Tag Archives: death

It Tolls for Thee

Posted on September 12, 2022 by advicefrommarta

I did not have strong feelings when Queen Elizabeth II died. I understood the people who celebrated the end of the last remaining vestige of the British Empire. I understood the people who mourned the end of an era. But … Continue reading →

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Of Deadly Importance

Posted on January 24, 2021 by advicefrommarta

Lately, I have been thinking about the dead. Not my own personal dead, the people I carry with me, and write about, but all the dead. I have been wondering if the dead are too much with us, or not … Continue reading →

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Moving through Grief

Posted on November 9, 2016 by advicefrommarta

Yesterday, November 8th, was obviously election day. It was also the umpteenth anniversary of my friend Mark’s death from AIDS. In many ways, Mark’s death was my “first.” I knew other people who had died, friends of the family, distant … Continue reading →

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The Joy of a Sick Child

Posted on February 16, 2016 by advicefrommarta

My almost 12-year-old was sick last week. No one likes it when a child is ill or in pain, and yet there is a strange, undeniable pleasure in caring for a sick child, especially as that child grows older. Caring … Continue reading →

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What I Used to Know

Posted on January 28, 2016 by advicefrommarta

To be honest, I didn’t realize it was the anniversary of the Challenger Disaster until a friend mentioned it on Facebook. It happened when she was 12 and she said that for her it symbolized an end of childhood. I … Continue reading →

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Posted on December 7, 2015 by advicefrommarta

The world is not ending. You could be forgiven for thinking that it is. The attacks in San Bernadino and Paris and Lebanon. The execution of a child in an alley and the murders of black teenagers by police in … Continue reading →

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Questions about Death on Yom Kippur

Posted on September 23, 2015 by advicefrommarta

Years ago someone told me about a culture where it was considered more of a tragedy when old people died than when young people died. The belief was that when old people died they took a wealth of knowledge and … Continue reading →

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Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 24, 2015 by advicefrommarta

On Thursday night my friend Sandy’s father died. I was feeling sad for her and sad for myself, for being at the stage of life where your friends’ parents die. My friends Vince and Miller called. They are also friends … Continue reading →

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Stepping Back

Posted on December 2, 2014 by advicefrommarta

Any discussion of my daughter’s birth starts with the fact that she was two and a half weeks late. For some people this would be a joke about the fact that they’ve been late ever since. For my daughter, it’s … Continue reading →

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Motherless Sons

Posted on June 17, 2014 by advicefrommarta

This weekend, as I was packing my son for camp I got a phone call. My friend’s mother had died. Like most parents I spent the first few months of my children’s lives simply trying to keep them alive. Even … Continue reading →

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