A Pinterest Board for Viking Funerals
6/4/20262 min read
Episode 6: Shownotes
Episode Description:
A few quiet days at Temple Heights.
kristen vermilyea - death virgin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Ryan arrives to spend time with his father and grandfather — a delayed 21st birthday and 50th birthday celebration no one imagined would happen under these circumstances. There are beers on the beach, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, morphine schedules, Family Feud at full volume, and the strange intimacy of caring for someone at the very end of life.
As the nights stretch into 3 a.m. vigils filled with ocean sounds, medication charts, and half-awake Googling, thoughts turn toward funerals, rituals, Viking ships, wooden boats, and what it means to build something with your hands for someone you love.
A dispatch about caregiving, exhaustion, humor, practical rituals, and the small strange thoughts that arrive while waiting beside a dying person.
Chapter Breakdown:
00:00 — A Birthday Under Different Circumstances
Ryan arrives at Temple Heights for a long-delayed twenty-first birthday celebration and Seth’s fiftieth birthday. The family gathers under circumstances none of them expected, balancing celebration with hospice care.
05:30 — Beers on the Beach
An afternoon by the ocean. Birthday drinks, conversations, and brief moments when life feels almost normal despite everything happening inside the house.
10:45 — Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
The importance of favorite treats, comfort foods, and small pleasures at the end of life. Hospice care through the lens of ordinary cravings and family rituals.
16:00 — Family Feud and Hospice Care
The rhythms of caregiving emerge: medication schedules, television marathons, symptom management, and learning to navigate a household centered around a hospice bed.
23:00 — The 3 A.M. Shift
The overnight watch. Ocean sounds through open windows, medication logs, exhaustion, anxiety, and the peculiar intimacy of caring for someone in the middle of the night.
30:00 — Funeral Planning in the Dark
Late-night thoughts drift toward funerals, memorials, practical arrangements, and the strange conversations that arise while waiting beside someone who is dying.
36:00 — Viking Ships
An unexpected detour into funeral traditions, Viking burials, wooden boats, and the appeal of dramatic rituals when confronting mortality.
42:00 — Building Something for Someone You Love
The desire to make, build, create, or repair something tangible when faced with the helplessness of impending loss.
48:00 — Waiting
Life inside hospice time. The suspended state between everyday living and mourning, where hours stretch and days blur together.
54:00 — Dispatches from Temple Heights
Final reflections on caregiving, family, humor, exhaustion, and the quiet privilege of accompanying someone through their final chapter.
Thank you so much for listening!