Full Circle of Living and Dying
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      • Bonnie McKeegan, LCSW, Past Vice President Board Director
      • Martha Turner, Midwifery, Past President
      • Linda More, End-of-Life Doula, Past Board Director
      • Donna Peizer, Past Treasurer
      • Nandi Szabo, Co-Founder
      • Nancy Parraz, Death Care Midwife
      • Sushila Mertens, End-of-Life Doula >
        • Sushila Mertens, End-of-Life Doula, Outstanding Volunteer of the Year!
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    • Know your rights. Home death care is legal.
    • Home Death Care in California >
      • Home Funeral Paperwork
    • CALIFORNIA DEATH CERTIFICATE Instructions
    • Tattoo Preservation after Death
    • Death Care >
      • Sacred Death Care
    • What is "Lying in Honor?"
    • Symbolism of our LOGO
    • Donate Here
    • Pet Funeral >
      • Pet Euthanasia in the Home
    • Death Certificate Worksheet >
      • Nevada County-File Your Own Paperwork for Death Certificate - Vital Records Office
    • Video: A Conversation about After Death Care
  • End-of-Life Care Options
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss >
      • Support group: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
      • Cuddle Cot 2021
    • Advance Directives, Dementia, Covid-19, Five Wishes
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    • VSED: Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking
    • Sacred Bridges, Local End-of-Life Caregivers
    • Remembrances
    • Contributions
    • Testimonials
    • Physician Support: Medical Aid in Dying
  • Green Burial
    • History of Natural Green Burial, Cherokee Cemetery, Nevada County >
      • Green Burial Santa Monica 2016
      • Green Burial Video from GBC
    • Natural Organic Reduction -Composting Human Remains >
      • Presentation: Natural Organic Reduction + YouTube link
    • Natural Organic Reduction Amigo Bob's story
    • Rules for Scattering Ashes
    • Find A Grave (website)
    • Aquamation: Water Cremation >
      • Desmond Tutu: Aquamation
    • Cremation- Not so Environmentally Friendly!
  • Events & News
    • Upcoming April 11, 2023 Educational Series: AS YOU WISH: Creating a Beautiful End-of-Life
    • EOL Doulas fight for Rights >
      • Podcast 2023 INTERVIEW: The Doulas Taking on California's Cemetery/Funeral Bureau
      • Death Doulas C&C Article Nov. 2021
      • California Death Doulas Fight
      • LA TIMES Article about Lawsuit Aug. 2022
      • Article: Death Doula Lawsuit Dec. 2021
    • Upcoming April 20, 2023 Death Conversations Event
    • Workshop: In-Home After-death Care April 30, 2023
    • Past Educational Series March, 2023: AS YOU WISH: Creating a Beautiful End-of-Life
    • Past event Aquamation Presentation Jan. 18, 2023 link to recording
    • 2022 Past Events >
      • Article: Pregnancy Loss Conversations Feb, 2022
      • Past Film Event: Jack Has a Plan Aug. 2022
      • Past Event June 24, 2022 Presentation Organ and Tissue donation
      • Past Event Apr. 28, 2022 After-death Care presentation
      • PAST March 26, 2022 Cemetery Field Trip
      • Past Event March 17, 2022 Death Conversations- Breaking the silence
      • Past Event Jan 20, 2022 Death Conversations- Breaking the silence
    • PAST EVENTS 2021 >
      • Review: 2021 City of Hope, End:0f-Life Symposium December
      • Presentation Dec. 9th : "There's No Place Like Home." Home funeral Basics
      • Past Event: Nov. 2021- Medical Aid-in-Dying Update
      • Past Event: Natural Organic Reduction - Register
      • Past Events 2021 : June 18 -Field trip to Cherokee Cemetery
    • Newsletters
    • KVMR Podcasts: Featuring End-of-LIfe Doulas
    • PUBLISHED ARTICLES >
      • Article from The Order of the Good Death
      • Article: California's End-of-LIfe Option Act
      • Article Amigo Bob -Natural Organic Reduction Human Composting
      • April 2020 Ventilators in times of COVID-19
      • Union Article Caring Cradle Sept 2019
      • Giving Back After Tragedy, September 2019 The Union
      • Article The Union May 2019 New nonprofit
      • Article The Union August 2019 HBO Documentary
      • Choosing When to Die
      • Home Funeral Visitation
    • PAST EVENTS 2019/20 >
      • Past Event Oct 7 & 8, 2020 Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss
      • Death & Grieving around Corona Virus March 26, 2020
      • Past Event: Jan 26, 2020 Your Life, Your Choice, Your Plan
      • End-of-Life Doula Training with Inspired Endings - Oct 2019
      • June 9, 2019 Short Film & Death Conversation
      • Mar, Apr, May 2019
      • SEPT 2019 EVENT: Advance Directives + Dementia Directive
    • 2018 Past Events >
      • A Matter of Life & Death: Workshop Series Sept. 22, 2018
      • Nandi's Cancer Support Group September-October 2018
      • Past Events: 2018
      • Event May 20, 2018- Creating a Death Care Plan: Exploring Unconventional Options
      • Event: July 22, 2018 Death Cafe
    • 2017 PAST Events: August 27th -Understanding California's End-of-LIfe Option Act >
      • Deathwalker Training with Zenith Virago Sept 2017
      • Past Event: Film screening: Zen & the Art of Dying August 13, 2017
      • PAST Event: Film screening: Zen and the Art of Dying June 11, 2017
      • Past Event: Death Salon, A Gathering of Community to Discuss Death -MAR 26
      • Past Event - Exploring After Death Options: What Happens to our Bodily Remains? Feb 19, 2017 2-4pm
      • Going Out Green: Learn about Eco-friendly Home Funerals and Green Burial Cemetery JAN. 8, 2017
      • International Death Doula Training 2017
    • 2016 Events Planning Your Own Send-off May 1, 2016 >
      • Stephen Jenkinson Comes to NC March 14, 2016
      • Education, Presentations, Death Cafe
      • Event: Sunday Aug 28 2-4pm Home Funerals & Green Burial
    • EARLY YEARS 2013-2015 EVENTS
  • Resources
    • MAiD/California End of Life Option Act + Update SB 380 >
      • Links for California's End-of-Life Option Act
    • Bereavement Support in Nevada County >
      • Bereavement support Hospice of the Foothills, Nevada County
      • Grief Support: Jemma Skye Champeau
    • Advance Directives California + Dementia
    • Hospice of the Foothills, Nevada County
    • Senior Outreach Services, Nevada County
    • One Source Empowering Caregivers
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss >
      • Cuddle Cot 2021
      • Union Article Caring Cradle 2019
    • Support group: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
    • End-of-Life Plan of Care
    • American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying >
      • ACAMAID: Mixing medications
    • Physicians & Local Pharmacy >
      • Dr. Stephen Banister, Nevada County
    • VSED: Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking >
      • Supporting a Loved One at End of Life
    • Body / Organ Donation
    • Threshold Choir
    • Resources and Links
    • People in the Death Trade & Training
    • Holding Space
  • FAQ
  • Companions for Pregnancy Loss
    • Cuddle Cot 2021
  • Death Related YouTube
  • Beauty of EOL Study
  • JOIN OUR TEAM
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  • Accomplishments
  • Remembrance donation
  • Kids Sit Vigil with their Granny
  • Sharon's End-of-life days
  • Nearing Death Awareness
  • After-Death Care of my Mom by Akhiila Murphy
  • Archive Video FCLD Collective
  • A Remembrance Gathering for Mom?
  • Marina Bokelman Legacy
  • Register for Aguamation
  • EOL Doulas fight for Rights

Home Funeral Visitation

6/24/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
This article was published in print and online in The Union written by — Linda Chaiko-Lepley 
​
TWI  Published  May 31, 2017
HomeFuneralAkhila-TWI-060217

Recently Diana had an experience that profoundly affected her life and changed her forever. She attended the funeral of a friend's son. The death of her friend's son was not what affected her, it was the funeral itself. How does a funeral profoundly affect one's life and change one forever? It does, if it is a home funeral.

What is a home funeral? — a question asked by many. Diana didn't know what a home funeral was either, not until she recently attended the home funeral of her friend's son. In her words, "A home funeral is the marriage between a funeral and a celebration of life."
"When I walked in, the first thing that my friend said to me was, 'Come in and see my beautiful son.' She said this with love and peace, like her son was in the living room in a rocking chair."
In fact, Diana's friend's son was lying in honor in a cardboard casket in the living room. "He looked like he was sleeping," explains Diana. "I got to sit with him."

The young man's body had been washed and prepared for the funeral by the family but with the guidance of Full Circle Living & Dying Collective, founded by death care midwife Akhila Murphy.
The body was preserved by dry ice, provided by Full Circle, and Full Circle guided the family in creating the home funeral in the way the family thought was most appropriate to honor their son.

"A home funeral allows the family to direct their own after-death care," explains Murphy. "It allows the family to care for the body at home, in the family's own private way, based on their own traditions."
Murphy has guided many home funerals and has seen participants decorate the casket with painted images, photos and poems, listen to music, sing favorite songs, and share photos and memories. The home funeral is truly a way of honoring the person who has passed.

At this particular home funeral, people were milling around, talking and eating, singing and listening to music. They talked a lot about the deceased and asked questions about him as he lie peacefully in the room as the center of attention. People approached and talked to him, held his hand and admired his belongings, achievements, his artwork and photos, all of which had been placed strategically around his body.
"I stayed four to five hours," explained Diana. I felt like I had entered an alternate universe. Even though I didn't know the young man personally, I got to know him by talking to others. It was compelling, and I wanted to stay there."
Diana's reaction to the home funeral is not uncommon. According to Murphy, people are often deeply moved. "Allowing families to have time with their loved one, to wash and dress the body in favorite clothes, to touch the body and to reminisce, allows family members to work through their own grief," explains Murphy.
Before Diana attended this home funeral, she had paid little thought to her own death. However, she now wants a home funeral for herself. "Before, I didn't think about what I wanted when I died," explains Diana. "But now I want a home funeral, and I will let people know what I want. It was a beautiful, fascinating  experience."
​
For more information about Full Circle Living & Dying Collective services and events, check the website at http://www.fullcirclelivingdyingcollective.com, or call Akhila Murphy at (916) 397-5443.                           — Linda Chaiko-Lepley

1 Comment

    Author

    Akhila Murphy, Death Care Midwife, Death Doula, Home Funeral Guide, Trained nursing aide: End-of-Life caregiver. 

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  • Home
    • Donate Here
  • About us/Contact
    • Board of Directors
    • FCLD Core Circle Volunteer Team >
      • Bonnie McKeegan, LCSW, Past Vice President Board Director
      • Martha Turner, Midwifery, Past President
      • Linda More, End-of-Life Doula, Past Board Director
      • Donna Peizer, Past Treasurer
      • Nandi Szabo, Co-Founder
      • Nancy Parraz, Death Care Midwife
      • Sushila Mertens, End-of-Life Doula >
        • Sushila Mertens, End-of-Life Doula, Outstanding Volunteer of the Year!
        • Spotlight Sushila Mertens
      • Rebecca Sengolu
    • Advocates for end-of-life choices and death-care rights
    • FAQ
    • What is an End-of-Life Doula or Death Midwife?
    • Sign up for Newsletter/send email
    • Contact Us
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss >
      • Cuddle Cot 2021
      • Support group: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
    • Gallery
    • Donate Here
    • JOIN OUR TEAM
    • Our Education >
      • Our Final Passages Death Midwifery Training
      • Home Funeral Article by Jerrigrace Lyons
  • In-Home Funeral Guidance
    • Know your rights. Home death care is legal.
    • Home Death Care in California >
      • Home Funeral Paperwork
    • CALIFORNIA DEATH CERTIFICATE Instructions
    • Tattoo Preservation after Death
    • Death Care >
      • Sacred Death Care
    • What is "Lying in Honor?"
    • Symbolism of our LOGO
    • Donate Here
    • Pet Funeral >
      • Pet Euthanasia in the Home
    • Death Certificate Worksheet >
      • Nevada County-File Your Own Paperwork for Death Certificate - Vital Records Office
    • Video: A Conversation about After Death Care
  • End-of-Life Care Options
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss >
      • Support group: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
      • Cuddle Cot 2021
    • Advance Directives, Dementia, Covid-19, Five Wishes
    • End-of-Life Doula
    • California End of Life Option Act (MAID)
    • VSED: Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking
    • Sacred Bridges, Local End-of-Life Caregivers
    • Remembrances
    • Contributions
    • Testimonials
    • Physician Support: Medical Aid in Dying
  • Green Burial
    • History of Natural Green Burial, Cherokee Cemetery, Nevada County >
      • Green Burial Santa Monica 2016
      • Green Burial Video from GBC
    • Natural Organic Reduction -Composting Human Remains >
      • Presentation: Natural Organic Reduction + YouTube link
    • Natural Organic Reduction Amigo Bob's story
    • Rules for Scattering Ashes
    • Find A Grave (website)
    • Aquamation: Water Cremation >
      • Desmond Tutu: Aquamation
    • Cremation- Not so Environmentally Friendly!
  • Events & News
    • Upcoming April 11, 2023 Educational Series: AS YOU WISH: Creating a Beautiful End-of-Life
    • EOL Doulas fight for Rights >
      • Podcast 2023 INTERVIEW: The Doulas Taking on California's Cemetery/Funeral Bureau
      • Death Doulas C&C Article Nov. 2021
      • California Death Doulas Fight
      • LA TIMES Article about Lawsuit Aug. 2022
      • Article: Death Doula Lawsuit Dec. 2021
    • Upcoming April 20, 2023 Death Conversations Event
    • Workshop: In-Home After-death Care April 30, 2023
    • Past Educational Series March, 2023: AS YOU WISH: Creating a Beautiful End-of-Life
    • Past event Aquamation Presentation Jan. 18, 2023 link to recording
    • 2022 Past Events >
      • Article: Pregnancy Loss Conversations Feb, 2022
      • Past Film Event: Jack Has a Plan Aug. 2022
      • Past Event June 24, 2022 Presentation Organ and Tissue donation
      • Past Event Apr. 28, 2022 After-death Care presentation
      • PAST March 26, 2022 Cemetery Field Trip
      • Past Event March 17, 2022 Death Conversations- Breaking the silence
      • Past Event Jan 20, 2022 Death Conversations- Breaking the silence
    • PAST EVENTS 2021 >
      • Review: 2021 City of Hope, End:0f-Life Symposium December
      • Presentation Dec. 9th : "There's No Place Like Home." Home funeral Basics
      • Past Event: Nov. 2021- Medical Aid-in-Dying Update
      • Past Event: Natural Organic Reduction - Register
      • Past Events 2021 : June 18 -Field trip to Cherokee Cemetery
    • Newsletters
    • KVMR Podcasts: Featuring End-of-LIfe Doulas
    • PUBLISHED ARTICLES >
      • Article from The Order of the Good Death
      • Article: California's End-of-LIfe Option Act
      • Article Amigo Bob -Natural Organic Reduction Human Composting
      • April 2020 Ventilators in times of COVID-19
      • Union Article Caring Cradle Sept 2019
      • Giving Back After Tragedy, September 2019 The Union
      • Article The Union May 2019 New nonprofit
      • Article The Union August 2019 HBO Documentary
      • Choosing When to Die
      • Home Funeral Visitation
    • PAST EVENTS 2019/20 >
      • Past Event Oct 7 & 8, 2020 Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss
      • Death & Grieving around Corona Virus March 26, 2020
      • Past Event: Jan 26, 2020 Your Life, Your Choice, Your Plan
      • End-of-Life Doula Training with Inspired Endings - Oct 2019
      • June 9, 2019 Short Film & Death Conversation
      • Mar, Apr, May 2019
      • SEPT 2019 EVENT: Advance Directives + Dementia Directive
    • 2018 Past Events >
      • A Matter of Life & Death: Workshop Series Sept. 22, 2018
      • Nandi's Cancer Support Group September-October 2018
      • Past Events: 2018
      • Event May 20, 2018- Creating a Death Care Plan: Exploring Unconventional Options
      • Event: July 22, 2018 Death Cafe
    • 2017 PAST Events: August 27th -Understanding California's End-of-LIfe Option Act >
      • Deathwalker Training with Zenith Virago Sept 2017
      • Past Event: Film screening: Zen & the Art of Dying August 13, 2017
      • PAST Event: Film screening: Zen and the Art of Dying June 11, 2017
      • Past Event: Death Salon, A Gathering of Community to Discuss Death -MAR 26
      • Past Event - Exploring After Death Options: What Happens to our Bodily Remains? Feb 19, 2017 2-4pm
      • Going Out Green: Learn about Eco-friendly Home Funerals and Green Burial Cemetery JAN. 8, 2017
      • International Death Doula Training 2017
    • 2016 Events Planning Your Own Send-off May 1, 2016 >
      • Stephen Jenkinson Comes to NC March 14, 2016
      • Education, Presentations, Death Cafe
      • Event: Sunday Aug 28 2-4pm Home Funerals & Green Burial
    • EARLY YEARS 2013-2015 EVENTS
  • Resources
    • MAiD/California End of Life Option Act + Update SB 380 >
      • Links for California's End-of-Life Option Act
    • Bereavement Support in Nevada County >
      • Bereavement support Hospice of the Foothills, Nevada County
      • Grief Support: Jemma Skye Champeau
    • Advance Directives California + Dementia
    • Hospice of the Foothills, Nevada County
    • Senior Outreach Services, Nevada County
    • One Source Empowering Caregivers
    • Pregnancy and Infant Loss >
      • Cuddle Cot 2021
      • Union Article Caring Cradle 2019
    • Support group: Pregnancy and Infant Loss
    • End-of-Life Plan of Care
    • American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying >
      • ACAMAID: Mixing medications
    • Physicians & Local Pharmacy >
      • Dr. Stephen Banister, Nevada County
    • VSED: Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking >
      • Supporting a Loved One at End of Life
    • Body / Organ Donation
    • Threshold Choir
    • Resources and Links
    • People in the Death Trade & Training
    • Holding Space
  • FAQ
  • Companions for Pregnancy Loss
    • Cuddle Cot 2021
  • Death Related YouTube
  • Beauty of EOL Study
  • JOIN OUR TEAM
  • Bardo, Buddhism and the Art of Dying
  • Accomplishments
  • Remembrance donation
  • Kids Sit Vigil with their Granny
  • Sharon's End-of-life days
  • Nearing Death Awareness
  • After-Death Care of my Mom by Akhiila Murphy
  • Archive Video FCLD Collective
  • A Remembrance Gathering for Mom?
  • Marina Bokelman Legacy
  • Register for Aguamation
  • EOL Doulas fight for Rights