Download or read book Saying Goodbye to Our Mothers for the Last Time written by Carol Thayer Cox and published by . This book was released on 2016-05-15 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mother loss, no matter when it happens, is a pivotal event in a person's life. How profound it is to lose the first person you have known in life, the person who has known you the longest and who holds memories of you from your very beginning. Whether her parenting was nurturing, mediocre, or damaging, you still experienced her as your mother. Biological or adoptive, regardless of what transpires, there is a bond between mother and child. Saying Goodbye to Our Mothers for the Last Time includes 35 authors/contributors, both women and men, who write about the death of their mothers. The volume is rich in variety, from different locations to assorted cultures and ethnicities, from ways of dying to types of funerals, from methods of dealing with loss to strategies for self-care. Some of these stories are elegant in their simplicity, others intricate in their complexity. Some incite laughter and others elicit tears. Saying Goodbye tells people's stories, and like fairy tales and myths, these stories offer readers an opportunity to relate to the characters and vicariously experience their trials and sorrows as well as their joys and celebrations. Stories help us tap into these archetypes of life and death that are part of us all. Baby boomers are going through this experience every day, but just knowing that other people are losing their mothers does not help them get through it themselves. In our western culture, dying is rarely talked about, and there is little to prepare us for that moment. When people die, we talk about who they were and what we want to remember about them. But we don't often share with one another what really happens when the death occurs. And those are the memories that linger. We asked our authors to write about something very intimate-the death of their mothers and thus the end of their lives with their mothers. This book takes a lens to the transition from life to death, to focus in on that event and how people said good-bye, whether they were at their mother's side or not. These are stories that need to be told-stories that will guide, warn, encourage, and inspire others when they must cross that threshold and say good-bye to their own mothers for the last time. It will also be a gift to those who have already lost their mothers, as these stories may provide solace and perspective. And for those who may be wondering about their own inevitable departure from their families, perhaps these essays could affect the attitude they adopt toward mortality and so make this difficult time more satisfying for them and their children.
Download or read book The Long Goodbye written by Meghan O'Rourke and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-04-14 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Anguished, beautifully written... The Long Goodbye is an elegiac depiction of drama as old as life." -- The New York Times Book Review From one of America's foremost young literary voices, a transcendent portrait of the unbearable anguish of grief and the enduring power of familial love. What does it mean to mourn today, in a culture that has largely set aside rituals that acknowledge grief? After her mother died of cancer at the age of fifty-five, Meghan O'Rourke found that nothing had prepared her for the intensity of her sorrow. In the first anguished days, she began to create a record of her interior life as a mourner, trying to capture the paradox of grief-its monumental agony and microscopic intimacies-an endeavor that ultimately bloomed into a profound look at how caring for her mother during her illness changed and strengthened their bond. O'Rourke's story is one of a life gone off the rails, of how watching her mother's illness-and separating from her husband-left her fundamentally altered. But it is also one of resilience, as she observes her family persevere even in the face of immeasurable loss. With lyricism and unswerving candor, The Long Goodbye conveys the fleeting moments of joy that make up a life, and the way memory can lead us out of the jagged darkness of loss. Effortlessly blending research and reflection, the personal and the universal, it is not only an exceptional memoir, but a necessary one.
Download or read book The Year I Lost My Breasts and Got Some New Ones written by Paula Kaplan-Reiss and published by Xlibris. This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In January, 2012, a year after her last mammogram, Paula Kaplan-Reiss was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer. She made the decision to email her friends and family with weekly updates concerning her treatment, which morphed into a full-fledged unofficial blog. With wit and honesty, Paula takes the reader through chemo, hair loss, major surgery, reconstruction and radiation, and all the crazy thoughts, side effects and feelings which accompany her treatment. She introduces you to an amazing relationship with her oncologist and the rest of her top-notch medical team, including her compassionate breast surgeon and skilled plastic surgeon. But, most of all, she shows how a loving community of family and friends keeps her nurtured and entertained and makes her ordeal bearable.
Download or read book Leaving and Waving written by Deanna Dikeman b. 1954 and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Grown and Flown written by Lisa Heffernan and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.
Download or read book Until I Say Good Bye written by Bret Witter and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER What would you do with one last year? Susan Spencer-Wendel was determined to laugh instead of cry. In June 2011, Susan Spencer-Wendel learned she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - Lou Gehrig's disease - an irreversible condition that systematically destroys the nerves that power the muscles. She was 44-years-old, with three young children, and she had only one year of health remaining. She decided to live that year with joy. She left her job as a journalist and spent time with her family. She built a meeting place for friends in her backyard. And she took seven trips with the seven most important people in her life. As her health declined, Susan journeyed to the Yukon, Hungary, the Bahamas, and Cyprus. She went to the beach with her sons and to Kleinfeld's bridal shop in New York City with her teenage daughter, Marina, for a glimpse of the wedding she would never attend. She also wrote this book. No longer able to walk or even lift her arms, she tapped it out letter by letter on her iPhone using only her right thumb, the last finger still working. And yet Until I Say Good-Bye is not angry or bitter. It is sad in parts - how could it not be? - but it is filled with Susan's optimism, joie de vivre and sens of humour. It is a book that, like Susan, will make everyone smile. From a hilarious family Christmas disaster to the decrepit monastery in eastern Cyprus where she rediscovered her heritage, Until I Say Good-Bye is Susan Spencer-Wendel's unforgettable gift to her loved ones and to us: a record of their final experiences together and a reminder that every day is better when it is lived with joy.
Download or read book Joy Enough A Memoir written by Sarah McColl and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Belletrist Book of the Month, this “exquisite memoir” (Los Angeles Times) is the perfect balm for any reader who has experienced loss. Lipsticks applied, novels read, imperfect cakes baked—such memories are recalled with “crystalline perfection” (J.C. Hallmann, Brooklyn Rail) in Sarah McColl’s breathtaking testimonial to the joy and pain of loving well. When her mother, Allison, was diagnosed with cancer, McColl dropped everything—including her on-the-rocks marriage—to return to the family farmhouse and fix elaborate meals in the hope of nourishing her back to health. In “thoughtful and finely crafted prose” (Martha Anne Toll, NPR.org) McColl reveals Allison to be an extraordinary woman of infinite love for her unruly brood of children. Mining her dual losses “with humor and charm” (Rachel Kong, New York Times Book Review) to confront her identity as a woman, McColl walks lightly in the footsteps of the woman who came before her. “A gorgeous, painful, exhilarating debut” (Kirstin Valdez-Quade), Joy Enough is an essential guide to clinging fast to the joy left behind, for readers of Ann Hood and Jenny Offill.
Download or read book Just In Case You Ever Wonder written by Max Lucado and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2000-01-12 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just In Case You Ever Wonder tells of a father's love for his child. This perennial best seller from Max Lucado will wrap your child in its tender message of love, comfort, and protection, showing that as they grow and change, you'll always be there for them.
Download or read book The Last Time We Say Goodbye written by Cynthia Hand and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2015-02-10 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Thirteen Reasons Why and All the Bright Places, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a deeply affecting novel that will change the way you look at life and death. From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand comes a stunning, heart-wrenching novel of love and loss, which ALA Booklist called "both shatteringly painful and bright with life and hope" in a starred review. Since her brother, Tyler, committed suicide, Lex has been trying to keep her grief locked away, and to forget about what happened that night. But as she starts putting her life, her family, and her friendships back together, Lex is haunted by a secret she hasn't told anyone—a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.
Download or read book River Flow New and Selected Poems Revised Revised written by David Whyte and published by . This book was released on 2012-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This newly revised edition contains the most up to date versions of poems from David's first five volumes of poetry: Songs for Coming Home, Where Many Rivers Meet, Fire in the Earth, The House of Belonging and Everything is Waiting for You, as well as the latest versions of the new poems that originally appeared in the first edition of River Flow.
Download or read book Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday written by Valerie Woerner and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2019-04-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Filled with grace, hope, and practical ways forward for every momma.” — Candace Cameron Bure, actress and New York Times bestselling author Most days motherhood often looks like bottomless piles of laundry; a sink full of dishes; sleepless nights; and unshowered, nonstop, endless days. If that’s all there is, then no wonder “Grumpy Mom” sometimes sneaks into your heart and home. If you can relate, you’re in good company—Valerie Woerner gets it and has experienced Grumpy Mom more often than she’d care to admit. In Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday, Valerie shares what she’s learned so far about sending Grumpy Mom packing and embracing a joyful, intentional motherhood that is so much better than you thought possible. As you journey with Valerie, you’ll be inspired and equipped to find energy in the most unlikely places, pursue your own dreams, be set free from mom guilt, feel content despite unfinished to-do lists, spend purposeful time with God amid the daily chaos, and discover more joyous moments of motherhood. So, take a holiday from Grumpy Mom, and enjoy life as the mom God made you to be.
Download or read book Ordinary on Purpose written by Mikala MD Albertson and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2022-03-08 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beauty is Found in the Ordinary The world is shouting at us to be more. Strive. Achieve. Overachieve. Never stop pushing. As a family practice doctor, wife, and mother, Mikala Albertson appeared to be living a "perfect" life, but really her whole world was falling apart. Married seven years to an alcohol and drug addict while raising two young children and finishing residency, Mikala eventually reached a breaking point. And surrendered. In sifting through the shattered pieces of her life, she realized she had been chasing something that doesn't exist. Perfect is pretend. And what she desperately needed to embrace was ordinary. A good, hard, messy, gritty, lovely, ordinary life. In Ordinary on Purpose, Mikala shares her heartfelt journey in a raw and revealing way as she invites you to lay down your own endless chase for perfection and embrace this beautiful, messy life exactly as it is with our perfect, loving God right by your side. What would it look like to stop pretending to be "perfect" and be ordinary? Instead of always feeling overwhelmed and alone, you might discover the beauty of a good, hard life grounded in the radiant hope of God's unending love. Life happens in the ordinary, after all.
Download or read book Saying Goodbye to Daddy written by Judith Vigna and published by Albert Whitman & Company. This book was released on 1990-03-01 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frightened, lonely, and angry after her father is killed in a car accident, Clare is helped through the grieving process by her mother and grandfather.
Download or read book 14 Days written by Lisa Goich and published by Savio Republic. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do you let go of a hand you've held your whole life? When Lisa traveled home to visit her parents in December 2011, she never expected an ordinary three-day weekend to turn into an extraordinary 14-day observance of her mother’s life – and ultimately – death. From a child’s first breath to a mother’s last, 14 Days shows how closing that circle can be a celebration of this unbreakable bond.
Download or read book Saying Goodbye to Someone You Love written by Norine Dresser and published by Demos Medical Publishing. This book was released on 2010-05-12 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named a 2010 Self Help Best Book by Library Journal Saying Goodbye To Someone You Love consists of moving narratives about end of life and grief. These personal histories are complemented by practical guidelines for those caring for their loved ones through the last stages of life. For those who are grieving, the true-to-life-stories demonstrate how others have navigated through the tidal wave of emotions and reactions that characterize the grief process. For health care professionals and those who are offering support to grievers, Saying Goodbye To Someone You Love provides a new perspective on the challenges of caring for the dying and living with grief. Hundreds of poignant, touching, loving, humorous personal experiences address readers' concerns and curiosity about how others have faced life's final chapter with love and dignity. Specific issues include talking about death, hospice, funerals, grieving, and celebrating life. Saying Goodbye To Someone You Love empowers readers by Bringing compassion and awareness to end of life issues Providing examples of loving care at the moment of death illuminating uncharted territory Demonstrating how others cope Demystifying the grief process Inspiring hope The narratives and advice in Saying Goodbye To Someone You Love benefits family members, friends and health care professionals as they travel the emotional journey through end of life and grief.
Download or read book Leaving Rock Harbor written by Rebecca Chace and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unforgettable coming-of-age story and a luminous portrayal of a dramatic era of American history, Rebecca Chace’s Leaving Rock Harbor takes readers into the heart of a New England mill town in the early twentieth century. On the eve of World War I, fourteen-year-old Frankie Ross and her parents leave their simple life in Poughkeepsie to seek a new beginning in the booming city of Rock Harbor, Massachusetts. Frankie’s father finds work in a bustling cotton mill, but erupting labor strikes threaten to dismantle the town’s socioeconomic structure. Frankie soon befriends two charismatic young men—Winslow Curtis, privileged son of the town’s most powerful politician, and Joe Barros, a Portuguese mill worker who becomes a union organizer—forming a tender yet bittersweet love triangle that will have an impact on all three throughout their lives. Inspired in part by Chace’s family history, Frankie’s journey to adulthood takes us through the First World War and into the Jazz Age, followed by the Great Depression—from rags to riches and back again. Her life parallels the evolution of the mill town itself, and the lost promise of a boomtown that everyone thought would last forever. Of her acclaimed novel Capture the Flag, the Los Angeles Times said, "Chace’s writing resembles a generation of New York writers heavily influenced by John Updike: Rick Moody, A. M. Homes, Susan Minot, and, more recently, Melissa Bank." With its lyrical prose and compelling style, Leaving Rock Harbor further establishes Chace’s position in that literary tradition.
Download or read book Unforgettable written by Scott Simon and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I'm getting a life's lesson about grace from my mother in the ICU. We never stop learning from our mothers, do we?" UNFORGETTABLE is a son's spirited, affecting, and inspiring tribute to his remarkable mother and the love between parent and child. When NPR's Scott Simon began tweeting from his mother's hospital room in July 2013, he didn't know that his missives would soon spread well beyond his 1.2 million Twitter followers. Squeezing the magnitude of his final days with her into 140-character updates, Simon's evocative and moving meditations spread virally. Over the course of a few days, Simon chronicled his mother's death and reminisced about her life, revealing her humor and strength, and celebrating familial love. UNFORGETTABLE, expands on those famous tweets to create a memoir that is rich, deeply affecting, heart-wrenching, and exhilarating. His mother was a glamorous woman of the Mad Men–era; she worked in nightclubs, modeled, dated mobsters and movie stars, and was a brave single parent to young Scott Simon. Spending their last days together in a hospital ICU, mother and son reflect on their lifetime's worth of memories, recounting stories laced with humor and exemplifying resilience. UNFORGETTABLE is not only one man's rich and moving tribute to his mother's colorful life and graceful death, it is also a powerful portrayal of the universal bond between mother and child.
