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M.C. is Mortal | Death & Dementia

@mcismortal

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💛 I’m @m.c.huff and I’m mortal, just like you!
☠️ I talk about all the things we’re taught not to!
💖 Help fund my dementia film The Golden Trail ⬇️

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🎬 One Final Ride. One Powerful Story. 🐎

Filmmaker M.C. Huff joins me to discuss The Golden Trail, an upcoming feature film inspired by her grandfather’s journey with dementia.

The film is currently seeking funding, and YOU can help bring this story to life! 🎥

🐎 Watch the trailer and learn how to get involved:
🌐 www.thegoldentrailproject.com

#thegoldentrailproject #IndependentFilm #DementiaAwareness #SupportIndieFilm #Filmmaking by @mcismortal

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3 days ago

Caregivers are called heroes. But who’s looking after them? ❤️‍🩹

Caregiving can mean chronic stress, sleep deprivation, and grief that starts long before someone dies.

And for many caregivers, “just take a break” isn’t an option. They can’t afford outside help. There’s nobody else to step in.

I’ve cared for MANY loved ones, and I know that loving someone and struggling to care for them can both be true.

A 1999 JAMA study of older adults caring for a spouse found that those reporting emotional strain had a 63% higher relative risk of dying over four years than noncaregivers (Schulz & Beach). That doesn’t mean caregiving inevitably shortens your life. It means caregiver strain deserves to be taken seriously.

You shouldn’t have to reach a breaking point before your suffering matters.

Send this to a caregiver who deserves to feel seen. ❤️

#CaregiverBurnout #CaregiverSupport #DementiaCare #DeathPositive #Grief by @mcismortal

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4 days ago

You’d wear Grandma’s ashes around your neck. But her actual tattooed skin on your wall is where you draw the line? 🖼️

Let’s talk about it, because this is real.

Post-mortem tattoo preservation is the preservation of a person’s actual tattooed skin after death. Not a photo. Not a print. The real tattooed skin, preserved as a keepsake.

How it works:

1️⃣ A trained professional removes the tattooed skin after death
2️⃣ A specialized lab preserves the tissue
3️⃣ It’s mounted and framed
4️⃣ The finished piece can preserve the tattoo, skin texture, and details of the original skin

And please: do not try this yourself. This is specialized mortuary work, and providers specifically warn against DIY attempts.

It’s also something you’d want to discuss before someone dies. If this is something you would want, tell your family and put your wishes in writing. If it’s something you absolutely would NOT want, tell them that too.

Because here’s what fascinates me:

We keep baby teeth in scrapbooks.
We wear cremated ashes around our necks.
We keep locks of hair.
People have preserved hair as mourning keepsakes for centuries.

So why does tattooed skin feel like a completely different category?

Maybe because a tattoo is more than skin. It’s someone’s art, memories, identity, and story permanently written onto their body.

Or maybe there are just some boundaries around death that should stay boundaries.

Where’s your line?

Would you preserve a tattoo from someone you loved, or is this way too far?

I genuinely want to know. 👇

Follow @mcismortal for honest conversations about death, grief, and everything we avoid talking about.

#deathpositive #postmortemtattoo #tattoopreservation #deathcare #endoflife by @mcismortal

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8 days ago

They spent 65 years building a life, and chose to leave it hand in hand. ❤️

When Trees was diagnosed with vascular dementia, she knew she had a closing window to make her own medical choices before losing legal capacity. Along with her husband Nic, who had suffered a severe stroke, they underwent six months of separate medical evaluations before being approved for duo-euthanasia.

Drop your thoughts below in the comments: If you knew your window to choose was closing, would you make the same decision?

Navigating love, dementia, and personal autonomy at the finish line is the entire heartbeat behind my upcoming narrative film, The Golden Trail.

We are currently fundraising to get this movie made. Donations are fully tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, and partnering with us goes beyond just funding, it’s about building a community that believes these conversations matter. If you’d like to support or pass the information along to someone who might want to help back the film, check out the link in my bio or go directly to www.thegoldentrailproject.com

#endoflifeautonomy #medicalaidindying #euthanasia #assisteddying #assisteddeath by @mcismortal

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a month ago

I’ve spent 12 years sitting beside dying people and hearing the things they don’t always tell their families.

But this guy takes deathbed secrets to a WHOLE different level. 👀

Meet Bill Edgar, aka The Coffin Confessor.

People hire him to deliver messages after they die… including showing up at their funeral and telling everyone exactly what the deceased wanted them to know.

And yes, sometimes that means exposing a very uncomfortable secret.

I am OBSESSED with this concept.

Would you want someone to deliver a final message for you after you died? And what would you want them to say?

🎥 Original video: @thecoffinconfessor / @reallifewithbel

#funeralstories #hospice #thecoffinconfessor by @mcismortal

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23 days ago

“Don’t ruin his life over one night.” 🤮 Let’s talk about what that “one night” actually costs.

According to RAINN and epidemiological data, approximately 1 in 8 survivors of sexual assault attempt suicide. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among college-aged adults.

When someone commits sexual violence, they aren’t just disrupting a victim’s semester. They are introducing an immediate, measurable risk of death into that person’s life.

So when people worry about an assailant’s future, career, or reputation being “ruined, remember the math: one person faces legal consequences; the other is fighting to stay alive.

Actions that carry a 1-in-8 chance of fatal trauma deserve life-altering consequences. Period.

If you or someone you know needs support, help is free, confidential, and available 24/7:
• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
• National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
(rainn.org)

#cornell7 #cornellseven #sexualassaultawareness #rainn #sexualassaultsurvivor by @mcismortal

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17 days ago

It’s when someone can’t recognize their own impairment, not because they’re in denial, not because they’re being stubborn, but because the part of the brain that would notice something is wrong is the part that’s affected. To them, there’s nothing to explain. There’s nothing wrong.

That’s different from denial. Denial is knowing something’s off and not wanting to face it. Anosognosia means the brain genuinely can’t access that information.

It’s one of the reasons caregivers spend so much energy trying to explain, convince, and prove, and it rarely works. You can bring all the evidence in the world, and it won’t land, because the problem isn’t a lack of information. It’s a lack of access to it.

I learned about this while caring for someone I love, and it changed how I show up for her. Instead of trying to win the argument, I try to keep her safe.

If you’re caregiving for someone with dementia, this is worth knowing. It might change how you see the hard days.

#dementia #anosognosia #dementiacaregiver #dementiatips #hospicecare by @mcismortal

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18 days ago

We’re taught that the only way to keep dementia patients safe is to lock them in a ward. But what if we built them a village instead?

When you picture memory care for severe Alzheimer’s or dementia, you probably think of sterile hallways and clinical confinement. There’s this universal assumption that in order to protect people with severe cognitive decline, we have to strip away their freedom.

A place in the Netherlands called Hogeweyk proved that is completely false.

Hogeweyk is a secure, enclosed “dementia village.” Everyone who lives there has a diagnosis of severe, advanced-stage dementia. But instead of being confined to a medical unit, the residents live in standard homes. They are completely free to walk the streets, visit the local hair salon, and shop at the village supermarket whenever they want.

The most fascinating part is how they handle the medical care. There are over 250 doctors, nurses, and caregivers on staff, but you won’t see a single white coat. They work entirely in disguise. The person ringing up groceries, pouring drinks at the pub, or walking a dog down the street is actually a trained medical professional. They blend in perfectly to monitor the residents without triggering any of the anxiety that comes with feeling “hospitalized.”

And the actual medical data from this is incredible. Traditional nursing homes often have to rely on heavy antipsychotic medications just to manage the severe agitation and pacing that comes from being locked inside. But by simply giving these patients their autonomy back, Hogeweyk saw a massive drop in the need for those behavioral meds. The residents eat better, stay more active, and genuinely have a higher quality of life.

Losing your memory is terrifying enough. Losing your autonomy shouldn’t have to be part of the deal. Freedom is an actual medical treatment.

Do you think we need to start building villages like this in the US? Let me know what you think below. 👇

#dementiavillage #hogeweyk #memorycarefacility #alzheimerscare #hospicevolunteer taken in Weesp by @mcismortal

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4 months ago

Yes, you can legally have your ashes packed into aerial display shells and launched as a firework show. 🎆

And today, we’re celebrating something almost as wild: 10,000 of us having honest conversations about death.

Hunter S. Thompson famously had Johnny Depp blast his ashes out of a 150-foot tower to Bob Dylan, proving that “scattering ashes” can look however you want it to.

Thank you for being here and helping normalize the reality of how our stories end.

What’s the wildest final send-off you’ve ever heard of? Let me know below. 👇

#DeathPositive #MemorialFireworks #Cremation #DeathLiteracy #funeraloptions by @mcismortal

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a month ago

Grief is exhausting. And sometimes “let me know if you need anything” is just one more decision someone has to make.

Instead of asking what you can do, do something.

Bring dinner. Order groceries. Walk the dog. Mow the lawn. Sit with them. Take something off their plate without making them ask.

Actions > questions. 🤍

What’s something someone did for you during a hard time that you’ll never forget? by @mcismortal

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2 months ago

You’ve probably said “committed suicide” your whole life.

I did too.

But words matter, especially when we’re talking about someone who was in unimaginable pain.

And if someone tells you they don’t want to be alive anymore, you don’t have to have the perfect answer.

Listen. Ask directly. Don’t argue with their pain.

And remember: asking someone if they’re thinking about suicide does NOT plant the idea.

It opens the door.

Save this. You might need it someday. 🕊️

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988. Available 24/7.

#SuicidePrevention #MentalHealthAwareness #988 #EndTheStigma #WorldSuicidePreventionDay by @mcismortal

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a month ago

Science just gave us a reason to keep talking. ❤️

A 2020 study from the University of British Columbia monitored brain activity in hospice patients during their final hours, including patients who were completely unresponsive.

And here’s what they found: their brains continued to show responses to sounds, including human speech, even when they could no longer respond outwardly.

If you’re sitting beside someone who can’t open their eyes, squeeze your hand, or tell you they hear you...

keep talking.

Play their favorite record. Tell them you love them. Tell them the stories you’ve told a hundred times. Say the things you’ve been waiting for the right moment to say.

You may not get a response.

Talk anyway. 🤍

Save this for someone who may need it someday.
And send it to someone sitting beside a loved one right now.

#endoflife #deathanddying #griefsupport #hospice #endoflifecare by @mcismortal

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2 months ago