Volume 18
Support the families of Wanbli Oyate Vigil, Meshay Melendez and Layla Stewart; contemplating seasonal life cycles by Eliana Yoneda; some uses for dandelions.
ACTION ITEMS
To all Death Workers, Social Workers, Nurses, Doctors, Teachers, Friends:
Please help us find mutual aid action items that are directly affecting your communities! As you know, the intention of Community Deathcare Digest is to uplift mutual aid campaigns for funeral funds. We know our readers range from death workers to social workers and other people who work or exist in proximity to death and we would love your help in finding mutual aid campaigns that affect you, your clients, your family members, or your community. Often calls for funeral funds show up on social media. If a mutual aid campaign for a funeral or memorial fund pops up on your timeline, please forward us the post/link/fund. We will make sure to include it in our next digest.
If you have a client, friend, family or community member who might need help setting up a mutual aid campaign for funeral funds, please let us know by filling out this form. We are available to help.
Wanbli Vigil was last seen on 12/29/2022, reported missing 01/01/2023. Days following the first ever Missing Indigenous Persons Alert was sent out in Colorado. Our family has done everything to bring him home, from flyers, to searching, to reaching out to media. We waited anxiously for a safe return home. With a heavy heart I'm sadden to share that he was found, and passed away on 01/05/2023 at the age of 27. Just 3 days shy of his 28th birthday.
Wanbli Vigil was very kind hearted, generous person. He was always willing to help others from big to small. One thing he did do was live his life. He lived a very free spirited life. Always living in the moment. Anyone that has spent time with him knows just how goofy and funny he was. Always making jokes, always making people smile and laugh. This is what we'll miss most about him.
Due to the nature of his death and how sudden it was we are kindly asking for donations to help fund his burial and services. We greatly appreciate each and everyone of you who has helped in any way. If you are unable to donate please consider sharing his page.
Thank you,
Black Elk family
SUPPORT WANBLI OYATE VIGIL’S FAMILY HERE
Meshay Melendez and her 7 year old daughter, Layla Stewart, were murdered by Meshay’s abusive ex-boyfriend. The two were missing for ten days before their bodies were found on March 22. Her ex had a history of violence and had previously broken a restraining order in an attempt to shoot Meshay. He was released on bail two days before she and Layla went missing. Meshay’s mother released a statement saying: “My babies were failed by the system.”
Meshay is remembered as as a loving mother. She and Layla were both “full of life.” Please join us in ensuring that their grieving loved ones are able to lay them to rest with the care they deserve. All funds raised will go towards funeral costs and legal fees as they seek justice for Meshay and Layla.
SUPPORT MESHAY AND LAYLA’S FAMILY HERE
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Life Cycles
by Eliana Yoneda
In California, I’m tentatively celebrating the arrival of spring after several months of sustained ‘atmospheric rivers.’ The January rivers took out trees, powerlines, and routes out of town. After they passed the sun came out, if only for a few sweet, warm days. While we celebrated having water in our wells, plants began to wonder if it was time to bloom (because why wouldn’t they after several years of sustained drought and little rain?). Then the February rivers brought an unexpected cold snap. Frost and snow down to sea level and an unusual amount of hailstorms. Every plant that dared to bloom into that early window of warmth suffered varying levels of frostbite. By the time the March rivers rolled around the land, already fat with water, kept spilling over and wreaking havoc. Ancient lakes reemerged on lands we thought we conquered.
After all that the sun has finally come out and fresh green coats the hillsides. New life bubbles up between the cracks. Plants and trees that lived in their roots through the winter are beginning to reach for the light. Soft handfuls of cherry blossoms bunch along branches of 100 year old trees. Layered birdsong greets the morning. Those plants that celebrated a false spring and sought the sun too soon are starting to come back from some of the traumas of frostbite. It feels like lifetimes since the land has been this ripe.
The winds came ripping into town this week, as they are apt to do in the spring. My small hometown is on the coast, there’s very little between us and the edge of the continent, not much by way of breezeblocks. As someone who walks her dog in all types of weather, wind is not my favorite. This year, the force of its arrival caught me off guard. The first day of the wind I watched the ancient pines outside my window flailing like rag dolls. On our walk I kept my head down and tried to keep the wind at my back. Still, by the time I got home I was dripping involuntary snot and tears and grumbling about just how loud it is.
When I complained about the wind to my friend Anna, she told me about upwelling. Upwelling is the process of winds blowing across the surface of the ocean, pushing the top layers of water away and allowing deeper, more nutrient rich waters rise to the surface. It is a crucial step in the health and biodiversity of coastal regions and is a primary function of these winds. She told me to say “upwelling” as a mantra when I get frustrated with the wind. I’ve tried it and it’s been working. I let the tears fall and think about kelp forests instead.
There are so many conditions necessary for life that I am unaware of, but this spring they are symphonic. Billions of years of evolution for all this beauty. And it never stops. I marvel at the landscape's openness to change, its willingness to embrace impermanence. I know that soon enough it will be summer: the wind and sun will turn all the green and color to various shades of taupe, we’ll remember our fear of fire and wonder when the rains will come again.
OFFERINGS WE LOVE
From deathworker, Leilani Ann.
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You are invited to...
Their Care, Their Choice: Experiences with Medical Aid in Dying as shared by loved ones of those who have died
This is a free online panel presenting five Hawaiʻi residents sharing their experiences of a family member navigating the Medical Aid in Dying program. The talk will feature the stories of three individuals who took the medications, and two people who never got the chance to.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 10th, 2023, 3:00-4:30pm HST
WHERE: Online via Zoom
To register for the event and receive the Zoom login, please visit:
https://forms.gle/tN61QfH4nyD7bbjw8
This event is for people preparing for the MAiD process and the medical practitioners that support them.
There will be time for Q&A at the end. The event will be recorded.
Sponsored by:
Joy Rodriguez, End of Life Doula
Burden Lifters, LLC
Leilani Maxera, MPH, LCSW
Kaipuokaualoku, LLC
This looks dreamy.
From Smugtown Mushrooms (who we also spoke about in our Podcast Ponderings Volume 16):
y’all this is a big day…. after four years of hiatus, inner growth and fermented fungal visioning i’m happy to say that the @newmoonmycologysummit returns again this year and we have finally have opened registration!!
YAY!
big thanks to @everybodycolors for the GORGEOUS art for our poster this year and to the loved ones hoping on calls and new friends who are doing that too!
this is a serious love effort and passion project for folks that want to see more in-depth and connected work within mycology and beyond. nothing is isolated and everything is connected. the mycelium taught us.
come learn. come gather.
newmoonmycologysummit.org
SIMPLE PLEASURES
cross one thing off your check list
Grandma’s nettle gruel (a perfect, ancient spring recipe)
Some uses for dandelions (more spring greens!)
traditional Japanese wood joinery