Do you remember the last time you saw a certain family member or special friend alive? It might not be an experience you want to relive, but it can tell you some important things about yourself and others. Author Renwick Jones does remember. He first encountered death when his paternal grandfather passed away. It then struck someone much closer to him-his brother, who died of sickle cell anemia. As the years passed, more loved ones died, and Jones also had to fight some serious health challenges of his own. In this powerful memoir, he explores a wide range of internal battles as well as outside factors that affect everyone, including the role that hospitals play when someone becomes ill, the duties of funeral directors when death strikes, the special perspectives of chaplains, and the functions that cemeteries serve when someone dies. Though death means absence, it gives you the ability to remember a loved one in any way that gives you the most comfort. Explore what death teaches us in The Last Time I Saw You Alive.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Impossible to read with dry eyes or an unaltered mindset' Sunday Times 'Illuminating and beautiful' Cathy Rentzenbrink What if everything you thought you knew about death was wrong? How should we prepare for the facts of dying and saying our goodbyes? And what if understanding death improved your life? By turns touching and tragic, funny and wise, With the End in Mind brings together Kathryn Mannix ' s lifetime of medical experience to tell powerful stories of life and death.

A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning.

In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, gives us a fascinating new window into one of the hallmark experiences of being human. O’Connor has devoted decades to researching the effects of grief on the brain, and in this book, she makes cutting-edge neuroscience accessible through her contagious enthusiasm, and guides us through how we encode love and grief. With love, our neurons help us form attachments to others; but, with loss, our brain must come to terms with where our loved ones went, or how to imagine a future without them.

The Grieving Brain addresses:

• Why it’s so hard to understand that a loved one has died and is gone forever
• Why grief causes so many emotions—sadness, anger, blame, guilt, and yearning
• Why grieving takes so long
• The distinction between grief and prolonged grief
• Why we ruminate so much after we lose a loved one
• How we go about restoring a meaningful life while grieving

Based on O’Connor’s own trailblazing neuroimaging work, research in the field, and her real-life stories, The Grieving Brain combines storytelling, accessible science, and practical knowledge that will help us better understand what happens when we grieve and how to navigate loss with more ease and grace.

Daddy Fixes Everything provides children and their parents with tools to cope with departure and loss; so doing in language and register that are age-appropriate (5-14). The story introduces a father who is ever-busy fixing broken toys and household sundries while surrounded by his children's commotion. All is well until one child (Danielle) discovers that the pet hamster is not moving. Figuring dad, who can fix just about anything, can fix the hamster as well; Danielle arranges a rescue operation, only to find out that resurrection is not included in the father's repertoire of skills... The story then takes a different tone as the family, particularly the children, presented with the first-time experience of facing death and its emotional ramifications, must come to terms with the passing away of their pet. It is a unique story, in approach and its related rewards.

Mother, daughter, wife and friend. Maggie Pink is a lot of things to a lot of people, but have any of them noticed that she's drowning...Maggie is a mother to a stroppy teenager, a wife to a befuddled husband, and a daughter to two very different women. She has always known she's adopted, but has she ever understood what that means? Not really. Following the death of her mother, Maggie finally feels able to go in search of her birth mother Morag, and heads to the Highlands of Scotland with her disgruntled daughter Roxie in tow, leaving her crumbling marriage to worry about another day. The family reunion is bittersweet, but everything is blown wide open when Roxie unearths Morag's explosive teenage diaries. Why did Morag give Maggie away? What really happened all those years ago, and how have the echoes of the past resounded through the generations, like ripples in a puddle? And when all the secrets and promises are out in the open, will Maggie finally have an answer to the question - who do you think you are Maggie Pink? In turns funny, heart-breaking, nostalgic and utterly compelling, one thing's for sure, Maggie Pink's story will stay with you forever... Janet Hoggarth is the bestselling author of The Single Mums series. Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes, Mike Gayle and Jenny Eclair. What readers are saying about Janet Hoggarth: 'A heart-rending, heart-warming, heart-stopping and hilarious tale of a mother's love and a wounded soul rediscovering her awesome potential for life and (we are left hoping) for lasting love.' 'Sometimes heart-breaking, frequently laugh-out-loud funny and always searingly honest. The story is a rollercoaster and one that I was hooked on until the very end. More from Janet Hoggarth please!' 'Best book I've read for a long time! An honest and empowering read.' 'A real page turner! This book is written in a heartfelt and endearing way... the author manages to create a realistic story full of joy, heartbreak, tears and laughter.'

We have countless conversations throughout our life, yet the most critical one-discussing death-is the one we just aren't having. But what if talking about death wasn't the loaded, uncomfortable conversation we've come to dread? What if death wasn't a repressed topic, but one capable of bringing us closer to those we love? Michael Hebb, founder of Death Over Dinner, examines these questions and sparks a change in how we talk about death, one conversation at a time. Sharing prompts that have lead hundreds of thousands of discussions, Let's Talk About Death (Over Dinner) helps you broach everything from end-of-life care to the meaning of legacy, to how long we should grieve: What does a good death look like? If you could extend your life, how many years would you add? Twenty, fifty, one hundred, forever? If you were to design your own funeral or memorial, what would it look like? What do you want your legacy to be? Designed to help you talk about death's most difficult aspects, these thought-provoking prompts, and the powerful stories that support them, help transform the most difficult conversations into celebratory and meaningful opportunities -- ways that not only change the way we die, but the way we live.

In 1985, when a small freckle on Fanny Gutierrez's cheek grew to the size of a quarter and turned dark brown, the young mother sought medical advice. She soon learned she had malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.

In "Until the End," her husband, author Jesus L. Gutierrez, shares her battle with cancer and how the diagnosis and treatment affected Fanny, Jesus, and their two young sons. It narrates the family's very real and vivid personal experiences to show how the psychological dynamics influenced them during the nine long and uncertain years of their cancer battle. This memoir provides insight into this particular form of cancer and shows how patients can serve the scientific community by being pioneers in the search for a cure.

"Until the End" pays tribute to Fanny and demonstrates the deep love she held for her husband and her children. It communicates the life-and-death decisions she made in regard to her health in order to extend her longevity. Most of all, it describes how she never lost her willingness to fight against the disease until the end. "?By writing about this distressing experience, Jesus has remarkably transformed the death of his wife Fanny from a private, tragic event to an instrument to end his suffering and sorrow. At the same time, he has used it as a testimony to help others to fight this terrible disease called cancer.?" ?Foreword from Dr. Enrique Zuniga del Campo, Psychoanalyst