Those Killed at VA Tech Remembered, One Year Later

It has been one year since 33 people, including the gunman responsible for the shootings, were killed at Virginia Tech. The families and friends of the deceased are coping with their grief and developing memorials of their loved ones in myriad ways. Here is a selection of the media coverage of the anniversary of a public tragedy this week.

The New York Times' Ian Urbina writes about one family who lost their daughter, Austin Cloyd, in the shooting. Last year, they had asked that donations in her honor be sent to a program she had volunteered for in the past, rebuilding homes in Appalachia. Over time, Cloyd's father, who is also a professor at Virginia Tech, began bringing students along, and eventually urged the university to engage students in public service. Now, a new program called V.T. Engage asks students,faculty and staff to perform 10 hours of service, for a total of 300,000 hours, in honor of the victims. They have put in more than 200,000 hours so far this year.

USA Today features the father of a German instructor who died. The father, who is a writer-in-residence at LaGrange College in Georgia, has taken his son's collection of digital collages and developed them in to an exhibit on display at his school. The AP reported friends and family of Daniel O'Neil, an engineering graduate student, are releasing a CD of his original music.

The Washington Post hosted an online discussion with Jay Poole, director of Virginia Tech's Office of Recovery and Support, on how Virginia Tech students are handling the anniversary. The Post's Style section also featured a story of how a survivor, Derek O'Dell, is coping. They also reported on Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine calling for a day of remembrance Wednesday. The AFP reports on how the university as a whole, is dealing with the tragedy and is moving forward.

UPDATED 4/16/08 11:00am
Two new stories appearing this morning, from the Washington Post a story about the anniversary including video and photos. USA Today also updated its coverage with more photos and video from memorial services.

Tutu Discusses Differences In Death and Dying Rituals

Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archishop Desmond Tutu, shared her experiences with the rituals surrounding death and dying in her home country of South Africa and in the United States. She contrasted the more private, shorter rituals often found in the U.S. with the more communal rituals, often taking place over a year, in South Africa. Ms. Tutu spoke at Union College on behalf of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa.

(www.fhssa.org)

Home Funerals: A New Option for Honoring Your Loved One

MSNBC reports a new trend in funeral care: keeping it at home. "A home funeral can encompass a memorial service, wake, viewing or a combination of the three. It's also an intimate experience: Friends or family members might help wash and dress the body, build or decorate a casket, plan a memorial service or accompany the deceased to the burial site or crematory."

In all but a few states, at-home ceremonies can be conducted with little regulatory interference. While not appropriate for some deaths—disfigurement, sudden loss, or when some family members are uncomfortable with the idea—participants oftentimes report that they more readily accept the finality of the loss, as well as feeling more "in control," of the death.

Memory Bears Help Families Remember Their Loved Ones

Hospices around the country have found that creating a memory object can be very beneficial to a bereaved family. Participants in HFA's 2007 teleconference, Living With Grief: Before and After the Death, learned about Memory Bears—teddy bears sewn by VITAS hospice volunteers using a piece of clothing or other material from a loved one who has died. The video clip above is of a hospice volunteer who makes the bears for bereaved families.

Other hospices have made Memory Quilts to remember loved ones. Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice in Wichita, Kansas created a beautiful woven tapestry to memorialize lost loved ones. The tapestry won HFA's Call for Artwork contest for the cover of its 2007 Living With Grief book. The contest is now underway for the 2008 book cover, Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents.