Mommy's Reflections is the true account of one mother's journey following the death of her child. The journey begins on September 18, 2009. It has been almost two months since the passing of nine year old Zumante, and the reader is immediately drawn into the soul searching of his brokenhearted mother. She examines her emotions, details her despair, and struggles with her very survival. In the midst of the grief, though, there is something even greater. There are several recurring themes in these reflections. The love that this mother has for her son is apparent on every page. Apparent also, is the overwhelming pain caused by his death. Although this story is one that chronicles the devastation of losing a child, it is also a testament of faith and courage. This is a powerful narrative that will move many to tears. It is also a complex collection of journal entries that will encourage reflections and evoke conversations. No one will read it and remain untouched. Mommy's Reflections is an honest read. Lucero-Mills endures a parent's worst nightmare and allows the reader the unique opportunity to gain insight and understanding. From the first hurtful holiday season through the first anniversary of Zumante's death, this story speaks of tears and toil, healing and hope. This is a grieving mother's memoir. It is a book that gives voice to the violation of a soul. It is a book not only for mothers, but a book for anyone who has ever loved or lost, or wondered about either. It is a book not only about grief, but about life and death, and relationships and perspectives. Mommy's Reflections is not about getting over it. It is about getting through it. This book shines a spotlight on that process. In the end, it's not about giving in to grief. It's about facing loss and finding the mustard seed.

What is death, and how do people in the medical profession determine it? In this fascinating examination of the increasingly blurred line between life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness, science journalist Dick Teresi introduces us to the coma specialists, organ transplant surgeons, ICU doctors, and many others who are faced with this issue daily. "The Undead "describes how death has been determined through the ages, beginning with the ancient Egyptians and leading to the 1968 Harvard Medical School paper that indirectly stated that death was not cardiopulmonary failure, but a "loss of personhood"--i.e., brain death. Teresi explores the consequences of new technologies that extend people's lives but which conflict with society's desire to see them declared dead before their time.

Dying is a serious and complicated business. Circumstances surrounding the sudden death of the author's husband inspired her to recruit professionals and create a 258-page workbook to use as a guided tour for end-of-life planning and transitioning after the loss of a loved one. It is an all-in-one-place to map out wishes and list legal and financial affairs. The comprehensive step-by-step checklists and fill-in-the-blanks worksheets that are in an easy-to-use format, will help guide you through making decisions, expressing your wishes, encourage conversation, eliminate confusion, ease the transition, and help protect your survivors from injustices and victimization that often occurs upon the death of a loved one. Charlotte invites you to hold her hand as she navigates you through this process.

The number of deaths due to substance abuse and addiction is difficult to calculate - the actual causes are varied, often hushed - and numbers are skewed though rising starkly. More immeasurable is the impact of these deaths on a community. Parents, friends, partners in business and life, coworkers, sons and daughters, and acquaintances of these casualties live with the grief. Their despair in turn affects everyone they contact. No community member is left unaffected by abuse of both legal and illicit drugs. The personal stories in Untimely relate experiences of people who have lost a loved one from substance abuse. These stories extend the legacies of the deceased and help survivors to deepen compassion for the afflicted and their untimely deaths. The wisdom that surfaces in these testimonials adds to the global discussion of substance abuse.

In the aftermath of September 11, Those Houses on the Ridge is an intelligently spun tale written in the name of the children who die as suicide bombers. When Margaret, an anthropologist from London, embarks on an excursion to study the inhabitants of a remote area in Pakistan, little does she know about the involvement she will have in the lives of an innocent family in Those Houses on the Ridge. What follows is a tale of suicide bombers and human trafficking that can even seep into that hidden part of the world. The story follows the trails of Jaffer, an innocent boy lured into religious fanaticism, and his journey to break away from it as he enters adulthood. He treads many shores and wanders hopelessly to pick up the missing pieces of his childhood (including his missing father), and to break free from those suicide bombers who would not let him walk away alive. But does his livelihood and freedom mean letting go of his only blood relative, his mother? Or will he choose to return to his only true love, Zubaida, who might not even be there! This explosive novel has it all to tell! Javaid Syed is a widely traveled academic who has delivered lectures at universities in the United States, Canada, Britain and the Far East. Educated at the University of Chicago, he has been a meritorious professor of sociology and the vice chancellor of a federal university in Pakistan. As an author of several research publications and textbooks, he is also recognized as a poet and a novelist. Publisher's website: http://sbpra.com/JavaidSyed

Enso House is a home for end-of-life care on Whidbey Island, in the Pacific Northwest. This book relates the journey of a group of people striving to create a community rooted in spiritual practice and focused on caring for people who are dying. In this setting, patients and caregivers are able to confront the realities of sickness, aging, and death. This is a story about spiritual openness-how seemingly miraculous outcomes spring from letting go of control and knowing. It is a story of community-neighbors who discover that in volunteering their talents, they receive even greater gifts than they give. It is the story of the life-giving power of death.

Somewhere In Between: The Hokey Pokey, Chocolate Cake and The Shared Death Experience contains lighthearted true life stories from the author's firsthand experience at the bedsides of family and friends who were dying. The primary story, "Aunt Jerry and Our Shared Death Experience" contains the most extensively documented Shared Death Experience to date, and details what it was like for Lizzy to receive psychic messages from spirits and her aunt, feel her aunt's physical pain and see parts of her aunt's life review. Throughout the story, Lizzy explores what it was like to have psychic abilities for the first time and the conflicts that arose when her family did not believe her.

Going well beyond the general case of grief, author Dan Newman examines the unique loss experienced by the incarcerated, their families, and the countless professionals involved with prisoners. The author's candid inside view exposes the countdown experience on death row. This first-hand account reveals delays, family counselling, the last meal and final visit. The journey continues from the death house to the execution chamber, where death becomes increasingly real as the execution hour nears. From the viewing room, Newman witnesses the lethal injection and the final breath: an intimate portrait of death, and grief behind bars.

The Segelberg Lecture Series explores the intersection of religious faith and public policy. This book contains the lectures of the Trust's fi rst series, which were focused on The Ends of Life. Dalhousie University's School of Public Administration managed the series through a lecture committee under the able leadership of the former Dean of Dalhousie Law School, Professor Innis Christie, Q.C.

"Not only a fascinating travelogue but also a personal meditation on loss and fate...There is a wealth to discover within these pages."--The EconomistJournalist Sarah Murray never gave much thought to what might ultimately happen to her remains--until her father died. Puzzled by the choices he made about the disposal of his "organic matter," she embarks on a series of journeys to discover how death is commemorated in different cultures. Her travels lead her to discover everything from a Czech chandelier of human bones and a weeping ceremony in Iran to a Philippine village where the casketed dead hang in caves.Fascinating, poignant, and often funny, "Making an Exit" is Murray's exploration of the ways in which we seek to dignify the dead--and a deeply personal quest for a final send-off of her own.

From a psychiatrist specialized in helping patients who struggle with depression and drug and alcohol abuse, comes the tremendous and heartbreaking memoir of a doctor who must reexamine the meaning of these same psychological diseases when they strike her own daughter. Now, rather than helping her patients learns the tools of coping and survival, Elsa must look inward and discover this kind of strength and courage within herself. As this brave author fights to employ all of her expertise, motherly love, and endless empathy, she is still left with facing the hardest questions a parent can ask. What do I say to reach my daughter? How do I help her? Can I help her?

"Through the Unknowable" is an intimate and fiercely honest look inside a family falling apart and a mother who never stops trying to pick up the pieces. This book is a must-read for anyone who knows how it feels to wander through the unknowable.

1933. The object of these notes is to show the origin and development of the practice of the separation of the body at death into two or more parts, and to suggest the circumstances which lead to the special treatment of the heart, for which, hitherto, reasons apparently not quite adequate have been advanced.

Bruno Bitterli-F rst was amazed when Elisabeth K bler-Ross first contacted him from the spiritual world. Initially, he disbelieved her authenticity. However, over the course of communicating with her, it became unequivocally clear that this being from the spiritual world was a profound expert on death and dying. A few days prior to this unexpected encounter, Bruno had already decided to embark on another book project. So Elisabeth and Bruno determined to write a book together across the threshold of this world and the world beyond. Soon thereafter, a profound document emerged that shared deep insights about death, Elisabeth's personal experiences in the nonmaterial world, and the collaborative creative process that is possible between the spiritual world and Earth. Their collaborative process culminated in this book with words that both touch deeply and put death in its rightful place - central to life Bruno Bitterli-F rst initially worked as a woodcraft teacher. At 32, he embarked on an intensive course of study involving collaboration with the spiritual world. He has since been working as a psychic counselor and course leader supporting people to connect to their own inner guidance.

The five stages of grief are so deeply imbedded in our culture that no American can escape them. Every time we experience loss--a personal or national one--we hear them recited: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The stages are invoked to explain everything from how we will recover from the death of a loved one to a sudden environmental catastrophe or to the trading away of a basketball star. But the stunning fact is that there is no validity to the stages that were proposed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross more than forty years ago.
In "The Truth About Grief, "Ruth Davis Konigsberg shows how the five stages were based on no science but nonetheless became national myth. She explains that current research paints a completely different picture of how we actually grieve. It turns out people are pretty well programmed to get over loss. Grieving should not be a strictly regimented process, she argues; nor is the best remedy for pain always to examine it or express it at great length. The strength of Konigsberg's message is its liberating force: there is no manual to grieving; you can do it freestyle.
In the course of clarifying our picture of grief, Konigsberg tells its history, revealing how social and cultural forces have shaped our approach to loss from the Gettysburg Address through 9/11. She examines how the American version of grief has spread to the rest of the world and contrasts it with the interpretations of other cultures--like the Chinese, who focus more on their bond with the deceased than on the emotional impact of bereavement. Konigsberg also offers a close look at Kubler-Ross herself: who she borrowed from to come up with her theory, and how she went from being a pioneering psychiatrist to a New Age healer who sought the guidance of two spirits named Salem and Pedro and declared that death did not exist.
Deeply researched and provocative, "The Truth About Grief "draws on history, culture, and science to upend our country's most entrenched beliefs about its most common experience.

Conscious Acts of Grace are those words, actions, and touches that let our loved ones know we are there for them at the end of their physical life. They are born in unselfishness, forgiveness, kindness, and compassion. They are the acts of highest love that allow us to release our loved ones from their pain and suffering with ease and caring. These true stories are valuable models that encourage and inspire. Read for personal inspiration, to share and facilitate conversation with family, friends, and medical personnel, to form a discussion or sharing group for encouragement and support, and to learn how to create Celebration Circles.

A journey through 20,000 years of history and myth in search of the answer to a single question: Do animals have souls?
Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a cherished pet has wondered about the animal soul. Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer--taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul.
Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth's first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world's various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today--from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit--"The Divine Life of Animals" paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, "The Divine Life of Animals" also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess.
The "Divine Life of Animals" offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.

"From the Hardcover edition."

From earliest times, people have speculated about what happens when they and their loved ones die. Their views vary from certainty about life after death to utter disbelief. Today, many continue to believe in the survival of consciousness after physical death with some claiming actual experiences of the departed and contact with them of some kind. In an era which we think of as the enlightened era of science, education and widespread secularism, many people report contact with dead. In a survey at the end of the 20th century, 31% of people in the USA , reperted they had felt that they had been in contact with some one who had died (Greeley 1975), and in Europe the number was 25% (Haraldsson and Houtkooper 1991). Scientist, Erlendur Haraldsson, a native of Iceland, sought an answer to his question, "Have you ever been aware of the presence of a deceased person?" In the modern and educated society of Iceland, one of the Scandinavian countries; he conducted an extensive survey. During the following years, detailed personal interviews were conducted with over 450 people who responded with a yes to questions about personal experiences of the deceased while in a waking state. These accounts form the basis for this book. The results are fascinating and make compelling reading.

""It is so nice to be happy. It always gives me a good feeling to see other people happy...It is so easy to achieve." "--Kim's journal entry, May 3, 1988
On the night of April 15, 1990, Jill Bialosky's twenty-one-year-old sister Kim came home from a bar in downtown Cleveland. She argued with her boyfriend on the phone. Then she took her mother's car keys, went into the garage, closed the garage door. She climbed into the car, turned on the ignition, and fell asleep. Her body was found the next morning by the neighborhood boy her mother hired to cut the grass.
Those are the simple facts, but the act of suicide is anything but simple. For twenty years, Bialosky has lived with the grief, guilt, questions, and confusion unleashed by Kim's suicide. Now, in a remarkable work of literary nonfiction, she re-creates with unsparing honesty her sister's inner life, the events and emotions that led her to take her life on this particular night. In doing so, she opens a window on the nature of suicide itself, our own reactions and responses to it--especially the impact a suicide has on those who remain behind.
Combining Kim's diaries with family history and memoir, drawing on the works of doctors and psychologists as well as writers from Melville and Dickinson to Sylvia Plath and Wallace Stevens, Bialosky gives us a stunning exploration of human fragility and strength. She juxtaposes the story of Kim's death with the challenges of becoming a mother and her own exuberant experience of raising a son. This is a book that explores all aspects of our familial relationships--between mothers and sons, fathers and daughters--but particularly the tender and enduring bonds between sisters.
"History of a Suicide "brings a crucial and all too rarely discussed subject out of the shadows, and in doing so gives readers the courage to face their own losses, no matter what those may be. This searing and compassionate work reminds us of the preciousness of life and of the ways in which those we love are inextricably bound to us.

In "Never Say Die," Susan Jacoby delivers a brave, impassioned, and exceptionally important wake-up call to Americans who have long been deluded by the dangerous myth that a radically new old age awaits the huge baby boom generation.
Combining historical, social, and economic analysis with personal experiences of love and loss, Jacoby unmasks the fallacies promoted by twenty-first-century hucksters of longevity, and reveals the hazards of the magical thinking that prevents us from facing the genuine battles of growing old. "Never Say Die" speaks to Americans, whatever their age, who draw courage and hope from facing reality instead of embracing platitudes and delusions, and who want to grow old with dignity and purpose. It is a life-affirming and powerful message that has never been more relevant.

This volume offers a selection of articles from authors representing a wide array of disciplines, all of whom explore the following central theme: how can the presence of the dead take life in the hearts of the living? Although individuals die, they can indeed remain "present." But how? Authors in this volume explicate practical mourning strategies to help survivors cope with the tremendous sadness and emptiness experienced when we lose someone we love.

In our contemporary Western society, death has become taboo. Despite its inevitability, we focus on maintaining youthfulness and well-being, while fearing death's intrusion in our daily activities. In contrast, observes Maria Serena Mirto, the ancient Greeks embraced death more openly and effectively, developing a variety of rituals to help them grieve the dead and, in the process, alleviate anxiety and suffering. In this fascinating book, Mirto examines conceptions of death and the afterlife in the ancient Greek world, revealing few similarities--and many differences--between ancient and modern ways of approaching death.

Exploring the cultural and religious foundations underlying Greek burial rites and customs, Mirto traces the evolution of these practices during the archaic and classical periods. She explains the relationship between the living and the dead as reflected in grave markers, epitaphs, and burial offerings and discusses the social and political dimensions of burial and lamentation. She also describes shifting beliefs about life after death, showing how concepts of immortality, depicted so memorably in Homer's epics, began to change during the classical period.
"Death in the Greek World "straddles the boundary between literary and religious imagination and synthesizes observations from archaeology, visual art, philosophy, politics, and law. The author places particular emphasis on Homer's epics, the first
literary testimony of an understanding of death in ancient Greece. And because these stories are still so central to Western culture, her discussion casts new light on elements we thought we had already understood.
Originally written and published in Italian, this English-language translation of "Death in the Greek World" includes the most recent scholarship on newly discovered texts and objects, and engages the latest theoretical perspectives on the gendered roles of men and women as agents of mourning. The volume also features a new section dealing with hero cults and a new appendix outlining fundamental developments in modern studies of death in the ancient Greek world.

This book is a guide to the afterlife. It's for those that want to know the truth about death.It will teach you what to do, where to go after your physical passing, making the transition from life to death easier. It is not meant for entertainment but more as a learning tool. The author, whom has empathic and sensitive qualities since the age of five years old, has decided to share what she has learned from souls on the other-side. Her teachings came from visitations, empathic feelings from those who have passed and Evps (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) of the dead speaking with the use of professional audio recording equipment. It became apparent to the author, from years of visitations, and many numerous cries for "Help," that there needed to be a guide written to help us move on after death. Even the most innocent of souls can be lost after death from lack of knowledge as to where to go. I hope that this book will alleviate that confusion and prepare us all for that journey. This book will hopefully will teach you there is NO end to us. For more information on author and to check out her Cd of spirit voices captured, visit her website at; http: //www.spookmanor.com