eFuneral held a special screening of Homegoings at the Cleveland Public Library. (Credit: Nicholas Kania)
This summer, eFuneral and the Cleveland Public Library presented a special screening of Homegoings. Below are edited excerpts from a blog post on the event, written by eFuneral’s Leah Yomtovian Roush, Senior Manager of Strategic Development for Cleveland. To read the original post, written by Leah Yomtovian Roush, go to eFuneral.com. Visit eFuneral’s Facebook page to see additional photos from the event, taken by Nicholas Kania.
eFuneral hosted a film screening of Homegoings on Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at the Cleveland Public Library, Martin Luther King branch for an intimate look at the rarely seen world of undertaking. Following the hour-long documentary, which beautifully depicts the impact of tradition, culture, and history on death rituals, more than 60 audience members engaged in a Q&A Skype session with the film’s director Christine Turner as well as a post-film discussion with funeral director Marcella Cox, memorial advisor Anna Ferro, estate planning attorney LaVerne Boyd, and Pastor Reverend Dr. Todd Davidson.
The discussion ranged from what individuals need to do to prepare (both themselves and their families) for their inevitable death, how families can balance differing views on death rituals, and ways that families can celebrate their loved ones lives upon death while staying within their budgets.
At the end of the evening, each person filled out an evaluation form asking him or her to pick a word (or words) to describe their experience that evening, and this is what they said:
“Enlightening. Informative. Interesting. Professional. Surprised. Intrigued. Educational. Good Idea. Upbeat. Positive. Essential. Relief. Life-affirming. Dynamic. Excellent. Informing. Important. Humbling. Informational. Helpful. Moving. Thought-provoking. Open-minded. Comforting. Necessary. Outstanding. Very Good. Awesome. Urgent.”
eFuneral plans to continue holding discussions, film screenings, and death cafes. The next event will be a Cleveland, LGBT-focused death cafe, which will take place in October. If you are interested in attending an upcoming event, please contact info@efuneral.com to be added to the email list or “Like” eFuneral on Facebook for updates on the latest events.
Leah Yomtovian Roush is the Senior Manager of Strategic Development for Cleveland, Ohio-based eFuneral, a comprehensive and free online resource that enables those thinking about end-of-life to research, plan, and arrange a wide variety of funeral-related services. Leah is the editor of eFuneral’s Online Resource Center, and she manages the company’s marketing efforts and develops strategies for company growth. Leah also serves on the Boards of multiple non-profit organizations, helping them expand their reaches and increase their impacts.
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