A Mother S Goodbye

"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.

How do you let go of a hand you've held your whole life? When Lisa traveled home to visit her parents in December 2011, she never expected an ordinary three-day weekend to turn into an extraordinary 14-day observance of her mother’s life – and ultimately – death. From a child’s first breath to a mother’s last, 14 Days shows how closing that circle can be a celebration of this unbreakable bond.

Watching her child die is the hardest thing a mother can ever do. But for Kay Gilderdale, saying a final goodbye to her only daughter Lynn was exceptionally painful: she'd played a part in her death. Lynn was just 14 when she was struck down by the crippling disease ME, leaving her paralysed and in constant agony. Over the next 17 years, she became desperate to escape her miserable existence, even begging her mum to help her die. So, one night, when Kay found Lynn attempting suicide, she was forced to make an impossible decision. Continue watching her child suffer or help her end the pain? Eventually, fighting her every instinct, Kay helped her precious daughter take a fatal overdose. But while Lynn was finally free, her mother faced a fresh agony - a possible lifetime behind bars. The highly controversial trial that followed opened a fierce public debate on assisted suicide. Is it murder or mercy? Here, in her heartbreaking story, Kay reveals the harrowing truth behind the headlines and the desperate lengths a mother will go to for the love of a child.

Kiss Your Mother Goodbye The true story of Kathy Walkup and her family Imagine your children going to the movies with a babysitter and not coming home. Imagine losing three of your four children at the hands of a drunk driver. This is the 1979 story of the Walkup family. This is the story of how the parents of four beautiful children lost almost everything and found a way back from the brink of despair and went on to have two more children in spite of their unbelievable loss. The one surviving child made them live for each other and their future. A future that involved reversing a vasectomy while caring for their surviving injured son. Their unshakable faith prevailed. If you must drink and drive, please kiss your mother goodbye.

In Caring for Mother, Virginia Stem Owens gives a clear and realistic account of caring for an elderly loved one. Along the way, Owens notes the spiritual challenges she encountered, not the least of which included fear of her own suffering and death. This book will be a helpful companion to those who have recently assumed the role of caregiver, helping them anticipate some of the emotional turbulence they will encounter along the way.

Now in trade paperback for the first time from Anchor Canada, Joy Fielding's first thriller! Those goodbye kisses Donna received from her children when ex-husband Victor picked them up for their day's outing with him were for all time . . . forever. Only Donna did not know that, and the memory of her children's kisses on the day they disappeared come back to haunt her, for Victor did not return. Instead, this handsome, twisted man, who had destroyed their marriage and almost destroyed Donna's sanity, vanished with her little boy and girl. And Donna was left with a lover whose love was no longer enough, a new life that had suddenly turned agonizingly empty, and a terror-filled quest to find her children that would take her across the country and beyond the law . . .

Surviving the suicide of a loved one is brutal. Readers can share the journey of faith and a new perspective on God's comfort and healing as they travel from grief to joy.