When My Mommy Dies, Can I Live with You?

When My Mommy Dies, Can I Live with You?
Author: Carolyn McLendon
Publisher: WestBow Press
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2012-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1449749593

Joy desperately reaches out for help because her single mom is dying. Living in an underprivileged part of town, their lives are filled with sickness, violence, fear, and danger. When My Mommy Dies, Can I Live with You? gives a glimpse of how an average empty-nester couple were compelled to help Joy. They learn the awful reality of the poverty and terror in a part of the city just a few miles from their home. God protects Joy and orchestrates events so their lives intersect. “I have known Dave and Carolyn for over thirty years. We have two girls the same ages as their two daughters. I have seen tremendous Christian growth in their lives over these years. The story in this Christ-centered book does not surprise me. It is filled with their practical faith and tender hearts as they continue to reach out to hurting people. It is informative as it exposes the dilemma of poor people whose lives have been affected by the HIV/AIDS virus and other social problems. It is challenging as it forces the reader to evaluate the quality of his/her own Christianity. It is almost a diary of their experiences and the reader will be a different person in many ways when the book is closed.” —Ben West, retired pastor and missionary to the Philippines

I'm Glad My Mom Died

I'm Glad My Mom Died
Author: Jennette McCurdy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2022-08-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1982185821

A memoir by American former actress and singer Jennette McCurdy about her career as a child actress and her difficult relationship with her abusive mother who died in 2013

Beloved Visitors

Beloved Visitors
Author: Cherie Sutherland
Publisher:
Total Pages: 262
Release: 1997
Genre: Children
ISBN: 9780733800207

Examines the evidence for life after death, and discusses how the death of a child, whether young or adult, affects parents and other family members. Includes case studies, references, bibliography and index. The author is a visiting research fellow in the School of Sociology at UNSW. Her other publications include 'Transformed by the Light' and 'Children of the Light'.

Crossing the River

Crossing the River
Author: Carol Smith
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1647000963

A powerful exploration of grief and resilience following the death of the author's son that combines memoir, reportage, and lessons in how to heal Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Helen Macdonald found solace in training a wild gos­hawk. Cheryl Strayed found strength in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. For Carol Smith, a Pulitzer Prize­ nominated journalist struggling with the sudden death of her seven-year-old son, Christopher, the way to cross the river of sorrow was through work. In Crossing the River, Smith recounts how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense chal­lenges, whether a life-altering accident, injury, or diag­nosis. These were stories of survival and transformation, of people facing devastating situations that changed them in unexpected ways. Smith deftly mixes the stories of these individuals and their families with her own account of how they helped her heal. General John Shalikashvili, once the most powerful member of the American military, taught Carol how to face fear with discipline and endurance. Seth, a young boy with a rare and incurable illness, shed light on the totality of her son's experiences, and in turn helps readers see that the value of a life is not measured in days. Crossing the River is a beautiful and profoundly moving book, an unforgettable journey through grief toward hope, and a valuable, illuminating read for anyone coping with loss.

The Five Thieves of Happiness

The Five Thieves of Happiness
Author: John B. Izzo
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2017-01-02
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1626569339

Stop Seeking Happiness; Just Get Out of Its Way! Happiness is our natural state, for each of us and for humanity as a whole, argues John Izzo. But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as thieves: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in.

The Dead Moms Club

The Dead Moms Club
Author: Kate Spencer
Publisher: Seal Press
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2017-11-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1580056881

Kate Spencer lost her mom to cancer when she was 27. In The Dead Moms Club, she walks readers through her experience of stumbling through grief and loss, and helps them to get through it, too. This isn't a weepy, sentimental story, but rather a frank, up-front look at what it means to go through gruesome grief and come out on the other side. An empathetic read, The Dead Moms Club covers how losing her mother changed nearly everything in her life: both men and women readers who have lost parents or experienced grief of this magnitude will be comforted and consoled. Spencer even concludes each chapter with a cheeky but useful tip for readers (like the "It's None of Your Business Card" to copy and hand out to nosy strangers asking about your passed loved one).

Grief Works

Grief Works
Author: Julia Samuel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2018-01-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1501181556

“An honest, practical, as well as emotional guide to working through the processing of mourning” (Vogue), Grief Works is a lifeline for all of us dealing with loss and a handbook to help others—from the “expected” death of a parent to the sudden and unexpected death of a child or spouse. Death affects us all. Yet it is still the last taboo in our society, and grief is still profoundly misunderstood. Julia Samuel, a grief psychotherapist, has spent twenty-five years working with the bereaved and understanding the full repercussions of loss. In Grief Works, Samuel shares case studies from those who have experienced great love and great loss—and survived. People need to understand that grief is a process that has to be worked through, and Samuel shows if we do the work, we can begin to heal. “As a guide for the newly grieving, Grief Works succeeds on many levels, and the author’s compassionate storytelling skills provide even broader appeal…and consistently hit an authentically inspiring note” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). “Illuminating” (The New York Times), intimate, warm, and helpful, Samuel is a caring and deeply experienced guide through the shadowy and mutable land of grief, and her book is as invaluable to those who are grieving as it is to those around them. She adroitly unpacks the psychological tangles of grief in a voice that is compassionate, grounded, real, and observant of those in mourning. Divided into case histories grouped by who has died—a partner, a parent, a sibling, a child, as well section dealing with terminal illness and suicide—Grief Works shows us how to live and learn from great loss. This important book is “essential for anyone who has ever experienced grief or wanted to comfort a bereaved friend” (Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones’s Diary).

The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye
Author: Meghan O'Rourke
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2011-04-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101486554

"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.

The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die

The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die
Author: John Izzo
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008-01-01
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1605095311

“What brought you the greatest joy? What do you wish you had learned sooner? What ultimately mattered and what didn't?” asks Dr. John Izzo. Based on a highly acclaimed public television series, this book takes the reader on a heartwarming and profound journey to find lasting happiness. Imagine for a moment that you are about to take a foreign vacation to an exotic destination. You have saved your entire life to travel there. It is a destination with almost unlimited choices of how to spend your time and you know you will not have enough time to explore every opportunity. You are fairly certain that you will never get to take a second trip to this destination; this will be your one opportunity. Now imagine that someone informs you that there are several people in your neighborhood who have been to that country, explored every corner. Some of them enjoyed the journey and have few regrets, but others wish they could take the trip again knowing what they know now. Would you not invite them over for dinner, ask them to bring their photographs, listen to their stories, and hear their advice? This is precisely the journey explored in this book. Dr. John Izzo and his colleagues interviewed over 200 people, ages 60-106, who were identified by friends and acquaintances as “the one person they knew who had found happiness and meaning.” From town barbers to Holocaust survivors, from aboriginal chiefs to CEOs, these people had over 18,000 years of life experience between them. He asked them questions like, “What brought you the greatest joy? What do you wish you had learned sooner? What ultimately mattered and what didn't?” Here Izzo shares their stories—funny, moving, and thought-provoking—and the Five Secrets he learned from listening to them. This book will make you laugh, bring you to tears, and inspire you to discover what matters long before you die.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
Author: Sonya Sones
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1442493836

Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.