Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

funeral service

George Carlin: Dust in the Wind

Earlier in July, Carlin's daughter Kelly and his brother, Patrick, spent a weekend scattering his ashes at his favorite haunts around the country. They stopped in front of the nightclubs he played in New York City, and sprinkled his ashes over the water at a summer camp in New Hampshire where, as a child, Carlin received a necklace for winning the drama competition. He was wearing it the day he died. Accompanied by old friends from the neighborhood, they also stopped at a park on the edge of … [Read more...] about George Carlin: Dust in the Wind

The Softer Side of Sears

For Funeral Directors that worry about competition from Costco, internet retailers, and maybe even Wal-Mart. Remember, it's all been done before. At the turn of the 19th century, budding retailers Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck breathed new life into a stagnant funeral industry by introducing mail order funeral products. Before this time, extravagant monuments, gravestones and similar goods were only afforded to the affluent and wealthy. But they had a plan. Since their … [Read more...] about The Softer Side of Sears

Cheryl Thompson Morrow Pt. 2

More with Cheryl Thompson-Morrow of Thompson Funeral Home, Broadman, OH. 20 Years Later: "It's been a good career choice, the initial transition was difficult, because many of the families insisted on working with my father, and weren't accustomed to a female funeral director. On Technology: "Technology has really freed our time up, in that in the old days, before we could forward calls, my dad would stay home all weekend to catch the phone." Cheryl is uncomfortable with casket retailing on … [Read more...] about Cheryl Thompson Morrow Pt. 2