Lifestyle
A death educator and a knitter walk into a cemetery — it's “Grieving & Weaving”
Death educator Gabrielle R. Gatto and artist Mary Pat Klein host “Grieving & Weaving” at The Green-Wood Cemetery on July 23, 2024.
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
Late last year my dad was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — or ALS — an objectively terrifying neurodegenerative disease. It’s progressive and fatal. It’s already taken my dad’s ability to talk and eat normally. There is no cure. When he told me about his diagnosis, I knew two things right away: I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible and if I was going to be living in my childhood home, I would need a hobby.
Enter: the granny square.
I’m not very crafty, but I do like textiles. My mom knits, but in her youth, she’d crocheted a granny square blanket and was game to re-learn how to do it. Meanwhile, my dad — who has a funny sense of humor — decided his coping mechanism would be binge-watching “Grey’s Anatomy.” Granny squares and Grey’s became the after dinner routine and soon I was churning out dozens of multicolored squares. And it felt like this project was, maybe, helping?
A selection of granny squares that Samantha Balaban crocheted this year
Samantha Balaban/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Samantha Balaban/NPR
“It’s incredibly meditative,” says Gabrielle Gatto, a death educator and Manager of Public Programs at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. “And that’s part of ritual. That’s part of really sitting with something.”
On a Tuesday evening, Gatto sets up a snack table inside the cemetery’s chapel, preparing for the start of her monthly interactive workshop, “Grieving & Weaving.”
“I think it was important to have that in the name as well,” she says, laughing a little at her rhyme. “The bold honesty of, hey, we are going to talk about grief. We are going to talk about death, dying and loss. But we’re also going to create happy memories together and eat a bunch of food and drink a bunch of things.”
Gabrielle R. Gatto, coordinator of public programs at The Green-Wood Cemetery. “We are going to talk about grief. We are going to talk about death, dying and loss. But we’re also going to create happy memories together,” Gatto says.
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
Tess Rafferty is sitting in the front row, knitting a sweater vest out of beautiful copper-colored wool.
“It’s squishy, it sheds, it pills. But I love it. Smells like sheep,” she says.
It’s a project that had been sitting in her closet for months. Earlier this year, after both her grandmothers died, she lost what she calls the “knitting light” for a while. Rafferty, who is also a therapist, says she almost skipped the workshop to stay home with her dog, but she’s glad she didn’t — being here is therapeutic.
“We just don’t talk about death, right? Like death education,” she explains. “I think so much of what I struggle with, what my clients struggle with, is trying to ignore the awareness that we are not here forever. Staring that right in the face is empowering in a way.”
One thing to note — even though the series is called “Grieving & Weaving,“ you don’t have to be doing either to participate. Mary Pat Klein, who co-facilitates the event along with Gatto, says they’re just trying to create community.
Mary Pat Klein teachers beginners how to crochet at “Grieving & Weaving”
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
“Recently somebody asked me — they embroidered, could they come? And it’s like, yes, please! So we’re trying to open it up. Just come and be creative,” she says.
Klein has been knitting since she was seven years old — she comes from a family of knitters and crafters — she brought quilting squares that her mom cut out long ago and she’s wearing an ivory-colored shawl her grandmother made for her decades ago. Klein is also a professional: she’s knitted items for Broadway and television productions.
Professional craftsperson Mary Pat Klein at The Green-Wood Cemetery. “We’re just trying to create community,” she says of the event series.
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
They’ve turned the chapel into something like an art classroom. There’s a huge tub of donated yarn, as well as clay, colored pencils, markers, and books. Klein asks the people filling the pews for a show of hands — is anyone here to learn to knit? To crochet? Several people, including Virginia McLure, say they are.
McLure isn’t grieving a death — but she did recently get divorced — she says she’s grieving a time in her life that’s now over. “It’s a new chapter,” she says. “It’s exciting and sad. There’s a lot of like, trying to figure out what to do.” Klein teaches her the single crochet stitch — maybe this is something she’ll like to do.
Virginia McLure learns how to crochet from Mary Pat Klein. “I’m so pleased,” she said of her progress.
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
Some people chat with their fiber friends, others keep to themselves. One attendee is putting the finishing touches on a beaded costume, another is making an ashtray out of clay, and someone else is embroidering a very elaborate dragon. Susan Refice didn’t know what she’d feel like doing, so she brought her entire bag of projects: a cotton and silk test swatch for a future sweater, a crocheted penguin head for her niece, and a blanket.
“When my partner’s mother died — she was a knitter and a crocheter — she had a ton of yarn,” Refice explains. “I raided her stash. So this is yarn that belonged to her.”
Nancy Jewell loved to create. Refice hadn’t even been going out with her partner for a year before Jewell made her a quilt. It has a patch on it that says: “For Susan from David’s mom.”
When Jewell went into a nursing home, Refice thought it would be nice to make her something. So she bought rainbow yarn and made her a shawl.
At “Grieving & Weaving,” any craft goes. Some people play with clay, embroider, quilt, draw with markers, and write on sticky notes.
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
“It was like, her favorite thing before she passed away,” Refice remembers. “All the people in the nursing home said it looked like butterfly wings.” Refice plans to give the blanket she’s working on now to her partner, something to remember his mom by. And, she adds, there’s also something kind of nice about making something with his mother’s yarn.
“When I’m using her yarn, I think about her. And I think about what she was doing when she originally bought the yarn,” Refice explains. “That’s the nice thing when you make stuff for people, and you think about them, those memories are always going to be there.”
Death educator Gabrielle Gatto says, after all, it’s not the end product that’s the therapy. It’s the act of doing it.
“A big thing with grief is moving through it both mentally and physically,” Gatto says. “And that’s exactly what we do here. We bring something that is maybe heavy on our minds or our hearts. And then we work with our hands. We work with it, and we work together.”
Fiber friends laugh together at “Grieving & Weaving”
Mengwen Cao for NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Mengwen Cao for NPR
I think she’s right. I’ve crocheted several finished blankets, and some unfinished blankets, over about 17 seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy.” But what I’ve loved the most is the ritual — having something to do with my hands, a quiet space for my brain: thinking about the people I’ll give my blankets to and the memories of all the nights I’ve gotten to spend on the couch, just being with my dad.
Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of the attendees are wearing tonight.
Michael B. Jordan
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Evans
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
Jean Smart
Jordan StraussInvision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan StraussInvision/AP
Teyana Taylor
Jordan Strauss/Invision/Invision
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/Invision
Jenna Ortega
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Owen Cooper
Jordan Strauss /Invision/Invision
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss /Invision/Invision
Sara Wells and Noah Wyle
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Claire Danes
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Stellan Skarsgård and Megan Everett-Skarsgard
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Amy Poehler
Jordan Strauss/ Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/ Invision/AP
EJAE
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Amanda Anka and Jason Bateman
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Paul Mescal
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester
Jjordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jjordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Laufey
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Chris Olsen
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Lisa Ann Walter
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Jacob Elordi
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Ryan Destiny
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Jennifer Garner
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Rose Byrne
Jordan Strauss/Invision//AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision//AP
Kate Hudson
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Snoop Dogg
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Timothée Chalamet
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Miley Cyrus
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
George Clooney and Amal Clooney
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Leonardo DiCaprio
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Michel Martin
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Steve Inskeep
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/AP
Leila Fadel
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
A Martinez
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Amanda Seyfried
Jordan Strauss/Invision/InvisionAP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/InvisionAP
William Stanford Davis
Jorden Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jorden Strauss/Invision/AP
Tessa Thompson
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Kathy Bates
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell
Jorden Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jorden Strauss/Invision/AP
Skylar Diggins
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Monica Padman
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Adam Scott and Naomi Scott
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Jayme Lawson
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson
Gilbert Flores/Penske Media/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Gilbert Flores/Penske Media/Getty Images
Emma Stone
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
Nischelle Turner
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
Brett Goldstein
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Parker Posey
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Vince Gilligan
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Chloé Zhao
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Hannah Einbinder
Jordan Strauss/ Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/ Invision/AP
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/AP
Justin Sylvester
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Judd Apatow and Lesley Mann
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Keltie Knight
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Sarah Snook
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Glen Powell
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Piper Curda
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Justine Lupe
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Helen Hoehne
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Natasha Rothwell
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Minnie Driver
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Orlando Bloom
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Hudson Williams
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Connor Storrie
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Erin Doherty
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Wanda Sykes
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Nikki Glaser
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Julia Roberts
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Emily Blunt
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Chris Perfetti
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Rhea Seehorn
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Dakota Fanning
Jordan Strauss/Invision/Invision
hide caption
toggle caption
Jordan Strauss/Invision/Invision
Queen Latifah
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
2026 Golden Globes
Nikki Glaser Shouts Out Rob Reiner …
Dons ‘Spinal Tap’ Hat at Close of Show
Published
Rob Reiner wasn’t forgotten at this year’s Golden Globe awards … because host Nikki Glaser paid tribute to him just weeks after his murder.
Here’s the deal … during the sign-off for the awards show, Nikki came onstage wearing a black and white “Spinal Tap” hat — the band which serves as the subject of Reiner’s iconic 1984 mockumentary of the same name.
Worth noting … the Golden Globes do not typically air an in memoriam — so this was the only time Reiner was mentioned at the show.
As you know … Rob and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home last month. Their son Nick Reiner has been arrested for murder in connection to the case.
TMZ.com
Nick’s arraignment was scheduled for last week … but, his lawyer Alan Jackson dropped out of the case — leaving Nick with a public defender and new arraignment date set for late February.
Jackson told a gaggle of reporters outside the courthouse that Nick’s not guilty … but, he simply can’t defend him. He did not provide a reason for his withdrawal.
Our new documentary “TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” dives into Rob and Michele’s grisly deaths … as well as Nick’s history of mental health issues and even how his weight gain set him on a dangerous path.
“TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened” is now streaming on Hulu.
On-air challenge
Today’s puzzle is called “Pet Theory.” Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word start starts PE- and the second word starts T-. (Ex. What walkways at intersections carry –> PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC)
1. Chart that lists all the chemical elements
2. Place for a partridge in “The 12 Days of Christmas”
3. Male voyeur
4. What a coach gives a team during halftime in the locker room
5. Set of questions designed to reveal your traits
6. Something combatants sign to end a war
7. Someone who works with you one-on-one with physical exercises
8. Member of the Who
9. Incisors, canines, and premolars that grow in after you’re a baby
10. Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score this at the Olympics
11. What holds the fuel in a British car
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge was a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 – 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago. Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.
Challenge answer
12 × 34 × 5 – 6 – 7 + 8 – 9 [or] 1 + 2 + 345 × 6 – 7 × 8 + 9
Winner
Daniel Abramson of Albuquerque, N.M.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from listener Ward Hartenstein. Think of a well-known couple whose names are often said in the order of _____ & _____. Seven letters in the names in total. Combine those two names, change an E to an S, and rearrange the result to name another famous duo who are widely known as _____ & _____.
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, January 15 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
Photos: 2026 Golden Globes Red Carpet
You need to listen to Billy Woods’ horrorcore masterpiece for the A24 crowd
Five severed heads found hanging on Ecuador beach amid escalating gang clashes
San Antonio ends its abortion travel fund after new state law, legal action
How much red meat is too much? Experts weigh in on food pyramid updates
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
San Antonio ends its abortion travel fund after new state law, legal action
UN top court set to open Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
Arson engulfs Mississippi synagogue, a congregation once bombed by Ku Klux Klan
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from enforcing mail-in voting rules in executive order
Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine
-
Detroit, MI1 week ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology6 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX3 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Delaware3 days agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Dallas, TX7 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Iowa5 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Montana1 day agoService door of Crans-Montana bar where 40 died in fire was locked from inside, owner says
-
Health1 week agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits