Author Archives: raine.clara.shakti
Memorials: Smailes Cemetery
Date of Visit: June 13, 2024Address:17102 Stanaford Road, Danese, WV 25831 One of the things that I love about traveling is finding small cemeteries along country roads and wandering through them to check out the history of a place. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
Documentary Review: How to Die in Oregon
How to Die in Oregon opens in Roger Sagner’s living room. He is surrounded by family and friends as he prepares to down the lethal drink that will end his life. Thanks to Oregon’s death with dignity law, Roger and … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Documentary, Grief, Media, Physician Assisted Suicide
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Let this be a Moment of Remembering
Let this be a moment of rememberingThe first time I met youAs you ran and played, you kept coming back to meAs if to ask, “Will you be my mama?” Let this be a moment of rememberingThe bark you had … Continue reading
Memorials: Old Town Graveyard
Date visited: June 1, 2024Address: 265-299 E. Liberty Street, Medina, OH Medina’s Old Town Cemetery appears to be the quintessential church graveyard, as it is a small and quiet field of graves nestled between two churches, the Congregational Church to … Continue reading
Book: What the Dead Know
True crime aficionados know that medical examiners, like the late great Dr. Donald Mallard (Ducky) on NCIS, talk to the dead and the dead talk back. It is not unusual when watching an episode of NCIS to hear Ducky, or … Continue reading
Posted in Book, Death, Death Professions, Media
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Academia: My Interest in Afterlife Beliefs
This was written as part of my coursework at Marian University, where we were assigned to write about our interest in the afterlife. Original Submission Date: March 10. 2023 One moment the rise and fall of Luke’s chest signified he … Continue reading
Memorials: Spring Grove Cemetery
Date visited: June 1, 2024Address: 785 E Washington St, Medina, OH 44256 Medina’s Spring Grove Cemetery, which is the town’s “new” cemetery, dates to 1883 and is characteristic of a rural or garden cemetery with winding paths, old growth trees, … Continue reading
Books: All the Living and the Dead
When I think of people who work with the dead, I think of people who work in funeral homes, including funeral directors and embalmers, police detectives and that’s about it. However, in her entertaining book All the Living and the … Continue reading
Posted in Book, Death, Death Professions, Grief
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Academic: Black Maternal Mortality and Reduced Abortion Access
This paper was for a class in my thanatology programClass: African American DeathwaysDate Originally Submitted: August 20, 2023 Black women, regardless of education or wealth, have always been more likely than White women to die due to pregnancy related complications. … Continue reading
Posted in Academic, African American, Death, General
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Memorial: Cleveland Potter’s Field
Date Visited: May 20, 24Address: Green Rd, Highland Hills, OH 44122 A poem of my father’s introduced me to Potter’s Fields. I can’t locate the poem now, but I remember my sadness in reading about people who had lived their … Continue reading