Silence = Death 2.0

What would you do if you were old, disabled or ill - and the person feeding you put down the spoon and said that you are going to hell unless you change your sexual preference?       

         Sound absurd?

         Social workers around the world say  it’s happening every day.

         Gen Silent is the critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their friends, their spouses- their entire lives in order to survive in the care system.

Watch the Trailer here ...

Dying Regrets

Bronnie Ware, the author of this article, worked in palliative care for many years. Her patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. She was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. 

Read the whole article here ...


Based on this article, Bronnie has now released a full-length book, titled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. It is a memoir of her own life and how it was transformed by the regrets of dying people. It may be ordered through bookstores worldwide or from Balboa Press. 

It is also available via this link

Public Health, Private Lives

I watched this show on CBC yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see the story of Dr. Jeff Myers, his work and the depiction of his same-sex relationship.

• WATCH THE VIDEO

Dr. Jeff Myers (left) with palliative care patient Donald Burnett.(CBC)Jeff Myers runs the palliative care program at Sunnybrook and is a driving force behind palliative care in Canada. He passionately believes in a dignified end of life, and that how we treat the chronically ill and dying reflects on all of us.

He is a strong believer that every Canadian should have access to outstanding pain symptom management. He sees his role as that of an advocate in the field of palliative care — to make it more visible, credible and understood. He's worked in palliative care since 1999.

Myers admits that there is an emotional toll to his job. He never allows himself to "lose it" in front of his patients but when alone or with his husband — Jeremy — he allows himself to grieve. However, what keeps him going is the chance to witness moments of amazing humanity.

Myers is also an assistant professor and the newly appointed associate head of the University of Toronto's Division of Palliative Care.

China's latest craze: dyeing pets to look like other wild animals

They only look like pandas.

Dyeing pets has been a trend in pet pampering for quite some time. At last summer's Pets Show Taipei, there was a fierce dog-dyeing competition. Check out photos.

But dyeing your pets to look like other wild animals is a more recent development.

The trend demonstrates how quickly and dramatically attitudes toward pets — particularly dogs — have changed in many parts of Asia.

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How true the last post's title was ... on so many levels

The word "Home" can mean so many things. When Mom and I boarded our plane home to Canada, neither one of us had any idea of how the next few months would unfold.

Turquoise was Mom's
favourite colour.

Mom passed away four weeks later after a systemic collapse, and a brief recovery which allowed her to visit with her entire family beforehand.


I feel proud to have done my part to make her last days as comfortable and happy as possible.


I couldn't have coped with everything without the support of my sister, Linda.

Everyone had a chance to
spend some time with her.

The rest of my extended family brought joy, flowers, kindness and strength for all of us to share.

I love you, Mom.

On our way home from seeing Mom at the hospital for the last time, stopped to watch a show of fireworks over the Ottawa River. It reminded us to celebrate Mom's long and beautiful life, and that she would be alive in our hearts forever.

... isn't that just like Life.


Since then I have moved, been overwhelmed by everything required to put another's affairs to rest, and made other dramatic changes in my life as a result.


... but,


I am ready to do something for myself again. Writing this blog was that for me - something for myself in happier times. And now, it can also serve as a record of our last time together, too ... a place to remember my last trip with Mom in a detailed way that a mere memory could never allow. I am grateful for that.

It's all downhill from here

Mental powers start to dwindle at 27 after peaking at 22, marking the start of old age, US research suggests.

Professor Timothy Salthouse of the University of Virginia found reasoning, spatial visualisation and speed of thought all decline in our late 20s.

Professor Salthouse said his findings suggested "some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s."

Seniors: Out of the closet, into the system

The Canadian health care and social service sectors are fairly saturated with resources for senior citizens, and now more than ever, workers in these fields are beginning to recognize that “seniorhood” is not a stand alone section of the population – health and social work programs tailored to meet specific needs of immigrants, different ethnic groups, and other intersectional diversities have been cropping up more frequently in the last decade.

But while recognition of visible minorities in the community is an important step in eldercare, other, less visible groups remain on the margins. Seniors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual are often doubly marginalized, their needs ignored or overlooked by both elder care systems and gay communities.

Star Trek's Majel Roddenberry dies

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's widow and a fixture of nearly every incarnation of the space travel franchise, died on Thursday. She was 76.

Roddenberry, who suffered from leukemia, died at home in Bel Air, Calif., according to a spokesperson.

Before Star Trek, the Ohio-born actress worked on a range of television shows, including Bonanza and Leave it to Beaver.

She was romantically involved with Roddenberry when he launched Star Trek in the mid-1960s. Though he cast her as the USS Enterprise's unnamed first officer in his pilot, she would go on to fame as the secondary character Nurse Chapel in the original series and in subsequent films. The couple married in 1969.

Link to Roddenberry website

Rust to dust

I have been a collector of (clean-but-)rusty objects for a number of years, and this article fits right in with my own fascination for the inevitability of Entropy!

The Beauty of Decay

HIV 'Fossil' reveals virus history

A preserved specimen of lymph node nearly half a century old has revealed how rapidly the HIV virus has diversified, according to international research.

A team of researchers from around the world has been trawling through decades-old tissue samples from African hospital archives in the hope of finding samples containing the HIV virus.

They struck it lucky with a sample that was collected back in 1960, from a woman living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is the second-oldest sample of the HIV virus ever found - the oldest is from 1959.

The diary that fell to earth

Pages from a diary that mysteriously floated down to earth went on display at a museum in Israel on Sunday.

The diary holds the words of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who was killed along with six other astronauts when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering the atmosphere in February 2003.

The book survived temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius as Columbia tore apart while it re-entering earth's atmosphere

The 37 pages found fell 60 kilometres to the ground, landing in Palestine, Tex., named after the biblical region of Palestine.

Researchers to study if out-of-body experiences are real

A group of British, U.S. and Canadian researchers will study whether out-of-body experiences are real, as some people have claimed after surviving cardiac arrest.

In a study run by the University of Southampton's Human Consciousness Project, researchers will examine 1,500 survivors of heart attacks over three years at 25 hospitals in Europe, the U.S. and Canada to determine if the phenomenon of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel or floating above as reported by some is genuine.

To test patients, doctors will place random photographs on shelves higher than the beds in emergency and intensive care rooms, which will only be visible if the heart-attack victims are looking down, the researchers say.

The photos will be confidential and changed routinely, they say.

When Jeremy comes marching home again, Hurrah!

With less than a week before U.S. Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman and his family are to be deported, the Liberals have reaffirmed their support for his fight to stay in Canada.

The 29-year-old Hinzman, his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their children — six-year-old Liam and six-week-old Meghan — have been ordered to leave Canada by Sept. 23 or face deportation.

Fresh off the campaign trail, Liberal Bob Rae spoke at a Toronto news conference with Hinzman. Rae urged the government to support a motion passed earlier this year by all parties, except the Conservatives, to let conscientious objectors take up permanent residence.

Stand Up To Cancer [ SU2C ]

Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico

Archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.

Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula.

How does it feel to die?

This article may be considered a bit morbid, but it offers some interesting facts that run counter to many of our Hollywood perceptions of dying.
You can read a Special Report on Death which covers many other interesting aspects here.