Weekly News 7/3/2015: Tama the stationmaster cat elevated to goddess

If you like the unusual then don’t miss the story of the Japanese stationmaster cat, Tama. So revered was this famous feline that on her death she was promoted to the status of goddess. In other news, the CDC says fewer Americans are dying of cancer and a marine comes home.

Weekly News 7/3/2015: Tama the stationmaster cat elevated to goddess

Americans’ risk of dying from cancer is falling, CDC finds

July 3, 2015-Medicalexpress.com:  The risk that any one American will die from cancer—the cancer death rate—is going down, regardless of sex or race, a new government study reports. However, because the United States has a growing aging population, the overall number of people dying from cancer is on the rise, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported… Read the full story

A Marine Lost Long Ago Arrives Home, Via Bradley Airport

July 3, 2015-CTnow.com: When Delta flight 1698 arrived at gate A10 at Bradley International Airport Wednesday, passengers were asked to remain in their seats so that another passenger could deplane first. Outside the McDonnell-Douglas MD-88 airliner, a Marine honor guard, Massachusetts and Connecticut state troopers, airport firefighters, veterans and others stood at attention as the flag-draped casket carrying the remains of Marine Corps Capt. Richard W. Vincent was eased from the cargo hold… Read the full story

The dying embrace of husband and wife who were married for 75 years

July 2, 2015-dailymail.co.uk: A poignant photo has emerged which shows an elderly couple who were married for 75 years fulfilling their final wishes to die together.
Jeanette Toczko, 96, and her 95-year-old husband, Alexander Toczko, from San Diego, California, died just hours apart as they held hands in bed.
The pair spent their lives in love after becoming boyfriend and girlfriend when they were only eight years old… Read the full story

5 Ways Hospice Care Is Changing Americans’ Lives, Because End Of Life Care Should Be Anything But An Afterthought

July 2, 2015-bustle.com: When you think of hospice facilities, you might not conjure up the most pleasant images. But that doesn’t change the fact that they have become an extremely important part of our healthcare system. For those of us who aren’t familiar with it, hospice is a type of care for terminally or chronically ill patients who are nearing the end of their lives… Read the full story

Texas funeral home donates caskets for poor veterans

Jun 30, 2015-chron.com:  Sabrina Thompson’s uncle, a Vietnam War veteran named Benjamin Harold Fitts, died May 6. She remembers him taking care of her when she was a girl and called herself “the closest thing he had to a child.” When faced with his funeral and burial, Thompson felt like she had nowhere to turn… Read the full story

Death, Dying, and Grief: Avenues for Healthy Communication Help Children and Adults

Jun 29, 2015-prnewswire.com:  Blazing new paths in the field of thanatology, Lynne Tobin, Andrea Warnick, and Katherine Murray spearhead distinctive programs for people to think, learn, and communicate about death, dying, and bereavement… Read the full story

3 Important Steps (at Any Age) to Prepare for Dying

Jun 29, 2015-huffingtonpost.com: We all know death will win in the end. Yet talking about death, especially when to stop fighting it, rarely happens. In my work with people diagnosed with dementia, I have seen what happens when we avoid unpleasant conversations and end of life issues sneak up on us. Not making any decision becomes a decision of its own — the decision not to have control over your end of life experience. Then a guessing game ensues and the burden falls on loved ones… Read the full story

Japanese railworkers hold funeral for ‘stationmaster’ cat who helped save railway line from bankruptcy

Jun 28, 2015: theindependent.co.uk: A cat appointed stationmaster of a struggling Japanese railway has been mourned by railworkers at its funeral and elevated to the status of “honourable eternal stationmaster”. Tama, who died of heart failure earlier this month, was well-known among staff and visitors at the Kishi station in western Japan… Read the full story

>>Related: Cat stationmaster Tama mourned in Japan, elevated as goddess