Books to Read Archives – O'Connor Mortuary

25 06, 2015

After They Die: Sorting Through Their “Stuff”

By Molly Keating| 2015-06-25T00:00:30-07:00 June 25th, 2015|Self-Help|3 Comments

Getting rid of someone’s stuff after they die is tough. It is an admission. For some people, it is the ultimate act of reconciling the permanence of a loss. A lot of “stuff” – baseball cards, the shirt from the family portrait, a picture they painted or a lucky sock – it all gets left behind when someone dies. For many people the thought of “getting rid” of these items they touched, wore and loved is nauseating, inconceivable. When there is a loss of life there is a creation of meaning that soaks into places, symbols, objects; and immediately [...]

20 08, 2014

A Book and A Hope …

By Molly Keating| 2014-08-20T20:00:02-07:00 August 20th, 2014|Inspiration, Resources & Information|31 Comments

“How do I fully live when life is full of hurt?” Are you down today? Perhaps grief and loss have derailed you and you are finding it hard to get back to a standing position, let alone getting any forward motion. Maybe some other disappointment has temporarily sucked the air out of you and you are trying to find some way to come back. I can say with certainty “I have been there.” I am still right there some days. Having lost my soul mate and life partner 16 months ago, I still find I must make my way [...]

13 08, 2014

What to Tell Children About Funerals

By Molly Keating| 2014-08-13T21:37:59-07:00 August 13th, 2014|Resources & Information, Self-Help|42 Comments

I was recently browsing through the new gift shop at Mission San Juan Capistrano, admiring the jewelry and slowly making my way to my favorite corner of the store; the book section on Grief. I'm always finding new and intriguing titles there and this time, I stumbled upon a series of children's books on grief that deeply impressed me. We hear the debate about children being at funerals pretty often around here and while we always encourage people to bring their children, they don't always agree with us. Well, to my surprise, in the book What Happens When Someone [...]

26 02, 2014

So, What’s a Celebrant?

By Molly Keating| 2014-02-26T00:22:08-08:00 February 26th, 2014|Ceremonies, Inspiration, Planning Ahead|47 Comments

Last year I had never heard of a Celebrant. A what? What do they do? Sounds weird. Last week I walked into a room with 20 strangers, all there to learn about how to make a funeral personal & each life meaningful. When I was told that on the last day of training I would have to present a eulogy I had written for a fictitious person I felt overwhelmed, "How in the world will I do that?" I wondered. After 2 days of full training we were split into groups and given a situation to create a service [...]

12 06, 2013

Remembering Atticus: A Tribute to Our Fathers (& You’re Invited!)

By Molly Keating| 2013-06-12T05:00:58-07:00 June 12th, 2013|General|8 Comments

A Father's Day Tribute When I thought about writing this blog for Father's Day, I wracked my brain to come up with that quintessential father-figure. People like Walt Disney & Abraham Lincoln came to mind, but when I remembered Atticus Finch, the humble hero of Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, I knew I'd found him. Scout & Atticus Growing up I always loved the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, because of the charming characters, the fright I felt seeing Jem up on the Radley porch, and the purity of Scout's love for adventure & [...]

7 11, 2012

Journey Mercies . . . Alzheimers: Walking Into Oblivion

By Molly Keating| 2012-11-07T05:00:41-08:00 November 7th, 2012|General, Inspiration|39 Comments

Journey Mercies . . . Alzheimers: Walking Into Oblivion In her book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee beautifully wrote . . . Via Pinterest I found this to be the case as I learned more about Barry Petersen. November is National Alzheimer Awareness Month and our Blog Coordinator, Molly Keating, asked me if I would take the opportunity to write something that we could share to help bring more awareness to this insidious disease. Other than those who were famous and who were willing to share their fate, (President Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, and most recently, Glen [...]

30 08, 2012

Have You Knocked At Every Door?

By Molly Keating| 2012-08-30T05:00:02-07:00 August 30th, 2012|Inspiration|31 Comments

Have You Knocked At Every Door? I'm reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Do you ever begin a book & realize you were destined to read it at just this time in life? That's how Les Mis feels. Yes, it's a huge, thick book but I like those the best. It's like meeting a new friend & having lots and lots of long talks. The right book can become a beautiful relationship & I already know just 1/4th of the way through Les Mis that this is going to be a life-long companion of mine. The pages of this book [...]

14 08, 2012

Blindsided: a Book You Should Read

By Molly Keating| 2012-08-14T05:00:11-07:00 August 14th, 2012|General|20 Comments

Blindsided a book you should read. A few months ago I received an email from a gal named Arlene Blix. I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me. She told me she had written a book chronicling her husband’s battle with terminal cancer and she wanted to send it to me. I hesitated initially, I’m exclusively a fiction reader, non-fiction is not my cup of tea. I also didn’t want to send an empty promise to read it if I didn’t intend to. But I thought about it, decided I should and she sent me the book. Blindsided: Not only [...]

5 07, 2012

Do you Believe in Lies? I have – and I probably still do.

By Molly Keating| 2012-07-05T04:26:31-07:00 July 5th, 2012|General, Self-Help|31 Comments

Do you believe in lies? I have – and I probably still do. This concept of "believing lies" is fairly new to me, something that I feel is just dawning as a realization. I have believed lies about myself for a long time. I began to realize this when I noticed a strange little voice that would sneak up inside of me at some of my more vulnerable times and say things like, “Oh dear, Molly, that was a weird thing to do,” “They think you’re stupid,” “You shouldn’t have made that decision,” “They don’t like you,” etc . . [...]

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