WEDNESDAY, MAY 16

  RSS FEED

 


RECENT POSTS

EXTREME DONATIONS, A SOMETIMES FRIEND AND BEQUEATHING A NECKLACE January 18, 2012 • Tags: family, illness Dear Judy, My brother who is a year older than me (41) needs a kidney, and as it happens we seem to be compatible as far as donations are concerned.   continue >

PAINFUL CHARITIES, AN HONEST OBITUARY AND FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS December 28, 2011 • Tags: Family, Coping Dear Judy, My best friend lost her only child – 20 when he died – to bone cancer. Suddenly: inspiration, a family member wants to commemorate the dead young man by setting up a cancer charity of some sort.   continue >

A PREMATURE FUNERAL, LAWYERING UP FOR INHERITANCE AND SYMPATHY FOR A NEIGHBOR December 7, 2011 • Tags: Advice, Family Dear Judy,    I am really in a quandary, and I’ll bet you’ve never come across this before from one of your readers. My mother was supposed to be dead by late next week (she had glioblastoma multiforme, which I’m sure you know is very aggressive) and as late as last week didn't seem to know much of what was going on.   continue >

MAKING AMENDS, LIFE AFTER DEATH, AND ADVOCATING CREMATION by Judy Bachrach • November 30, 2011 • Tags: Hospice, Funerals, Illness Dear Judy, Eighteen years ago, I hit a pedestrian. I was 17 at the time and I’d smoked a few joints with friends before getting into my parents’ car. I don’t know what happened to that person. He was lying on the road the last I saw him, before I sped away. But I do think he lived in the area where I hit him because it was a cold day and he was dressed fairly lightly, and also, obviously, walking. So maybe he was just taking a short walk near his house or apartment. I don’t even know if I killed him or not, even though I think I saw some blood on his sweater. I never stuck around to find out.   continue >

SCATTERING ADVICE, TREADING LIGHTLY AND FUNERAL INVITES November 23, 2011 • Tags: Family, Illness Dear Judy,    I know what I want when I die (which I hope will be more than a few years from now): I want to be cremated, as I see you often suggest. The question is, I guess for my surviving family and heirs, what should happen to my ashes?   continue >

STEP DAUGHTER TROUBLES, CHILDREN AT A FUNERAL AND FOOTING THE BILL November 16, 2011 • Tags: Funerals, Children Dear Judy, I haven't seen this question and in truth don't even know how to ask it. After my divorce at age 35, I remarried and have spent the last 23 years with a wonderful wife. The problem comes in with my step-daughter,   continue >

AVOIDING CONFRONTATION, AN EXPECTED INHERITANCE, AND RUDE REMARKS AT A FUNERAL by Judy Bachrach • November 9, 2011 • Tags: Hospice, Funerals, Illness Dear Judy, A good friend is suffering from a heart virus, myocarditis I think it’s called, and he will need a heart transplant. A lot of people who know him have been taking up a collection because my friend’s insurance company is really stingy and pays for maybe 60 percent of outgoing costs for the surgery, nurse care and post-op.  But there’s a problem coming up, which I don’t know how to address without seeming Scrooge-like.   continue >

CREATIVE NONFICTION