Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

obituaries

Down But Not Out in Joplin, MO

The bad news is Mother Nature threw down one of the deadliest tornadoes in history and blew the doors off in Joplin, Mo and the death toll is climbing. The good news is the list of missing persons is shrinking.  However, people with unaccounted family members are frustrated by the fact that the morgue will not allow access until the dead are positively identified and not released to the wrong families. A lengthy id process is in place which includes pictures, x-rays, and DNA samples all matched … [Read more...] about Down But Not Out in Joplin, MO

Memorial Tattoos As An Art Form

Ink has become so mainstream that now it seems that if you don't have a tat, you're in the minority. One trend we've seen is the memorial tattoo. So many personal styles, we like to collect them as an art form. A couple of local examples: My nephew got one to honor the grandmother who payed for piano and guitar lessons. The music has stayed with him his entire life and he wanted to honor her legacy. My tree trimmer who got a tree of life inked to remember his brother who was … [Read more...] about Memorial Tattoos As An Art Form

Oregon’s Unclaimed Dead, Lost and Found

An Oregon newspaper, "The Oregonian"  has created the country's first searchable database of the state’s Indigent Burial Fund, with the names of people whose bodies were unclaimed and cremated or who's bodies were donated to the OHSU anatomy lab from January 2000 to the present. The Oregonian is releasing this information so that families may find lost relatives — or at least learn the final chapter of their history. As families are able to locate their missing loved ones, bittersweet stories … [Read more...] about Oregon’s Unclaimed Dead, Lost and Found

Jack LaLanne Rest In Peace

The Godfather of Fitness Jack LaLanne passed on January 23, 2011 at age 96.  Though for many years dismissed as merely a "muscle man" -- a notion fueled to some extent by his amazing feats of strength -- LaLanne was the spiritual father of the health movement that blossomed into a national craze of weight rooms, exercise classes and sports clubs. He proposed the then-radical idea that women, the elderly and even the disabled should work out to retain strength. RIP Jack … [Read more...] about Jack LaLanne Rest In Peace