According to the 2025 Compassion Report from Sanford’s School of Medicine, only 1 in 3 Americans feel compassion for all groups of...
The Collapse of Compassion
According to the 2025 Compassion Report from Sanford’s School of Medicine, only 1 in 3 Americans feel compassion for all groups of marginalized people. Lindsay C. Gibson, author of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents thinks [...]
Pat Taub
Hospice3
You Can’t Make Old Friends
GUEST POST by MARY LOU SMITH* When I was young, I would hear my elders say, “My circle of friends is getting smaller,” The words passed right over me, without listening or understanding. Now that I am eighty-three, I am in the midst of living those words. The recent death of my soulmate, friend, and “sister” Lucille, of fifty-three [...]
Pat Taub
Making Dying Less Scary
When I mentioned to a friend that I was reading Katy Butler’s new book, The Art of Dying Well, her response was: “That sounds grim.” Another friend was similarly put-off, saying, “I never think about death. It’s too depressing.” After finishing Butler’s book, I felt anything but depressed. I felt empowered, realizing I have [...]
Pat Taub
Gifts From the Heart
On a recent Saturday afternoon, seeking relief from the gloomy weather, I made my way to the Portland Museum of Art to watch the documentary, “The Gift.” This movie has haunted me ever since. The documentary was adapted from the book “The Gift” by Lewis Hyde where he distinguishes between gifts bought at the market place and gifts [...]
Pat Taub