I want to share with you an article published recently in the National Catholic Reporter.  While some will not agree with the overtly religious tone of the piece or the author's conclusions, I thought it worth sharing.  The author speaks about the importance of ritual in dealing with the death of a loved one.  The article is a reflection on a particular funeral service the author attended for a friend and colleague.  While the article provides a uniquely Catholic perspective on death and dying,

The Westboro Baptist Church, known for protesting at military funerals, has announced that it plans to protest at the funeral of the 9 year old girl shot and killed in Tucson over the weekend.  The Church's announcement reads as follows: 

A recent article in the Sun Sentinel about bereavement fares caught my attention.  According to the article, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is one of the busies airports in the entire world in terms of transporting the remains of decedents.  Last year alone, 2,600 decedents were flown out of Palm Beach County and another 1,900 were transported from Broward County.  Since Florida is a popular retirement spot for seniors it makes sense that Florida airports would handle a large portion of this travel.  The disturbing part of the article was the steep price

This weekend the Tampa community gathered to pay their respects and honor the memory and dedicated service of two slain police officers Jeffery Alan Kocab and David Lamar Curtis. The services included tributes from religious communities and civic leaders throughout Florida and it all took place in the context of funeral services.  Even those who had no personal relationship with either of the officers came to Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa to pay their respects and honor the service of these heroes in our community. 

As I meet with families who've lost a loved one and glance at the messages they and friends write on our Condolences page, I'm struck by the poignancy and beauty of their feelings, memories and words.  These are important, not so much for the deceased, but for the living.  It's an opportunity to be thankful for another human life that made an impact in the community and the family of the deceased.  After witnessing such expressions of love and affection, I'm often left with gratitude for the privilege of having shared in such a moment.

The US Supreme Court will hear a controversial case involving a Kansas Baptist church and the family of a deceased Iraq War veteran whose funeral was interrupted by protests against the war.  Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A.

In my chosen line of work, I often come across families struggling to write an obituary for a deceased loved one.  Most families assume they have to write their own obituaries and submit them to the local newspaper.  However, that isn't the case.  The former television host Art Linkletter recently passed away and was memorialized in obituaries across the country.  Each obituary took a different form and highlighted different aspects of Linkletter's life and career.  Each was written by a professional journalist.  Those who live in the Tampa Bay area may have re

There was an article published by CNBC last week concerning the baby boomer generation and the recent drop in funerals.  According to the CNBC article, funerals and cremations have dropped by 1/3 and stand at a 20 year low.  Demography is blamed since analysts had predicted a rise in deaths and funerals from the baby boom generation.  Curiously, the information which buttressed that opinion was way off the mark. 

A Massey Energy executive has announced that the company will pay for the funerals of those miners who lost their lives in the tragic coal mining explosion in West Virginia this week.  Apart from the numerous safety issues that have been reported, the company gesture is an important one for family members who are in the depths of grief.  Hopefully, funeral services will assist the miners' families in the grief process. 

The NY Post ran a story yesterday about a funeral van that was ticketed and towed away with a decedent's remains inside.  According to the police, there was no indication that the vehicle was a funeral vehicle and the windows were tinted obscuring the remains of the decedent inside the van.  Fortunately, the van was recovered in time for the remains to make the scheduled flight to Miami.  Supposedly, the van had a placard on its front windshield indicating it was a funeral vehicle.  However, the placard had fallen flat.