Coping with / advice about death and bereavement Books

Book Synopsis'A must-read book that will help your mind feel less heavy and open the door to deep personal growth' - Yung Pueblo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lighter and Clarity & ConnectionWhether experiencing the loss of a loved one or mourning ambiguous losses such as identity, place, community or relationships, grief is everywhere. In Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go, licensed grief therapist Gina Moffa offers a compassionate take on loss, acknowledging that grief is an unpredictable non-linear journey and normalising the slow, individual momentum of each person's process - with none of the toxic positivity that bypasses the possibility of true healing and transformation.From surviving the initial shock after loss to exercises for healing the mind and body and navigating grief through social media, this book is a timely guide to balm our strongest wounds. Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go is a much-needed reminder that you don't have to choose between falling apart or staying strong. In fact, you can learn to feel empowered by the very thing you imagined would consume you and hold on to hope.

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Book SynopsisA true story about coping and dealing with the many different emotions felt from bereavement and grief. Flaps and Chats follows the sad, traumatic but also liberating, and sometimes hilarious, journey of the author 'going it alone' after the loss of her beloved husband, her mother-in-law and finally her own mother. From Chatlines to affairs, from dating apps to swinging clubs, from foot fetishes to random sexual encounters. Free-falling into a hedonistic but unrealistic and unsustainable lifestyle. Eventually realising that grief can manifest itself emotionally and physically, along with crazy, irrational behaviour. Almost to the extent of pushing that self-destruct button in life and not caring about the outcome. Constantly looking for that 'quick fix' as a distraction, to numb any emotion and pain felt in the aftermath of bereavement. This book has short, sharp chapters reliving events with a no holds barred approach. Flaps and Chats tells the story of the high sexual euphoria of being wanted followed by the downward spiral and lows of depression and despondency soon afterwards. This book will have you feeling a mix of many emotions including laughter, tears and amazement.Table of ContentsPART ONE 2021; Chapter 1 - Summertime Sadness; Chapter 2 - Born To Die; Chapter 3 - Build A Bridge And Get Over It; Chapter 4 - Chatlines And Blurred Lines; Chapter 5 - Sex Chats And Fanny Flaps; Chapter 6 - Let Me Be Your Fantasy; Chapter 7 - Little Lies; Chapter 8 - One Night Stand; Chapter 9 - Botox And Blow Jobs; Chapter 10 - Save A Prayer; Chapter 11 - Drinking From The Bottle; Chapter 12 - Oh Cum, All Ye Unfaithful; Part Two 2022; Chapter 1 - Time To Say Goodbye; Chapter 2 - Free Fallin'; Chapter 3 - Airport; Chapter 4 - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) 75 Chapter 5 - On The Floor; Chapter 6 - Cold As Ice; Chapter 7 - One Step Beyond; Chapter 8 - Sultans Of Swing; Chapter 9 - Fade To Grey; Chapter 10 - Erase/Rewind; Chapter 11 - Driver's Seat; Chapter 12 - Hungry Like The Wolf; Chapter 13 - Blue Monday; Chapter 14 - Ashes To Ashes; Chapter 15 - Swing When You're Winning; Chapter 16 - Learning To Fly (But I Ain't Got Wings); Chapter 17 - Out Of My Depth; Chapter 18 - Curiosity Killed The Cat; Chapter 19 - Walk On The Wild Side; Chapter 20 - Wank Holiday Weekend; Chapter 21 - Suicide Blonde

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Book SynopsisWe all experience the death of someone close to us at different times in our lives and have to find our way through the pain of grief. We question whether we will ever cope with the burden of our loss. Feelings of overwhelming sadness and tiredness along with feelings of anger, distress and bitterness arise as we travel through our passage of mourning. In today's society there is little time set aside for grieving. This book is not intended to be a definitive guide, as we are all unique, but it can be a helpful support through your journey of adjustment to your loss. It is designed to be a handy companion at times of turmoil helping you to understand the normal processes of grief. The book is based on my knowledge and experience as a psychologist, a Cruse Bereavement Counsellor and a widow. There are 365 short daily passages with a footnote at the bottom of each page providing a thought to focus on. it aims to provide a daily reflection on the thoughts and feelings which you may experience in the first year following a bereavement. Use it as a helping hand, a sympathetic voice, to be read each day or when you feel in need of some support. The aim is to help you to process and understand what you might be experiencing as you adjust to the changes that bereavement has made in your life. Through this journey of grieving there are references to feelings of fear about how to live your life in a changed emotional landscape. The bereaved person has to adapt and change on a core level in their life. It is natural that you experience many emotions, whether the death experienced is that of a father, mother, brother, sister, child, close friend, partner, husband, wife, or grandparent. There may be feelings of grief associated with the death of a marriage or partnership. We all experience bereavement at different times in our life and we have to find our way through a maze of grief. There are times when we wonder how we can carry on with this burden, but we do. Feelings can be further complicated if the person who has died has caused hurt to us in some way. Feelings of anger can be overwhelming, and memories which arise can give cause for distress. It is helpful to your healing if you can work through your feelings and your memories at a pace you can cope with. Grieving is a journey that at some point we all find ourselves on.

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Book SynopsisWorried about dying? Or about someone close to you dying? How are you going to cope? What thoughts are going to pass through your mind? Will you be able to manage the last weeks or months without breaking down? How well will you stand up to the pain? Will there be pain? Mainly based on interviews with surviving family members of more than twenty of his close friends who have recently died, the author, a doctor who has a long-standing interest in terminal illness, aims to provide information leading to a better quality of life during the time leading up to death. Separate chapters deal with the sorts of questions people ask themselves at the end of life, the illnesses that may end life and the helping social and health services.. In addition, he discusses how best to communicate with health professionals and with other family members and friends. He considers terminal illness in people with dementia as well as the degree to which the timing of death can be controlled. Relevant practical information (about, for example, disposing of one’s possessions, making a will, registering powers of attorney, making suggestions for one’s own funeral and writing a memoir), is provided. Throughout the emphasis is on ‘going gentle’ by avoiding unnecessary distress while acknowledging the inevitable pain that loss of life entails both for the person who is dying and for their nearest and dearest.

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Book SynopsisCelebration of life, book of condolence, memory book, ideal item for guests to write down their memories and thoughts, can be filled with comments and memories. This hardback book has a matt finish, filled with 70 pages with space for guests to leave a message, size of the book is square 8.5 x 8.5.

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Book SynopsisDavid Kessler, one of the most renowned experts on death and grief, approaches the subject of the experiences of those who are close to death and their glimpses of the 'other side'. The first are 'visions'. As the dying lose sight of this world, some people appear to be looking into the world to come. The second shared experience is getting ready for a 'trip'. These trips may seem to us to be all about leaving, but for the dying, they may be about arriving. Finally, the third phenomenon is 'crowded rooms'. The dying often talk about seeing a room full of people, as they constantly repeat the word crowded. In truth, we never die alone. Just as loving hands greeted us when we were born, so will loving arms embrace us when we die. In the tapestry of life and death, we may begin to see connections to the past that we missed in life. While death may look like a loss to the living, the last hours of a dying person may be filled not with emptiness, but rather with fullness. In this fascinating book, David brings us powerful stories from the bedsides of the dying that will educate, enlighten and comfort us all.Trade ReviewThis book shares David's wisdom and his love, and helps all of us who enter unknown waters. Louise L. Hay Extraordinary and touching...a heartwarming and life-affirming book. Kindred Spirit Magazine David Kessler writes of a world that is rarely talked about, much less examined with such sensitivity. His stories reveal dimensions of the death experience that are anything but depressing, and at times absolutely joyful. In a book filled with intriguing and inspirational tales, Kessler makes a compelling argument that death is not the end. Marianne Williamson

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Book SynopsisWhat do you say after you've said 'Sorry for your trouble'? This is not just a book for the bereaved but for everyone who is unsure how to act and what to say when faced with friends, family, loved ones, colleagues and acquaintances who have been bereaved. Life After Loss was written for what the author calls the 'second circle' who are dealing with the bereavement of others. They include family, friends, colleagues, employers, carers, nurses, doctors, priests, pastors, social workers and counsellors. Drawing on twenty years of lecturing, training and broadcasting on the subject of bereavement, Christy Kenneally has put together a book filled with human interest, anecdote and even humour.

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Book SynopsisElizabeth Madeline Martin spends her days in a retirement home in Cape Town, watching the pigeons and squirrels on the branch of a tree outside her window. Bedridden, her memory fading, she can recall her early childhood spent in a small wood-and-iron house in Blackridge on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg. Though she remembers the place in detail – dogs, a mango tree, a stream – she has no idea of where exactly it is. ‘My memory is full of blotches,’ she tells her daughter Julia, ‘like ink left about and knocked over.’ Julia resolves to find the Blackridge house: with her mother lonely and confused, would this, perhaps, bring some measure of closure? A journey begins that traverses family history, forgotten documents, old photographs, and the maps that stake out a country’s troubled past – maps whose boundaries nature remains determined to resist. Kind strangers, willing to assist in the search, lead to unexpected discoveries of ancestors and wars and lullabies. Folded into this quest are the tender conversations between a daughter and a mother who does not have long to live. Taken as one, The Blackridge House is a meditation on belonging, of the stories we tell of home and family, of the precarious footprint of life.Trade Review‘The Blackridge House is a quiet masterpiece - a page-turning story told with deep empathy and insight, in limpid prose.’ – Mark Gevisser. ‘What a finely crafted text! The narrative keeps sharpening its lenses until one experiences what is hardest to grasp: everything is irrevocably interwoven – but miraculously so.’ – Antjie Krog

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Book SynopsisHelping widows and widowers to learn how to cope with the grief of losing their helpmate, their lover, and perhaps their financial provider, this guide shows them how to find continued meaning in life when doing so seems difficult. Bereaved spouses will find advice on when and how to dispose of their mate's belongings, dealing with their children, and redefining their role with friends and family. Suggestions are provided for elderly mourners, young widows and widowers, unmarried lovers, and same-sex partners. The information and comfort offered apply to individuals whose spouse died recently or long ago.

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Book SynopsisIntended for nurses, doctors, midwives, social workers, chaplains, and hospital support staff, this guide gives caring and practical advice for helping families grieve properly after losing a child at birth. As the special needs of families experiencing perinatal loss are intense and require more than just the bereavement standards in most hospitals, this handbook offers tips and suggestions for opening up communication between caregivers and families, creating a compassionate bedside environment, and helping with mourning rituals. Encouraging continual grief support, these specific companioning strategies can help ease the pain of this most sensitive situation.

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Book SynopsisWhen her own mother died, Margaret Rice realised how completely unprepared she and her family had been for the experience of companioning a loved one who is dying. So she decided to go in search of the information she couldn't find when she most needed it and write the book herself - a novice's guide to death. We live in a period of intense death denial. But what if we were to smash that taboo and ask questions we want answered, like how do we know when someone is close to dying, and how do we best care for them? What actually happens to our body when we die? How do we work with medical experts? How do we deal with the non-medical issues that will come up, such as wills, finances and even social media passwords? Is morphine used to nudge death along or is this just a myth? Where do questions about euthanasia fit in with personal, lived experience? Margaret Rice lifts the lid on the taboos that surround death, sharing practical information and compassionate advice from multiple sources to break down boundaries and offer better choices of care to suit individual needs. This is a book to help the dying and their carers feel less isolated, and help us all face death better.

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Book SynopsisWhat led you to a book about grieving? Is it because you feel like a piece of you is missing and you need to know why you''re so broken hearted?Or is it because you know someone who has been bereaved and you want to understand more about grief to help them?Sadly, at some time in our lives we will all be affected by death and loss...If you are affected by loss or know someone grieving, this book is for you...and for them.I think everyone should have a crash course in how to deal with grief, but then I would say that, as I am a bereavement volunteer.If you want to learn a lot of basic facts in a very short time then this book can help you.This little pocket book is full of useful information, guidance, straight-forward theories as well as personal anonymous grief stories to help you when grieving. If you''re new to grief, then it will give you an outline of what you can expect, for when you experience a death or significant loss in your life.You will also discoverA useful acronym to remember what grieving isThe many different grief reactions in your mind and body3 easy theories to help understand the roots and range of grief reactionsWhy grieving is individual and why we all grieve in our way, in our own timeHow to copeWhy grieving is about remembering and the many ways you can do thisHow to live with griefHow to support those who are grievingGiven that grief will visit us all at one time or another, this book will - I hope - help some of you find your personal pathway to understanding and managing your grief as well as supporting those who are grieving.Grief caused by death, loss and change can have a powerful effect on your life. It can be agonising, gut-wrenching, soul destroying and extremely tiring. It can be exhausting. But you need to know it won''t always be this way. You won''t always feel this way. This little book is a pocket companion which is just what you need when you''re feeling overwhelmed with the effects of grief. There is a notes section so you can jot things down as you go along and refer back to them, particularly helpful if your memory and concentration are being affected by grieving. It is a basic introduction to grieving and affordable to gift to friends, family, colleagues and others at a time of sadness and need. It is my heartfelt wisdom and experience condensed into a book, offering my help to you through these difficult days.

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Book SynopsisThis short book gives you the information, suggestions and step-by-step guidance you need to create funerals which truly reflect the person who has died. This second edition includes updates chapters about green funerals, funerals in the digital age and information about how to support wellbeing after bereavement. It will help you if you want to express your own wishes, want to have a meaningful conversation with someone close to you or if you need to arrange a funeral at need. It is designed to support people who intend to use the services of a funeral director, but would also give inspiration to those who would rather not.

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Book SynopsisWidowed at 34, Tre Miller Rodriguez finds New York life difficult to bear, so she sets off to travel the world, her husband's ashes in hand. This spontaneous act becomes a self-searching journey,one that ultimately brings Rodriguez to reunite with the daughter she gave up for adoption at 18.Trade Review“Story of a woman turning grief into courage...Blogospheric immediacy charges the book's pages. At once touching and shockingly stark...Gripping, real.” —Publishers Weekly “No other book entangles romance and grief in such an urgent and beautiful way. Tré Miller Rodríguez writes as she lives: with breathless poise, unmatched style and fierce bravery.” —Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance “Splitting the Difference is a story of love and loss told with flair, ballsy bravado and unflinching honesty.” —Susan Shapiro, author of 5 Men Who Broke My HeartTable of Contents Contents Sunday Mourning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Dumb Sh*% People Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 I'm the White Elephant in the Room? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Ring on the Right Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Cruelest Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Meltdowns & Melanoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Fight or Flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Travel as Prozac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 (Not) Home for the Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Lost & Found in Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Thanks for the Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Striped Shirts & Epitaphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Waking Up in Havana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Heart-Shaped Gratitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

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Book SynopsisA unique take on death and bereavement without a belief in God or an afterlife Accepting death is never easy, but we don’t need religion to find peace, comfort, and solace in the face of death. In this inspiring and life-affirming collection of short essays, prominent atheist author Greta Christina offers secular ways to handle your own mortality and the death of those you love.Trade Review"In this book Greta Christina tackles the subject of death with the insight of a philosopher and the relaxed candor of a friendthat really cool, intelligent friend who understands and cares." David Niose , author, Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason"This is a book about the philosophy of death that actually confronts the practical reality of it, and helps you come to practical terms with it . . . The best book on the atheist philosophy of death you are likely ever to read." Richard Carrier, author, Sense and Goodness without God"Greta Christina continues to provide unique advice and information to the growing community of seculars. We all need to consider our mortality and learn positive and productive ways to deal with our inevitable deadline. Thanks for this little book of wisdom. Christina has written a handbook we can all use. But it should be in the hands of every hospital and military chaplain, every hospice care giver, even ministers, etc. No secular person should be subjected to supernatural ideas and wishful thinking when they are dealing with death, dying and grief." Darrel Ray, founder , Recovering from Religion

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