Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot....

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded,...

Addresses the issue of mortality discussing how humans universally share a fear of death and examines the theories of leading thinkers on this subject including Freud, Rank, and Kierkegaard.

"'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...

Written for those times in grief when the strength to do the hard and necessary work of mourning is waning, this book contains inspiring words about finding the courage deep within to embrace the pain and go on living. Presented in a one-reading-a-day-for-a-month format, it features compassionate writings by grief educator Dr. Alan Wolfelt, as well as quotes on courage from some of the world's greatest thinkers. The Mourner's Book of Courage provides...

Helps mourners and grief counsellors to turn grief into an experience to be learned from. Defining the varieties of heartache and its consequences, this guide explores how to inventory, understand, embrace, and reconcile one's accumulated sorrow through a five-phase 'catch-up' mourning process.

"This beautifully written guide offers specific and wise advice for confronting another's anguish, as well as a deep understanding of grief." -Judy Tatelbaum, author of The Courage to Grieve Time and again we stumble for words and actions that will reflect our feelings of compassion and our desire to be of comfort during a time of loss. Based on the authors' extensive research, their workshops, and their professional experience, and filled with personal...

The author visits with his former college professor, who gave him sound advice and guidance when he was younger. In the last months of his life, Morrie teaches Mitch abouth lessons in how to live once again.

If we wish to understand loss experiences we must learn details of survivors' stories. The new version of How We Grieve: Relearning the World tells in-depth tales of survival to illustrate the poignant disruption of life and suffering that loss entails. It shows how through grieving we overcome challenges, make choices, and reshape our lives. These intimate treatments of coping with loss address the needs of grieving people and those who hope to support...

When a parent dies, most adults are seized by an unexpected crisis that can trigger a profound transformation of their beliefs, behavior, goals, and sense of self. Whether - and how - this loss is resolved can affect adults for the rest of their lives. Unlike other books on this topic, Death of a parent relies on national data as well as in-depth interviews to explore the social and psychological risk factors that make some people more vulnerable...