Debbie Robson, Executive Director of Hospice Care of the West, and Denise Carson, Blog Author.
Our Life Celebrations is a blog sponsored by Hospice Care of the West about how individuals, families and communities are reinventing their roles with new rituals to celebrate rather than alienate the end of life. Denise Carson, the blog author, writes a column for the Orange County Register and is the author of the forthcoming book Parting Ways: New Rituals and Celebrations of Life’s Passing. While researching her book, she discovered that 80 percent of Americans wish to take their end-of-life journey at home surrounded by family and friends, but less than 20 percent actually do. Hospice can help us make these wishes happen for those we love while opening the door for life celebrations that gather the family to video record a legacy of life stories, reminisce at a living wake with live music or make a last wish like a last sunset sail on the Pacific happen. These kinds of memorable moments are possible with the preparations and plans explored on this blog. Life’s final frontier doesn’t have to be a journey into the unknown, if you’re prepared with the knowledge to leave a new kind of legacy that will live on generation after generation. Below are links to Carson’s Orange County Register columns.
Cleaning Out My Mother’s Closet
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/life-258322-closet-review.html
A Living Tribute For Bill Before He Goes
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bill-262297-senior-family.html
Recording Her Life Stories on Video
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stephanie-266221-family-camille.html
Students Turn Her Stories Into a Life Movie
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stephanie-271327-life-says.html
Music Therapy: A Jam Session at the Deathbed
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jacob-276079-andrea-steve.html
The Last Holiday with Mom, Passing on Traditions
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/christmas-280766-mom-bed.html
Thank you for such a beautiful article in the OC Register.
My Mom who is 90 makes memory bears for Hospice. She lives in San Diego and is on number 116 now. Hospice is such a great gift to all of us.
Marsha,
I love hospice memory bears! The hospice program in San Diego is so lucky to have your mom lovingly sew and donate the bears. What a beautiful gift to patients and families receiving hospice care!
Kind regards,
Deb Robson
Executive Director
Hospice Care of the West
Post author
Thanks Marsha. Yes, hospice is a gift, and so are volunteers like Bev and your mother. It’s amazing that she is giving back to others even at 90! What a lovely woman. Would love to know more about her inspiration and how she makes the memory bears for hospice patients.