As you may have heard, we have been running television commercials to share our “Live Well, Leave Well.” focus. If you’ve missed them, or would like to take a look, we’ve included the links to the videos below.
Our first video on Live Well. Leave Well. can be viewed by clicking here.
Our second video can be viewed by clicking here.
Today, we are sharing all ten things you can do to detect breast cancer early and help lower your risk.
1. Get screened. Ask your doctor which screening tests are right for you if you are at higher risk. Have a mammogram every year starting at age 40 if you are at average risk. Have a clinical breast exam at least every 3 years starting at 20, and every year starting at 40.
2. Find out whether you or women close to you have dense breasts. Extra tissue can prevent early diagnosis of breast cancer.
3. Ask your doctor to recommend other tests using ultrasounds and MRIs to detect breast tumors that may not show up on mammograms.
4. Know your body mass index (BMI) — and lower it if necessary. Studies show that women whose body mass index (BMI) is at the lower end of the scale for their height lower their risk of breast cancer.
5. Get 30 minutes of exercise daily.
6. Limit alcohol to one drink a day — or save it for special occasions. More than one drink a day is associated with a significant increase in breast cancer risk, and teetotalers have the lowest risk of all.
7. Eat those fruits and veggies. Lots of them.
8. Quit smoking.
9. Don’t take hormones, or limit how long you take them.
10. If you have kids, breast feeding for at least one year over all pregnancies lowers breast cancer risk
“Early detection is key, and it’s such an easy thing to do now,” Andrea Horan emphasizes. “People really need to take time in their year to [get screened], because the earlier you catch breast cancer, the better. It’s more treatable and curable when you catch it early.”
If you’ve missed our radio spots further discussing the “Live Well. Leave Well.” theme, we’ve added them here to share them with you.
Radio Spot 1:
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Radio Spot 2:
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Radio Spot 3:
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Radio Spot 4:
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Radio Spot 5:
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Radio Spot 6:
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We recently learned of Besse Cooper, the oldest person to ever live, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Besse turned 116 years old during August 2012.
Besse was born the year that Utah became admitted as a state (the 45th state), and the year the first Olympics were held.It’s astonishing to realize the advances that took place in her life time. When she was a child, it was very different from today. Actually, in her early teens, the first zipper was used in clothing.
What we found rather amazing about Besse (beyond the fact that she’s lived to be 116), is her secret to longevity. Besse stated, “I mind my own business, and I don’t eat junk food.”
There has been research done on Centenarians (people that live to be over 100 years old), and the results showed that there are six factors that Centenarians have in common, they:
There is much we can learn from Besse and the research that has shown the common factors of Centenarians. How do you plan on applying these common factors? How will you live life to the fullest?
We’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you want to live to be 100? Why/Why not? If so, what are your plans to do today, tomorrow and the rest of your life to live to be 100?
We are proud to announce our adoption of a new theme, “Live Well. Leave Well.”, and we’d like to share more information regarding it.
Denver families are living life well—and our goal is to remind them to plan ahead so they can also leave well. Not only does planning ahead make things easier for the people you love, but it also gives you peace of mind. At Horan & McConaty, we value our reputation and go the extra mile to help families celebrate a life lived well. We think our new ‘Live Well. Leave Well.’ campaign is the perfect fit for our community.
“For more than 100 years, my family has helped other families with the most difficult goodbye of all—saying goodbye to someone they love,” says John Horan.
The Horan & McConaty staff is specially selected and trained to help families and their loved ones through these painful final farewells. When you and your loved ones are facing some of the most difficult times of your lives, don’t settle for anything less than the best.
There are billboards, television spots and radio ads being featured across Denver supporting our approach and new theme. We’d love to hear your thoughts on them.
Here are some of the radio spots:
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Live Well. Leave Well. Radio Spot 1
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Live Well. Leave Well. Radio Spot 2
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Live Well. Leave Well. Radio Spot 3
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When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, we often focus on short-term goals, and sometimes even trivial changes to our lives. This year, we suggest perhaps you think about making positive steps towards things that can have lasting impact not only for you, but also for the people you care about most.
It may seem an odd resolution by most standards, but by committing to making pre-need arrangements, you are making one that is at once self-less and bold. Life is very precious, and unfortunately, even with the best practices, at some point (hopefully in the very distant future), each must come to an end. Making the resolution to relieve your family of some of the burden in the future is perhaps the most meaningful thing you can do for yourself and your family.
So this year, why not make a New Year’s resolution that you can keep? It might just be the most important one you make.
When asked to name something in this past year I am thankful for I cannot count the blessings that come to mind. I joined the Horan & McConaty family just over a year ago. Since then, I have had the sincere honor to work with families who have experienced a loss and those who are planning in advance. On my first day at the company I knew this was exactly where I was meant to be. I had found my passion and I felt it deep inside my heart. From that moment I knew I could never do anything else.
Being given the opportunity to help families through the most trying times in their lives is the ultimate blessing. I have been privileged to serve others at a time when they have lost someone dear to them and also be a part of helping families put their wishes on paper in advance. I am eternally grateful to the families who have opened up an important part of their lives to us- the stories and legacy of the ones they love. The loss they have endured and the strength they have shown during these difficult times is something I genuinely admire.
I am also thankful to those who have the forethought to give their families the ultimate gift of love by making their arrangement in advance. I truly respect the decision they have made to relieve what can often be a heavy burden from their loved ones.
I cannot express the appreciation I have not only for the families we have the privilege to serve, but also for the amazing people I have the pleasure to work with. I can say in all honesty that every person I have come in contact with at Horan & McConaty has had one priority- serving families to the highest standard possible. The respect and dignity shown by everyone here is unmatched and extremely unique. I have never had the pleasure to meet such a dynamic group of people until now and their mentorship and compassion are unmatched. I am so lucky to serve alongside them. Those at Horan & McConaty put a new meaning to the word family, as that is exactly what we are, and exactly who we strive to honor every day. Thank you to the families we serve and to my Horan & Mcconaty family. I am forever appreciative to have you in my life!
~Jessica Vendegnia
This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, our staff is sharing stories of gratitude and thanks. This post is written by Casey Coghlan, Manger/Funeral Director for Horan & McConaty Funeral Homes.
When we talk about funerals and memorializing someone’s life, we often default to describing situations about the deceased or the family of the deceased. Not too much is mentioned about the guests in attendance. I would like to take a moment to talk about the people who are kind enough to come and honor a life or support a friend who just lost a loved one.
A unique vantage point belongs to funeral directors the day of the funeral or memorial service. That sentence alone makes me very grateful. However, there are some common denominators the staff of the funeral home has with the guests who attend services. The two most important ones are honoring a life lived and making sure the needs of the family are met. Spiritually, emotionally. Whatever the “comfort zone” is, we have to find it.
Something that has always been very interesting to me is to watching a guests as they prepare to enter the funeral home. The majority of guests arrive within 10 to 15 minutes of the service. I know many of us, professionally and personally, have our time allotted from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed at night. How we fill that time is our own choice, but I don’t know many people lamenting about having “too much time”. Even with time being so very precious, I am a believer that people arrive in such close time to the service starting is because people are not comfortable in a funeral home. There are many statistics about the frequency in which people visit a funeral home in the course of their life. I can’t exactly give you those number, but I can generalize with accuracy and say they are very low.
I have worked many funerals and have witnessed probably thousands of guests as they prepare to enter the funeral home. Sometimes, you can see a couple get out of their car and head toward the building or church. Their body language changes. They get nervous. Many times, their conversation stops. Often times a couple will join hands or pull each other close as they head closer to the unknown. I have seen polished business professionals who I know would have zero problem in any social situation take a deep breath of trepidation as they enter through the doors. No one wants to walk in and be deemed inappropriate. No one wants to “make an entrance” at a funeral.
These guest enter and immediately look for instruction. Their nerves are palpable. People’s eyes are filled with the fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. It’s not an easy path for the guests at the funeral, either. Everyone is emotionally heightened and though it all comes from a very good place, it can be unnerving.
What I am thankful for is that people put all of their fears aside and DO walk through the doors. In today’s world, the options to communicate are almost too many. People can escape something difficult through an email, a text, a Facebook message, or an online condolence. People can very easily use an excuse and say they were too busy or got caught up at work. While that can be legitimate and have truth to it, but it can also be a default get out of jail free card to avoid a situation that causes discomfort.
I am proud of the friends, work associates and neighbors who choose to walk through the doors and take time out their busy day to show the family that the greatest gift they can give them is their time. And by doing that, it makes the path seem less frightening and lonely. At the end of the day, the support group around the family is facing a big fear, too. As a funeral director, there is nothing more gratifying than watching people come together, put whatever fears aside, and walk down a difficult road that would be deemed impossible if it had to be done alone.
We are thankful for you, all the families who we’ve served and connected with. We asked our staff members to share their words of thanks. Liz Sanchez and Kristen Van Ryswyk are sharing their gratitude today.
I am thankful that I am able to work in such a compassionate field with such kindhearted and genuine people. We get to meet so many families and hear amazing stories about their loved ones and the richness of that person’s life is truly felt. I feel like the content of my life becomes more significant every time I hear about how much someone meant to someone else. I have been able to experience how different cultures honor those they love on a very intimate level. My eyes have been opened over the last 6 months and I have gained a higher level of value and perspective. I have learned the true meaning of the word “loss” and the phrase “celebration of life” at the same time.
~Liz Sanchez
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One of the families we served during 2011 interred their son and brother near the waterfall in The Cremation Gardens at Rocky Mountain Memorial Park on a lovely early summer morning. Just the three of us, Mom, Sister, and cemeterian, were present for the burial but the family made the moment very special by writing their own service, prayers, and committal prayer. As one of the Park families, they received their fall invitation to the Luminaria Service of Remembrance…
Each year, we hold a Service of Remembrance on the first and second Sundays in November at the Cremation Gardens, both at Parker Road @ Dartmouth and at County Line Road, just west of Holly St. respectively. This year, our Parker Road service was on the 6th, concluding just after sunset when families placed decorated Luminaria candle bags near the grave or memorialization of their loved one. After Jennifer McBride’s lovely thoughts and compassionate prayers, the candles were lit and families gathered to hug, mourn, and heal from their loss. As folks processed through the park back to their cars, the mother mentioned above stopped me to say ‘Thank You’. I replied, ‘No, thank you for being with us tonight.’ Her response reminds me of why working with the ‘family’ of people at Horan & McConaty means so much. She told me that working with the Cremation Gardens and the resulting interment of her son has reinforced her belief that she made the right choice for her son’s remains to be placed forever in one of the most peaceful and beautiful settings she could ever imagine. She stated that at a ‘normal’ cemetery, you are forgotten as soon as the last shovel of dirt is placed on the grave but here, at Rocky Mountain Memorial Park, she felt a sense of belonging and peace that she had never felt before. She was thankful for everyone she had met (and continues to meet) through her connection to the park… I am thankful for people like her.
~Kristen Van Ryswyk
Thank you, from the Horan & McConaty staff. You have touched our lives.
Today we would like to thank all of the veterans who have served our country and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Without these brave individuals, many of our freedoms would not exist. And for that, we are grateful.
There are many men and women who have been deployed to fight in war, and others who have served or are serving to protect our borders. They are brave, strong and honorable, doing all this to ensure the prosperity of our great country.
Veterans Day is about showing our appreciation and sharing it with those who are currently serving, those who have served in the past and to honor those that have fallen.
There are many ways to honor these brave individuals and we encourage you to show your appreciation today and beyond Veteran’s day.
We’d like to say thank you to all the veterans and soldiers who have fought for our freedoms. Happy Veteran’s Day!