THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER With a new chapter detailing the events that have taken place since Ronan's passing in February 2013. Like all mothers, Emily Rapp had ambitious plans for her son, Ronan. He would be smart, loyal, physically fearless, level-headed but fun. He would be good at crossword puzzles like his father. He would be an avid skier like his mother. Rapp would speak to him in foreign languages and give him the best education. But all of these plans changed when Ronan was diagnosed at nine months old with Tay-Sachs disease, a rare and always-fatal degenerative disorder. Ronan was not expected to live beyond the age of three; he would be permanently stalled at a developmental level of six months. Rapp and her husband were forced to re-evaluate everything they thought they knew about raising a family. They would have to learn to live with their child in the moment; to find happiness in the midst of sorrow; to parent without a future. The Still Point of the Turning World is the story of a mother's journey through grief and beyond it. Rapp's response to her son's diagnosis was a belief that she needed to 'make my world big' - to make sense of her family's situation through art, literature, philosophy, theology and myth. Drawing on a broad range of thinkers and writers, from C.S. Lewis to Sylvia Plath, Hegel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Rapp learns what wisdom there is to be gained from parenting a terminally ill child. In luminous, exquisitely moving prose, she re-examines our most fundamental assumptions about what it means to be a good parent, to be a success, and to live a meaningful life. Emily Rapp Black's follow up memoir, Sanctuary, will publish in January 2021.

Claire Bidwell Smith, an only child, is just fourteen years old when both of her charismatic parents are diagnosed with cancer. What follows is a coming-of-age story that is both heartbreaking and exhilarating. As Claire hurtles towards loss she throws herself at anything she thinks might help her cope with the weight of this harsh reality: boys, alcohol, traveling, and the anonymity of cities like New York and Los Angeles. By the time she is twenty-five years old both her parents are gone and Claire is very much alone in the world. Claire's story is less of a tragic tale and more of a remarkable lesson on how to overcome some of life's greatest hardships. Written with suspense and style, and bursting with love and adventure, The Rules of Inheritance vividly captures the deep grief and surprising light of a young woman forging ahead on a journey of loss that humbled, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Living With Grief: Children, Adolescents, and Loss, (2000) edited by Kenneth J. Doka, features articles by leading educators and clinicians in the field of grief and bereavement. The chapters entitled "Voices" are the writings of children and adolescents. The book includes a comprehensive resource list of national organizations and a useful bibliography of age-appropriate literature for children and adolescents.

A new conversation is starting on this most universal of topics. But to know where we are heading, we need to know where we have come from...Death is the one subject we will all confront; it touches our families, our homes, our hearts. And yet we have grown used to denying its existence, treating it as an enemy to be beaten back with medical advances. What led us to this point - what drove us to sanitize death and make it foreign and unfamiliar? In Death's Summer Coat Brandy Schillace explores our past to examine what it might mean for our future. From Victorian Britain to contemporary Cambodia, forgotten customs and modern-day rituals, we learn about the incredibly diverse - and sometimes just incredible - ways in which humans have dealt with mortality in different times and places. Today, as we begin to talk about mortality, there are difficult questions to face. What does it mean to have a 'good death'? What should a funeral do? As Schillace shows, talking about death and the rituals associated with it can help to provide answers. It also brings us closer together. And conversation and community are just as important for living as for dying.Some of the stories are strikingly unfamiliar; others are far more familiar than you might suppose. But all reveal a lot about the present - and about ourselves. It's time to meet the new (old) death. As seen reviewed in The Guardian in the article Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty review - startling stories from the crematorium. If you are keen to learn more, you can listen to the interview with Brandy Schillace on Radio Gorgeous or the interview on BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed, both to be aired in May 2015.

Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022 Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2022 'Original, memorable, shimmering' - Sarah Moss Today I might trace the rungs of her larynx or tap at her trachea like the bones of a xylophone . . . Something gleeful and malevolent is moving in Lia's body, learning her life from the inside out. A shape-shifter. A disaster tourist. It's travelling down the banks of her canals. It's spreading. When a sudden diagnosis upends Lia's world, the boundaries between her past and her present begin to collapse. Deeply buried secrets stir awake. As the voice prowling in Lia takes hold of her story, and the landscape around becomes indistinguishable from the one within, Lia and her family are faced with some of the hardest questions of all: how can we move on from the events that have shaped us, when our bodies harbour everything? And what does it mean to die with grace, when you're simply not ready to let go? Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is a story of coming of age at the end of a life. Utterly heart-breaking yet darkly funny, Maddie Mortimer's astonishing debut is a symphonic journey through one woman's body: a wild and lyrical celebration of desire, forgiveness and the darkness within us all. 'Restlessly inventive . . . delicate and persuasive' - The Guardian 'Extraordinary, kaleidoscopic' - Daisy Johnson

Understanding loss and its effects is integral to effective counseling and support in the treatment of grief. This book is both a guide to the key theories of bereavement, and a practical workbook that can be used with clients to help them understand and work through their grief in a positive, transformative way. Divided into two parts, the first section presents current models of grief used by thanatologists, and advice on when to apply them, these models provide a springboard to deepen the conversation with clients, allowing them to discover insights, consider memories and express their pain. In the second part of the book, creative exercises encourage clients to engage with their stories and actively apply their discoveries to their own healing. Offering a straightforward guide to bereavement models and therapeutic approaches, with photocopiable exercises and worksheets, The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement is a valuable resource for information on grief and how to help grieving clients, and an invitation to explore creative possibilities for healing.

In Victorious Heart, winner of the 2020 Independent Press Award, Kim Peacock shares how God's grace helped her through the loss of her child with faith, healing, and hope in the midst of tragedy. Have you found yourself in a broken place, defined by the loss of a loved one? Grief is not something that can be fixed or cured, but rather is proof that someone is missing a part of themselves-a normal response to loss. In Victorious Heart, Kim Peacock shares the story of the devastating loss of her oldest daughter, Nicole. She bares the deepest sorrow of her life, but also reveals how the Lord carried her through-and is still carrying her through-turning her pain into a beautiful story of hope and healing. Victorious Heart reassures readers they are not alone, helps them manage some of the difficult "firsts" like birthdays and holidays and shows them how to protect their mind and avoid the "Blame Game." Grieving family members learn that it's okay to laugh again, in time, and that they too can have a Victorious Heart of hope in the midst of their biggest sorrow.

A Bridge of Hope tells the heart-wrenching story of the loss of Camilla Neff's first full-term baby girl, Serena Nadine, who died unexpectedly during delivery. With compassion and empathy for grieving parents everywhere, Neff describes the raw emotions and anguish that she faced. She shares the deeply personal journey of wading through the layers of grief and pain that engulfed her, to learning to live again in a new reality after her world was shattered. The journey of grief, especially in losing a child, can be lonely and feel utterly hopeless. Neff's greatest desire for bereaved mothers is that her experience will give them hope that it is possible to live a fruitful life beyond the catastrophic. Are you walking through a deep tunnel that is so dark that you feel suffocated by the intensity of the blackness? Do you feel like there's a hole in your heart, one that no temporary joy, no empathy or intended comfort can ever fill? Do you wonder how you will survive just one more day, one more hour, even one more moment, with such debilitating pain of heart, agony of soul and torment of mind?If you experienced significant loss and live with these emotions every day, then A Bridge of Hope may be the conduit for healing that you've been longing for.

From the joy of naming a child or blessing a home to the sadness of ending a marriage or the dignity of a simple funeral, here are the words and settings needed to value and commemorate life's transitions and milestones. "Rituals for Life, Love, and Loss" provides rituals and meditations for today's world, for times of celebration and commitment, for new beginnings, and for periods of grief. Dorothy McRae-McMahon, internationally renowned for her work with ritual, has created meaningful ceremonies for all people, regardless of their faith. Presented in three parts -- Celebrations, Changes, and Letting Go -- these rituals are comprised of simple, direct language and include guidance for what to say, suggestions for music, and ideas for group participation and incorporating symbolic objects. "Rituals for Life, Love, and Loss" is for everyone who wishes to mark and honor those significant occasions along life's journey.

Grief is a passion to endure. People can be stricken with it, victims of it, stuck in it. Or they can meet it, get through it, and become quiet victors through the active, honest, and courageous process of grieving.

After experiencing the loss of her first-born son, Melissa Dalton-Bradford thrust herself into literature searching for those who have experienced similar, devastating loss. What she found was comfort and guidance to help her overcome the pain of losing a loved one and the faith to face her own life without him. In "On Loss and Living Onward," she has compiled the best resources that will guide the living through the process of grief.
Superbly written essays by author and bereaved mother accompany each of five sections: Life at Death; Love at Death; Living After Death; Learning From Death; Life, Love and Light Over Death. Quotes are from across history, geography and the philosophical spectrum. A substantial bibliography and suggested readings list is included.

With sensitivity and insight, this series offers suggestions for healing activities that can help survivors learn to express their grief and mourn naturally. Acknowledging that death is a painful, ongoing part of life, they explain how people need to slow down, turn inward, embrace their feelings of loss, and seek and accept support when a loved one dies. Each book, geared for mourning adults, teens, or children, provides ideas and action-oriented tips that teach the basic principles of grief and healing. These ideas and activities are aimed at reducing the confusion, anxiety, and huge personal void so that the living can begin their lives again. Included in the books for teens and kids are age-appropriate activities that teach younger people that their thoughts are not only normal but necessary.

Ruthlessly honest memoir of a widow's pain in coming to terms with the death of her husband. This haunting memoir of grief recounts the death from cancer of Nick Clarke, much-loved BBC radio presenter of THE WORLD AT ONE - and the aftermath - from his widow Barbara's point of view. With painful honesty, Barbara lays open her ambivalent feelings about the illness as it progressed, and her instinctive fear that this would be the end. As he got sicker, her fear grew, until he died an unfeasibly short time after his diagnosis. Barbara chronicles in unflinching prose her life after his death. A howl of anguish and anger, she describes how many of her friends and colleagues don't call, and don't offer support - how alone she is, and how she struggles to explain the unexplainable to her young twin sons. She has a breakdown, and a short-lived relationship (met with condemnation from some of her friends), but knows the process of dealing with her grief is barely beginning. A ruthlessly honest dissection of a widow's pain, this book is also a love story - an uncomfortably raw, utterly compelling memoir which ends without resolution; its author still fighting to come to terms with the hand life has dealt her.

This collection of inspirational stories will undoubtedly touch many hearts. Written by authors who have lost loved ones, these stories offer comfort, peace and understanding to those going through the grieving process.

Dr Karen Wyatt has spent most of her career as a hospice medical doctor, homeless shelter physician and caregiver. In this inspirational book she shares the 7 lessons she has learned from the dying and gives a daily spiritual practice to help live them. "Dr. Karen Wyatt addresses a long-standing taboo in our youth-obsessed, feel-good society: death and the process of dying." Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words "This is a highly recommended book for those in the land of the living from those who are no longer with us." Ken Wilber Karen Wyatt has been privileged to share the final months, weeks, days and moments with many of her patients. This unique experience has given her a profound insight into death and dying. In this book she shares her story and the stories of her patients, providing us with 7 key lessons that the dying can teach us. Lesson 1: Suffering: Embrace Your Difficulties Lesson 2: Love: Let Your Heart Be Broken Lesson 3: Forgiveness: Hold No Resentments Lesson 4: Paradise: Dwell in the Present Moment Lesson 5: Purpose: Manifest Your Highest Potential Lesson 6: Surrender: Let Go of Expectations Lesson 7: Impermanence: Face Your Fear Each lesson is a wake up call to each and every one of us to live our lives more fully, without regret and in a more connected way. With each lesson Karen provides a clear analysis of the importance of that lesson and then goes on to share daily practices on how we can live the lessons as a spiritual practice.

We all tell ourselves stories about who we are. Many of these stories are self-critical and disempowering. Through the practice of self-compassion, we can rewrite these stories and become more authentic and powerful versions of ourselves-transforming not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us. In short and personal pieces, Marianne Ingheim tells the story of how the practice of self-compassion has changed her life in ways big and small, helping her unlearn harsh self-criticism, survive multiple tragedies, and live more authentically. In the wake of a breast cancer diagnosis and her husband's suicide, she discovers the power of self-compassionate storytelling and finds belonging within herself-and in doing so, she learns how to manage anxiety and stress, how to be authentic in relationships, and how to let go of comparison and be truly creative. Through stories and journaling prompts, Out of Love: Finding Your Way Back to Self-Compassion aims to inspire readers to unlearn the self-critical patterns holding them hostage-and begin to live a happier, more courageous life.

St Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867) is renowned as a writer on the spiritual life in general. What is less well known is that throughout most of his adult life he struggled with chronic illness and disability. Thus his own life experience disposed him to reflect on the meaning of suffering for human existence and how through it we might find "a harbor for our hope." The saint frequently returns to these themes in many of his letters, newly translated into English and excerpted, adapted and presented here in thematic subject groups. For the translator these writings provided a source of consolation and encouragement during her husband's lengthy illness and eventual death. They will equally benefit all who suffer physical or spiritual pain, however great or small, and reveal how the love of God may be experienced in its midst.