The older one becomes the bigger chance that person has experience with the dying...a spouse, family member or friend. It is never easy. Ideally it is nice when both the dying person and the people around the dying can talk about the situation. This doesn’t happen often. Americans tend to have a "war on death" mentality..."I’m gonna beat this thing" gets in the way of dealing with the reality of impending death.

Burial of the deceased is still the most used tradition in body disposition. How many of us have been to funerals and to graveside services? People wore black, many cried and it was a somber occasion. It still is. However, there are options today and this column will highlight some of these options.

Hello. Welcome to the "Q&A" column. As a way of introduction, this column topic will deal with the need to have information on death and dying issues.