Dr. O'Riordan learned about the American way of dying while he was working in a variety of hospitals. He began to do seminars to teach families, nurses and physicians how to give comfort to the dying. He also did continuing educational seminars for psychologists, social workers and family therapists on the language of the dying.

               Death has been with us from the beginning of time. Some night we will no longer be here and our lives will end, regardless of our social class, ethnicity or profession. Advanced technology has helped us to live a little longer with life threatening diseases such as carcinoma, alzheimer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, is the use of medical technology prolonging people's pain before death or is it prolonging people's lives? In the State of California, people can complete the Advance Health Care Directive to have their health care wishes observed when they become unable to make their own medical decisions.

            Children need to be included with their parents during family grief. Keeping the family together in their grief helps the children feel included during the time of grief. This helps children learn from their parents how to grieve rather than learning it on their own when their parent dies.

            The family pet can be a great source of comfort for families during the time of grief. In stressed families, the family pet can be the only emotional comfort for a child. When the family pet dies, feelings of grief can occur as if a family member died. The family pet can be a comfort for the children when their parents are going through a divorce or a death. Pets also grieve the death of the person or the death of another animal.

            In many cultures the two great healers of grief are animals and plants. From ancient times we read about animals being the silent communicators to the under-world. In Homer (1963) The Odyssey, there is the tragic story of Argus, the dog, who dies after being the only one to recognize Ulysses when he returned home after twenty years in the war (Gayley, 1939). The Celtic mythical belief is that a dog can live in both the animal and human world. The donkey's pace of walking is known best in taking the body for burial so the spirit can travel with it. Horse's wisdom brings comfort to the sick, butterflies and birds help the spirit of the dead to go into the underworld. Cats bring calm to the angry feelings. Animals are finally accepted for helping peoples with grief and pain. In recent years many hospitals are accepting animals to help the healing and the dying; this is called Animal-Assisted Therapy.