wind blows wildly today sending seeds and dreams in all directions. The yard angels - not their real business name - came to estimate what spring cleaning needs to be done among the dead branches and winter debris. "You must cut away at…
There's an old saying that Italian men go to church only three times in their lives -- hatch, match, dispatch. Hatch-Baptism. Match-marriage. Dispatch-funeral. The same could be true about how many times most people will appear in the newspapers. Hatch-birth announcement. Match-wedding announcement. Dispatch-obituary. In…
Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 film has been playing and re-playing on television lately. It was 31 years ago that we watched our televisions with great angst, wondering if the three astronauts would forever be lost in space. I recall those days, watching my father who…
A relative got her new license plates in the mail and the first numbers were 1666 The numbers 666 are associated with all sorts of dark things to do with the devil, the end of the world, general evil, etc. See explainer here. Anyway, this…
Long before he got sick and died, my dad -- who was a relatively well known lawyer in Spokane -- would say, "When I die, the guys gathered at the coffee shop will say, 'Too bad about Joe Nappi. (Pause). And look at the time!…
The Religion Link website has an interesting discussion going on about what constitutes brain death and the end of life. Here's an excerpt or read the whole thing: Caring for people in the final stages of life is one of the most expensive aspects of…
The Plowshares Five were sentenced today in federal court. While 250 supporters kept vigil outside, U.S. DIstrict Court Judge Benjamin Settle handed down their sentences - effective immediately. (About the photo: Demonstrators outside the federal courthouse in Tacoma pray before a sentencing hearing for the…
In 1984, I worked for USA Today in Washington D.C. and was part of a team covering the presidential race that year. The day after the Ferraro VP candidate announcement, the paper sent me and a photographer to her congressional office. We chatted for about…
On Monday, March 28 five peace activists will be sentenced in Tacoma, Washington for crimes committed on November 2, 2009. Each defendant faces possible sentences of up to 10 years in prison. The five were found guilty of trespass, felony damage to federal property, felony…
From the obituary in our news pages today about Carol E. Eddy, 1919-2011: "Carol left us unexpectedly on March 17, 2011. She didn't even get to wear her new shamrock socks."
While Susie Stephens is memorialized through planting trees, a family in Olympia memorialized their son with river rocks. Carved with his name, "Zack," on each stone, the three-inch rocks were given to friends to take and leave at travel or favorite destinations. The family felt…
One reality we all face -- rich, poor or middle -- is this: When you die, you can't take any of it with you. Not the millions of dollars in the bank. Not the furniture, the cars, the McMansions. Death is the final, and great,…
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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