Coping with / advice about death and bereavement Books

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Book SynopsisThe unflinching Pulitzer Prize–winning essay on mourning and recovery in the wake of an inconceivable tragedy. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.When Bobby McIlvaine died in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, his loved ones spun off in radically different directions, each mourning in his or her own distinct—and often highly idiosyncratic—way. Twenty years later, Jennifer Senior, a family friend and award-winning reporter, revisits the McIlvaines, examines their present lives, and contemplates what grief really means, in all its jagged complexity.

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARA wrenching debut memoir of familial grief by a National Book Award finalist—and a defining account of what it means to love and lose a difficult parent, for readers of Joan Didion and Dani Shapiro.When Christopher Sorrentino''s mother died in 2017, it marked the end of a journey that had begun eighty years earlier in the South Bronx. Victoria''s life took her to the heart of New York''s vibrant mid-century downtown artistic scene, to the sedate campus of Stanford, and finally back to Brooklyn—a journey witnessed by a son who watched, helpless, as she grew more and more isolated, distancing herself from everyone and everything she''d ever loved.In examining the mystery of his mother''s life, from her dysfunctional marriage to his heedless father, the writer Gilbert Sorrentino, to her ultimate withdrawal from the world, Christopher excavates his own memories and family folklore in an effort to discover her dreams, understand her disappointments, and peel back the ways in which she seemed forever trapped between two identities: the Puerto Rican girl identified on her birth certificate as Black, and the white woman she had seemingly decided to become. Meanwhile Christopher experiences his own transformation, emerging from under his father''s shadow and his mother''s thumb to establish his identity as a writer and individual—one who would soon make his own missteps and mistakes.Unfolding against the captivating backdrop of a vanished New York, a city of cheap bohemian enclaves and a thriving avant-garde—a dangerous, decaying, but liberated and potentially liberating place—Now Beacon, Now Sea is a matchless portrait of the beautiful, painful messiness of life, and the transformative power of even conflicted grief."Acute, intimate and exceedingly fair, Sorrentino’s memoir is a post-mortem that examines not the causes of his parents’ deaths but the endurance and effects of their confounding marriage . . . This is the story of a son who is trying to dissect and understand the love that remains—and sometimes emerges—after death. We may have a greater cultural appetite for eulogies, but an autopsy, in looking directly at the cold corpse of a family in all its gruesomeness and mystery, can be just as profound, and in the hands of a writer as restrained and humane as Sorrentino, just as beautiful." —Eleanor Henderson, The New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARA wrenching debut memoir of familial grief by a National Book Award finalist—and a defining account of what it means to love and lose a difficult parent, for readers of Joan Didion and Dani Shapiro.When Christopher Sorrentino's mother died in 2017, it marked the end of a journey that had begun eighty years earlier in the South Bronx. Victoria's life took her to the heart of New York's vibrant mid-century downtown artistic scene, to the sedate campus of Stanford, and finally back to Brooklyn—a journey witnessed by a son who watched, helpless, as she grew more and more isolated, distancing herself from everyone and everything she'd ever loved.In examining the mystery of his mother's life, from her dysfunctional marriage to his heedless father, the writer Gilbert Sorrentino, to her ultimate withdrawal from the world, Christopher excavates his own memories and family folklore in an effort to discover her dreams, understand her disappointments, and peel back the ways in which she seemed forever trapped between two identities: the Puerto Rican girl identified on her birth certificate as Black, and the white woman she had seemingly decided to become. Meanwhile Christopher experiences his own transformation, emerging from under his father's shadow and his mother's thumb to establish his identity as a writer and individual—one who would soon make his own missteps and mistakes.Unfolding against the captivating backdrop of a vanished New York, a city of cheap bohemian enclaves and a thriving avant-garde—a dangerous, decaying, but liberated and potentially liberating place—Now Beacon, Now Sea is a matchless portrait of the beautiful, painful messiness of life, and the transformative power of even conflicted grief.Acute, intimate and exceedingly fair, Sorrentino’s memoir is a post-mortem that examines not the causes of his parents’ deaths but the endurance and effects of their confounding marriage . . . This is the story of a son who is trying to dissect and understand the love that remains—and sometimes emerges—after death. We may have a greater cultural appetite for eulogies, but an autopsy, in looking directly at the cold corpse of a family in all its gruesomeness and mystery, can be just as profound, and in the hands of a writer as restrained and humane as Sorrentino, just as beautiful. —Eleanor Henderson, The New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisWhen is attending a funeral or memorial service “a must,” and when is it optional? Can a eulogy be funny? Can I scatter my brother’s ashes in the backyard? Should I place a death notice or an obituary? What’s the difference? These are all questions that Florence Isaacs has been asked as a blogger for Legacy.com, a role that earned her the nickname of the “Dear Abby of Death.” In Do I Have to Wear Black to a Funeral?, she answers urgent questions about grief, funerals, different religious ceremonies, and more, offering practical guidelines for modern situations—and, yes, what to wear. Isaacs’ honest, often entertaining, responses provide no-nonsense information to millennials, while also helping older generations navigate new waters, like how to send condolences through social media. She offers fresh insights, plus an etiquette map of the right things to do and say, in her familiar, sensitive, and sincere style.

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Book SynopsisWhat can you do when someone you love is dying?Do you have an elderly parent who is dying, or perhaps a partner who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness? Where or who do you turn to? What can you do about their quality of life for whatever time you have left together? How do you want to manage those dreaded death discussions? Being prepared may ease some of your and your loved one's fears surrounding death. Doctors may be helpful with medical needs, what about the emotional and non-medical needs?Susan B. Mercer, a trained end of life Doula, offers comprehensive solutions and advice about death and dialogues, to ease the fear and angst associated with death and dying. Caring for the non-medical needs of the dying person and their family members can bring a sense of understanding and relief to the dying process of life. The creation of a Legacy Project, attending to transition room preparedness, using visualizations, gathering knowledge of what directives are needed, and reviewing choices to be made prior to death can bring peace, ease, and serenity to all family members.Living even while dying is a blessing you can help your loved one manage, with the tools, understanding, and kindness found in A Graceful Goodbye.

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Book SynopsisA caring and compassionate grief book for bereaved parents who have lost a child."This book is a lovely blend of the author's personal journey with the death of her son and supportive information that can help parents see light amidst the dark."—Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D, CT, author, educator, and grief counselorBeing suddenly thrust into the world of parental grief is like being transported to a foreign land where you don't speak the language. With that in mind, Claire Aagaard has written When a Child Dies in a simple, straightforward manner, offering information, comfort and hope for those who believe that none is possible.Questions addressed include:Can we survive this?Is it possible to be happy again?Is forgiveness attainable?Can we survive this as a couple?How will this affect our loved ones?Is it okay to be angry with God?How do we cope with birthdays or holidays?Will my grief ever change?What can we do to help? (A chapter for supportive loved ones)Claire has written this book from a unique perspective—that of a professional grief counselor after working with dozens of bereaved parents, and as a parent with her own history of child loss. It is an honest yet gentle guide for grieving parents as well as their family, friends, and loved ones, offering the wisdom from her own personal journey as well as that of countless others."It will not always hurt as much as it does right now. Go slowly, be gentle and forgiving, and choose your path forward with loving intention."—Claire AagaardTrade Review"This book is a lovely blend of the author's personal journey with the death of her son and supportive information that can help parents see light amidst the dark." - Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D., CT, author, educator, and grief counselor"When a Child Dies begins with certified grief counselor Claire Aagaard's personal story of losing her son to a tragic accident. The author skillfully explores the various ways a child's death impacts all aspects of one's life including relationships, anger at God, and how friends and family can help. Claire's words are inspiring and hopeful, offering compassionate advice to grieving parents." - Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., psychotherapist and co-author of I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye

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Book SynopsisAn essential grief guide and recovery workbook for those who have said, "I thought I'd feel better by now."Grief does not follow a timeline or a set path. It is nonlinear and messy, doubling back on itself just when you thought you were out of the woods. Those who have experienced the loss of a loved one know this unequivocally, but Western society still seems to think that grief should only last six months to a year-tops-when in fact, grief can last throughout a person's entire life and manifest as serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, anger, and despair.The Long Grief Journey, co-written by a psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist who have both worked with grieving individuals for decades, is for the people who are past the acute pain and effects of a sudden loss and are now learning to live beyond that. It is for those who by all appearances seem to have "moved on." They're working, carrying out their responsibilities, showing up for important life events, yet they quietly bear the weight of their sadness and longing for their loved one. There's a name for this type of long-term, unresolved grief. In fact, there are several: complicated grief, traumatic grief, complex bereavement, prolonged grief, extended grief, abnormal grief, exaggerated grief, and pervasive grief disorder. If you feel "stuck" after experiencing the death of a loved one, even if much time has passed, this book is for you.With exercises, journal prompts, and rituals that will further help readers along their grief path, The Long Grief Journey is designed to educate, support, and coach you to rekindle a desire to live life fully, all while still cherishing and embracing the memories of your loved one.

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Book SynopsisWhen her daughter died in November, 2013, she was a parent in search of consolation and looking for similarities to her situation. She began to read the obituary column of her local newspaper and although the author of A Death in the Family: Stories Obits Tell read extensively about death of an adult child, she found obituaries the most comforting and kept returning to them. Day after day, she became obsessed and discovered that obituaries were a specific genre in themselves. This book, written within the tradition of social history, follows a decade of obituaries from the point of view of one author and notices the gradual changes in content, context, and style. In clear and precise writing, Donna McCart Sharkey explores and finds the extraordinary within the captivating life stories ? the brief biographies and at times, autobiographies ? of the newly dead.

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Book Synopsis'Then came cancer - I was terrified.' Life was about to get very difficult for Connie Dever. Her soul echoed her body's turbulence. Everything felt so desperately out of control. 'Fears seized me and sometimes evil felt palpably close. At times I couldn't even open my Bible - only hold it. I was at the end of myself. "God, hold on to me! I can't do anything"' And hold on to her, He did.Trade ReviewThe beauty of Connie's book is that it's her journal-her raw emotions, fears, and hopes-in the midst of her suffering. And, therefore, it's a companion for anyone who is suffering because it remembers the dark times-and the hope we can have in them. -- Bethany L. Jenkins (Director of Every Square Inch, The Gospel Coalition and Director of Vocational & Career Development, The King?s College, New York City, New York)As I read each chapter I wished I had this book decades ago as a young pastor, ministering to the dying. I wished I had this book when my younger brother and father died. There is rich wisdom in these pages that echo wisdom from ages past when dying and death could not be easily avoided. Most importantly, this wisdom is grounded in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Read Tim's book on death. It will make you more alive. -- Timothy S. Lane (President, Institute for Pastoral Care)Written in an informal tone, sometimes even preserving some of the verbiage and quirks of an online journal, this is an honest, urgent, encouraging account of loss and gain. I'm so glad I read it. -- Tim Challies (Author, ‘Seasons of Sorrow’)The blogposts of Connie Dever are the stuff of a spiritual classic ... her sparkling honesty testifies, through the tears, that "He will hold me fast." -- D. A. Carson (Emeritus Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois)Connie Dever's book He Will Hold Me Fast is honest, penetrating and deeply moving. I love the way she weaves Bible passages and quotations through her story. -- Elizabeth Catherwood (Eldest daughter of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)Reading Connie's spiritual diary-like posts through this relentless journey helped me personally and pastorally. They helped me process some of my own struggles and they helped me understand those I serve, especially in their often-hidden battles of the heart. -- Ligon Duncan (Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary)There is a long Christian tradition that has encouraged believers to spend time preparing for the realities of death. This is not a morbid impulse, but rather a wise attempt to finish well and faithfully. Drawing on scripture, insights from psychology, and theological truths, Tim Sisemore's book gently guides readers through the complexity of dealing with death, grief, hope, and promise. In these pages many will find real comfort and strength. -- Kelly M. Kapic (Author of Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering and Professor of Theological Studies, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia)

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Book SynopsisIn 2012 the author was invited by the Parish Pastoral Council in Newcastle, Co Down to help establish a Bereavement Ministry in the Parish. Unable to find exactly the course structure he was looking for, he designed his own course. He has divided it into five sections: The Human Experience of Grief. (drawing on my own experiences and what some of the leading experts in grief have written) The Liturgy of Mourning. (as used in the Catholic Church) Grief in the Scriptures. (setting elements of section 1 within a scriptural context) A selection of suggested Scripture readings with reflections and some sample prayers of intercession. (These are intended to be used by ordained and lay ministers for their personal reflection and in preparing funeral homilies. They may also be of solace to grieving people.) A selection of prose, poems and prayers. This book is directed primarily to those involved in bereavement ministry. Trade Review‘rich in advice, in extracts, and readings, the kind of book which every parish, and every community, can learn from.’ * The Irish Catholic *‘...a helpful tool, both for ministers, individuals and families facing into the death of a loved one.’ * Catholic South West magazine *‘If I were facing a time of deep bereavement, I would appreciate having Paddy Shannon as my guide and comforter.’ * The Methodist Recorder *‘very useful, easy to access; comforting to anyone grieving and most useful to those who work with the bereaved’ -- The Furrow

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Book SynopsisIn light of how difficult it is just to survive the teenage years, the grieving process can be especially difficult and overwhelming for teenagers. This diary affirms the grieving teen's journey and offers gentle, healing guidance. In order to sort through their confusing feelings and thoughts, teens are prompted to explore simple, open-ended questions. Teens are encouraged to write what they miss about the person who died, the specific feelings that have been most difficult since the death, or the things they wish they had said to the person before they died.

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Book SynopsisWritten in response to the current trend to deritualize death and funeral ceremonies, this book explores the ways in which caregivers and clergy can create heartfelt ceremonies that help the bereaved begin to heal. Explaining the purposes behind rituals, it reviews the many ways these have changed over the years and argues for a return to authentic, personalized, and meaningful funeral ceremonies. The qualities in caregivers that make them effective funeral planners are examined, and practical ideas for creating authentic, personalized, and meaningful funeral ceremonies are provided. Trends toward the prevalence of cremation are discussed, as are trends away from viewing and spending time with the body of the deceased. This replaces 1879651084.

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Book SynopsisThis concise resource for parents of grieving kids explores several key principles for helping children cope with grief and offers ways to create an emotional environment filled with love and acceptance. It answers common questions such as “What should I say to children when someone they love dies?” and “Should young children attend funerals?” This guide also identifies and explains typical behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of grieving kids and offers adults tips for responding to them.

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Book SynopsisFrom personalizing memorials and visitations to aftercare for the bereaved, this thoughtful manual helps owners and staff of funeral homes and cemeteries better understand their customers and the special needs in tending to the grieving and burial process. Explaining the evolution and prospects of today's "experience economy" customer, this motivational resource offers practical guidance for exceeding expectations and provides suggestions for service issues particular to funeral homes, such as first impressions, telephone skills, competition, and arrangements. With the more than 70 issues addressed, funeral professionals will be able to meet and exceed the sensitive necessities of families in pain.Trade Review"[This book] will inspire your passion and teach you the skills necessary to carry out our mission of compassionate and meaningful service." --John C. Carmon, president, National Funeral Directors Association

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Book SynopsisWith a gentle and considerate style, this handbook explores what happens when grief and the workplace meet, and the drastic effects of grieving on employees, their performance, and the overall workplace environment. Touching on the different kinds of grief workers can experience, such as death, divorce, and layoffs, the effective ways to channel grief during the workday, how to support coworkers who mourn, participation in group memorials, and negotiating appropriate bereavement leave, this concise and practical resource gives both ideas for the mourner and the mourner's coworkers. A special introduction for employers, owners, managers, and human resource personnel addresses the economic impact of grief in the workplace and provides practical and cost effective ideas for maintaining morale and creating a productive yet compassionate work environment.

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Book SynopsisWith compassionate insight, this handbook helps those in mourning through what can be the hardest time of year—the holiday season. Mourners will better understand their complex emotions after reading about such topics as honoring thoughts and feelings, creating new traditions, finding ways to de-stress, and incorporating healing rituals into the holiday season. This book's practical wisdom also covers issues such as decision-making during the holidays and coping with the blending of mourning and celebration. All of the answers and advice in this guide are provided in the popular 100 ideas format that features one idea per page, allowing readers to fully absorb each suggestion.

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Book SynopsisFor anyone who has experienced the suicide of a loved one, coworker, neighbor, or acquaintance and is seeking information about coping with such a profound loss, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to their grief. Using the metaphor of the wilderness, the book introduces 10 touchstones to assist the survivor in this naturally complicated and particularly painful journey. The touchstones include opening to the presence of loss, embracing the uniqueness of grief, understanding the six needs of mourning, reaching out for help, and seeking reconciliation over resolution. Learning to identify and rely on each of these touchstones will bring about hope and healing. Including 12 meeting plans that interface with the main text and companion journal, this organizational guide deftly combines grief education with compassionate support for those who want to facilitate an effective suicide grief support group.

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Book SynopsisPartly a counseling model and partly an explanation of true empathy, this handbook explores the ways companionship eases grief. For caretakers who work with grieving people or for friends and family just hoping to stay close, 11 tenets are outlined for mourner-led care. These simple rules call for understanding another person's pain, listening with the heart rather than the head, not filling up every minute with words, respecting confusion and disorder, and relying on curiosity rather than expertise.

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Book SynopsisAddressing the inevitable grief that accompanies the loss of a loved one, this encouraging and supportive reference provides comfort in the midst of overwhelming sadness. Preventing mourners from becoming tangled in a web of despair, this guide shows how the smallest amount of hope can be nurtured into a confident sense of being, lighting the path towards a future of love, joy, and meaning. Featuring a series of reflective passages and quotations, this handbook makes it possible to roll up one’s sleeves and make healing a reality.

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Book SynopsisPresenting the idea of wilderness as a sustained metaphor for grief, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to the grief felt by those who have experienced the suicide of a loved one and offers information about coping with such a profound loss. Likening the death of a loved one to the experience of being wrenched from normal life and dropped down in the middle of nowhere, the handbook employs 10 touchstones, or trail markers, that survivors use to begin to make their way through the new landscape. Each touchstone gently guides readers through the entire grieving process and includes topics such as dispelling misconceptions regarding suicide, exploring feelings, and embracing the uniqueness of a loss.

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Book Synopsis“Like The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, Beyond the High Blue Air is a spare, sharp memoir about the speed with which a comfortable existence can be blighted by grief.” —Bee Wilson, The Sunday Times Lu Spinney’s memoir Beyond the High Blue Air is at once a portrait of the fearlessness of familial love and the profound dilemma posed by modern medicine. When Spinney’s twenty-nine-year-old son, Miles, flies up on his snowboard, “he knows he is not in control as he is taken by force up the ramp,” writes his mother, “skewing sideways as his board clips the edge and then he is hurtling, spinning up, up into the free blue sky ahead . . .” He lands hard on the ice and falls into a coma. Thus begins the erratic loss—Miles first in a coma and then trapped in a fluctuating state of minimal consciousness—that unravels over the next five years. Spinney, her husband, and three other children put their lives on hold to tend to Miles at various hospitals and finally in a care home. They hold out hope that he will be returned to them. With blunt precision, Spinney chronicles her family’s intimate experience. And yet, as personal a book as this is, it offers universal meaning, presenting an eloquent and piercing description of what it feels to witness an intimate become unfamiliar. This is a story about ambiguous loss: the disappearance of someone who is still there. Three quarters of the way through, however, Spinney’s story takes a turn. The family and, to the degree that he can communicate, Miles himself come to view ending his life as the only possible release from the prison of his body and mind. Spinney, cutting her last thread of hope, wishes for her son to die. And yet, even as she allows this difficult revelation to settle, she learns that this is not her decision to make. Because Miles is diagnosed as being in a “minimally conscious state” rather than a “persistent vegetative state,” there is no legal way to bring about his death, a bewildering paradox that Spinney navigates with compassion and wisdom. This profound book encompasses the lyrical revelations of a memoir like Jean-Dominique Bauby’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as well as the crucial medical and moral insights of a book such as Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal.

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Book Synopsis· Going Out in Style by Susan Opalka is about creating a celebration-of-life event for you or someone you love that is positive, meaningful and personal. An event that reflects you, your personality; the things you love. Going Out in Style is a collection of stories focused on celebrating the uniqueness of the individual who has passed with an event reflecting who they were in life. The how-to guide, along with the ideas from the stories, will help anyone plan their own send-off or celebration-of-life event, whether it be a service, a party, whatever. Going Out in Style is author Susan Opalka's book about the shift from traditional solemn memorial services to a whole new paradigm of positive and personal "send-off celebrations." This significant shift speaks to all ages with a collection of unique stories demonstrating how individuals have gone out in style - their own personal style. Inspirational and informative, Going Out in Style includes a step-by-step how-to guide to create your own Celebration of Life with easy-to-follow templates and examples. Going Out in Style represents and documents a major trend that is taking place in our society today. Actually, it's more than a major trend. It's a significant culture shift. It's a shift from the traditional, solemn, serious memorial services, to a whole new paradigm of positive and personal "send-off celebrations." It's about wearing big hats Black golf balls Fishing lure earrings Sweet potato curly fries A horned toad And chocolate! · Going Out in Style is a collection of unique, joyful, and heart-warming stories that demonstrate how individuals have gone out in style - their own personal style! But it's not just about elders: It's about 11 year-old Nicky and his Zombie birthday party, A kindergartener named Maya, And Pualani, a high school student. It's about stories that represent all ages. Book Reviews: "I read it from start to finish in one sitting, each story resonating with the joy of life lived, and the unique celebration of the individual by their loved ones. These send-offs will make you laugh, cry, and think - how do I want to go out in style?" ~ Patti Wade, contributing author, Chicken Soup for the Soul "As an Art Therapist, Grief and Bereavement Counselor, and Counselor trainer, I continually witnessed the ways in which the utilization of ritual can be key to helping people honor the lives of those whom they had loved and lost. This book explores the need to give voice to personal loss, and it is filled with moving portraits of individuals striving to celebrate the essences of those whom they still continue to miss after death. Through these heartfelt examinations, the book also highlights the creative and expressive ways in which each person has chosen to share his or her own story. These personal accounts embrace the intricacies of life, love, loss, and remembrance and provide an initial glimpse into the subsequent journey to healing. This must-read is a celebratory gift; it is caring and respectful and is filled with a sense of joyous inspiration. ~ Gail F. Jarson, M.A., Retired from Art Therapy and Counseling "The way we honor and celebrate the life of someone who has died is taking on new and very individual forms. Boomers are not content with the rote services of our parents and are looking to participate in how our loved ones send us off. Going Out in Style is a joy-filled expression of how some of us have custom built highly personal tributes. It is a wonderful read and a trove of inspiration for those of us who are getting closer to the finish line. ~ Marian Lindholtz, M.I.M. Professional WriterTrade ReviewGoing Out in Style is a collection of unique, joyful, and heart-warming stories that demonstrate how individuals have gone out in style -- their own personal style! But it's not just about elders: It's about 11 year-old Nicky and his Zombie birthday party, A kindergartener named Maya, And Pualani, a high school student. It's about stories that represent all ages. Book Reviews: "I read it from start to finish in one sitting, each story resonating with the joy of life lived, and the unique celebration of the individual by their loved ones. These send-offs will make you laugh, cry, and think -- how do I want to go out in style?" -- Patti Wade, contributing author, Chicken Soup for the Soul"As an Art Therapist, Grief and Bereavement Counselor, and Counselor trainer, I continually witnessed the ways in which the utilization of ritual can be key to helping people honor the lives of those whom they had loved and lost. This book explores the need to give voice to personal loss, and it is filled with moving portraits of individuals striving to celebrate the essences of those whom they still continue to miss after death. Through these heartfelt examinations, the book also highlights the creative and expressive ways in which each person has chosen to share his or her own story. These personal accounts embrace the intricacies of life, love, loss, and remembrance and provide an initial glimpse into the subsequent journey to healing. This must-read is a celebratory gift; it is caring and respectful and is filled with a sense of joyous inspiration. -- Gail F Jarson, M.A., Retired from Art Therapy and Counseling"The way we honor and celebrate the life of someone who has died is taking on new and very individual forms. Boomers are not content with the rote services of our parents and are looking to participate in how our loved ones send us off. Going Out in Style is a joy-filled expression of how some of us have custom built highly personal tributes. It is a wonderful read and a trove of inspiration for those of us who are getting closer to the finish line. -- Marian Lindholtz, M.I.M. Professional Writer

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Book SynopsisThe Last Things We Talk About gives readers and their loved ones the opportunity as death approaches to affirm, celebrate, and remember the people and experiences they cherish in life. The author guides readers step-by-step through the process of making aging and death-related decisions. This includes defining personal values and wishes as well as planning for practical medical, financial, and legal considerations. This book will help readers: - Identify the people, experiences, and things that are important to them and help define and celebrate what gives life meaning and purpose - Discover and define their goals and wishes regarding transitions, support, and the legacy they wish to leave behind - Understand important topics such as legal, financial, and medical documents, the continuum of care, and end-of-life decisions - Find professionals to help them put together inventories for financial, legal, and practical matters - Explore options and plan for culturally and spiritually sensitive end-of-life rituals and celebrations - Learn what needs to be done after death and how survivors can begin to piece their lives back togetherTrade Review"Thank you for this wake up call." David M. Gilfoil, Ph.D. VP, Strategic Planning & Professor of Business, DeSales University"Kudos to Boatwright for making the overwhelming experience for the end of life process manageable." Kim Engelmann, MDiv., DMin., Board Certified Chaplain SCA, Provisional Board Certified Chaplain APC"A stunning resource that will become indispensable to individuals, institutions, health-care professionals and religious bodies." Leonard Sweet, Best-selling author, professor"I would recommend this book both for pre-planning and 'what do we do now?' situations." Robyn Ledwith Mar, author of Grief Recovery: A Workbook for Widows and Widowers"This book will put you miles ahead of most people, and in a position to call your own shots, leaving a legacy of care, love, and meaning for your loved ones and for you." Peter W. Johnson, Jr., Wealth Manager

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Book SynopsisRenowned activist Andy Parker's account of the story that shocked America, the murder of his daughter, reporter Alison Parker, on live television, and his extraordinary ensuing fight for commonsense gun safety legislation and doing "Whatever It Takes" to end gun violence. On August 26, 2015, Emmy Award–winning twenty-four-year-old reporter Alison Parker was murdered on live television, along with her colleague, photojournalist Adam Ward. Their interviewee was also shot, but survived. People watching at home heard the gunshots, and the gunman's video of the murder, which he uploaded to Facebook, would spread over the internet like wildfire.In the wake of his daughter's murder, Andy Parker became a national leader in the fight for commonsense gun safety legislation. The night of the murder, with his emotions still raw, he went on Fox News and vowed to do "Whatever it Takes" to end gun violence in America. Today he is a media go-to each time a shooting shocks the national consciousness, and has worked with a range of other crusaders, like Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Lenny Pozner, whose son was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School and brought suit against Alex Jones and Infowars, who claimed the shooting was staged. In For Alison, Parker shares his work as a powerhouse battling gun violence and gives a plan for commonsense gun legislation that all sides should agree on. He calls out the NRA-backed politicians blocking the legislation, shares his fight against "truthers," who claim Alison's murder was fabricated, and reveals what's ahead in his fight to do whatever it takes to stop gun violence.Parker's story is one of great loss, but also resilience, determination, and a call to action. Senator Tim Kaine, also a fierce advocate for commonsense gun laws, contributes a moving foreword.Trade Review“This is a wonderful book, a beautiful tribute.” —Willie Geist, MSNBC“I couldn't put this book down. I read it all in one sitting.” —Dana Perino, Fox News “This book sends a powerful and inspiring message on the importance of the fight to end gun violence. The strength Andy has shown in turning a tragedy into a force for good in order to make this country and the world a safer place should be an example for us all.” —Senator Mark Warner, US Senator from Virginia “Andy Parker has written a beautiful and important book that grabs your heart with the first sentence and never lets go. I couldn't stop turning the pages with Andy Parker's humanity guiding me through this story as if I was sitting at his kitchen table just listening.”—Lawrence O'Donnell, Host of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell “Andy Parker suffered the unimaginable loss of his daughter to gun violence. His exemplary activism in gun safety is a testament and a tribute to his great love for her.”—Julianne Moore, Actress and Chair of the Creative Council of Everytown for Gun Safety “A tragic, revealing, and important book that every American needs to read. I thank the Parkers for their courage to take on the gun lobby and fight for justice.”—Terry McAuliffe, Former Governor of Virginia “Fast paced and riveting, Andy Parker is a gifted storyteller. More importantly, he's an angry father who has written a brilliant book that tells the brutal truth.”—Donna Dees, Founder of the Million Mom March “In this no-holds-barred account, Andy makes you feel the pain, the anger, and the longing of a parent who has lost his whole world then uses his considerable gifts as a storyteller to make the reader want to jump up and do something to stop gun violence. This book is an uncensored call to action that cannot be ignored.”—Joshua Horwitz, Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence “This is a book meant for all of us—a wakeup call to a nation devastated on a daily basis by senseless gun violence—as seen through the eyes of a parent who became a member of the club that no one wants to join. Andy's courageous struggle to 'make something meaningful out of a meaningless death' is a call to action on gun violence prevention.”—Levar M. Stoney, Mayor of Richmond, VirginiaTable of Contents Chapter 1: Alison Chapter 2: The Day Chapter 3: The Night Chapter 4: The Whirlwind Chapter 5: Celebrating a Life Chapter 6: The Club No One Wants to Join Chapter 7: Honoring Alison Chapter 8: On Call Chapter 9: Scooter Winks Chapter 10: New Friends Chapter 11: Ashes Chapter 12: The High Before the Storm Chapter 13: Twelve-Dollar Bill Chapter 14: Melancholy Chapter 15: Swamp Thing Chapter 16: The Anti-NRA Chapter 17: The Anniversary Chapter 18: The Opposition Chapter 19: Common Ground Chapter 20: Chris and the Blue Wave Chapter 21: Alison’s Legacy Epilogue

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Book SynopsisHow does a mother say goodbye to her baby before she can even say a proper hello?In the memoir Love You Still, after years of infertility, when Maria Price learned she was carrying her second child, Julia, a healthy baby girl, she felt like she had moved past the pain into her miraculous happily ever after. . . until one day, without warning, at the end of a textbook pregnancy, Maria and her husband, Joe, sat staring at an ultrasound screen that was now, heartbreakingly, still.After birthing and then burying their daughter, Maria and Joe needed to navigate their separate grief journeys without losing each other. Despite Joe’s seemingly unconditional love and endless patience, Maria still had to find a way to live in a world without her daughter through the depression, crisis of faith, and unplanned pregnancy that followed Julia’s death.Had God failed Maria? Had she failed Him? Had she failed as a mother? Could she still parent her son, while grieving her daughter? Was there enough room in her heart for another baby? Could she survive another loss? Could she learn to live with the constant pain of Julia’s absence? Was she willing to try?This is a path of inexplicable heartbreak, unexpected healing, and, through it all, unfailing love.

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Book Synopsis"A heartbreaking memoir that is also highly relatable and often darkly funny."- Michael Sadowski, Author of Men I’ve Never Been: A Memoir, one of Book Authority’s 100 Best Gay and Lesbian Books of All TimeIn Four Funerals, No Marriage: A Memoir, author Mike Keren gives his readers an inside look at his unexpected foray into caregiving to his sick and dying parents and in-laws. Often funny and always poignant, the story begins when his loving but difficult parents announce they are moving back to New Jersey from their retirement home in North Carolina because they “never really liked it there.” Within days of arriving on a house-hunting trip, his father is hospitalized with a stroke and his mother with another in a series of heart attacks. At the same time, his partner’s mother is recuperating from a hysterectomy and struggling with chemotherapy after a diagnosis of uterine cancer. Additionally, he must deal with the unhappy marriage between his parents, sibling relationships that have often been his undoing, a homophobic world, and his own lifetime of affective dysregulation.Trade Review"A heartbreaking memoir that is also highly relatable and often darkly funny. If you've ever cared for aging, ailing parents and worried that you might not survive the experience yourself, this book is for you." -- Michael Sadowski, author of Men I've Never Been: A Memoir, one of Book Authority's 100 Best Gay and Lesbian Books of All Time"its portrayal of the love and care that he gave his parents shines through and provides occasions for his most poignant prose... An often affecting account of end-of-life care." -- Kirkus Review

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Book SynopsisCan Alisha find balance between self-sacrifice and individuation, or will she watch herself slowly fade away in the process?Eight months into graduate school in a new city, Alisha’s mom suffered a heart attack on her dad’s 60th birthday, rerouting her entire life and demanding that she catapult into full adulthood. Four Eyes: A Memoir of a Millennial Caregiver chronicles the story of Alisha’s struggle to find meaning in the seemingly pointless repeated defeats of her parents’ chronic illnesses that orphaned her in her early 30s. Assuming a caregiving role for her parents in addition to pursuing her own developing life path, Alisha struggles through old maps of thinking where guilt and shame reigned until others were pleased, and she was utterly exhausted.Her witty journey to make sense of it all takes her straight into battle with the crippling grief and powerful darkness that threaten to take over entirely. And to win, she must let go of all she once knew, and follow the unknown into the world of organ donation, deep resiliency, and answerless faith. Sometimes the answer is "I don’t know."

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Book Synopsis

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