death Archives – Kveller

After a Christmas day screening of Mary Poppins Returns, my husband, 7-year-old daughter and I stood in the lobby of the movie theater, discussing the meaning of the film. “Fiscal… responsibility,” said my practical spouse, impressed by how the magic of compound interest had saved 17 Cherry Tree Lane from the clutches of bank repossession. But our daughter had quite a different take. “Hold your loved ones tight,” she said. Her favorite moment in the film? “When the father realizes the kids are right,” as… >> Read More

death

Bernice Sandler, Jewish ‘Godmother of Title IX,’ Has Died

Arielle Kaplan

On Monday, Dr. Bernice Resnick Sandler, known as the “Godmother of Title IX" passed away. Affectionally called "Bunny" — a Yiddish nickname for Bernice — the 90-year-old died of cancer… complications. After hearing she was "too strong for a woman" when she applied for a teaching position in the 1960s at the University of Maryland, her alma mater, Sandler became incensed. Luckily for women everywhere, she channeled her feelings into action, paving the way for Title IX, a law that protects people from discrimination based… >> Read More

mourning

What Happened When I Said the Same Prayer Every Day for Almost a Year

Lisa A. Bloom

“Yitgadal, v’itkadash, Sh’mei raba …” I uttered the words of the Mourner's Kaddish — the traditional Jewish prayer recited in honor of the dead — for the first time in my life after… my father’s grave was covered with the earth. Even with the transliteration given to me by the rabbi, I found the prayer difficult to recite, in every sense of the word. Following the funeral, we sat shiva — the weeklong mourning period for first-degree relatives — at my parents’ house. We held a minyan, a quorum… >> Read More

death

Why You Go to the Funeral — Even When It’s Super Awkward

Melanie Kalmar

“You go for the living, not the dead,” my mother always told me about condolence calls. So I always assumed that was the proper etiquette. When my son’s allergist died suddenly, I wanted to… let his family and his co-workers know how much he meant to us. We witnessed his life and he witnessed ours, and that was something I felt needed to be acknowledged. Dr. Smith watched my 12-year-old son grow from a happy-go-lucky little boy to a pre-teen who answered “I hate school” whenever the subject came… >> Read More

end of life

The Surprising Thing That Helped My Mom Live Longer Than Anyone Thought She Would

Cheri Levin

As told to Sarah Seltzer When many people hear the word hospice they think it is synonymous with “The End.” But hospice is so much more than that. In my family’s case, hospice care was a… gift — it helped my mother live an additional year and a half, and it gave my sister and me peace of mind. When she did die, we were able to mourn her without having any regrets about the decisions we made about her care. Our story began in 2011 when we started to notice… >> Read More

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