Grief Science

There are plenty of self-help books for mourners, but nothing in the way of a modern, approachable and above all useful field guide for the living. And all of us - young, old, sick and well - could use the help. After all, pregnant couples have ample resources available to them as they prepare to bring a new life into the world: Lamaze courses, elaborate birth plans, tons of manuals. Why don't we have a What to Expect When You're Expecting to Die book?

Left all alone after her mother passes away, 12-year-old Louisa LaRoche watches the sky for her father. Long ago, a powerful gust of wind swept through town, stealing him away on the wings of his untamed magic - the same magic that stirs within Louisa. As if she is made of hollow bones and too much air, her feet never quite touch the ground. But for all her sky gazing, Louisa finds her fortune on the leaf-strewn street when she spots a gleaming black-and-gold invitation - a ticket to the Carnival Beneath the Stars.

Award-winning journalist J. Malcolm Garcia's essays highlight the struggle, survival, and endurance of average people affected by the injustices of America's remorseless mammoth institutions and public indifference. They include families and small businesses still recovering from the BP oil spill; the man sentenced to life in prison for transporting drugs to save his son's life; the widows of soldiers who died, not in war, but from toxic fumes at their bases; and the Iraqi interpreter who was promised American asylum, only to arrive and be forced to live in poverty.

Evelyn Amdur, a hospice social worker, began to write these stories midway through her career, collaborating with her daughter, Shelley. Many traditional cultures have a custom of "death songs", which rest on the idea that at one's last moment, one somehow sums up the essence of one's life in a phrase or a song. Woven into these stories are instructions on how to die well, not only in what spirit we face death itself, but also through instructions on what is necessary to prepare our families, to ready our estates, and to manage all the players who may be involved in our deaths.

Since her sister’s tragic death, 17-year-old Callie Ryan has basically given up. Her grades have plummeted, she’s quit her swim team, and she barely recognizes the people her parents once were. When she returns to her aunt’s run-down coastal Victorian one year after Chloe’s death, Callie resigns herself to a summer of guilt and home renovations. She doesn’t expect to be charmed by the tiny coastal town or by Tucker Morgan, a local boy brimming with sunshine. But Callie’s nights are crowded with chilling dreams, unanswered questions, and eerie phenomena....

The remarkable story of how a mother moved from rage to hope after learning her youngest child was dying and harnessed her grief to transform the lives of others. Harnessing Grief will hearten listeners through Maria Kefalas' journey of understanding how to find hope and purpose amongst the most tragic of circumstances.

After her brother died unexpectedly and her mother moved into a dementia-care facility, spiritual travel writer and Episcopal deacon Lori Erickson felt called to a new quest: to face death head-on, with the eye of a tourist and the heart of a pastor. Blending memoir, spirituality, and travel, Near the Exit examines how cultures confront and have confronted death by investigating Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Mayan temples, Colorado cremation pyres, Day of the Dead celebrations, Maori settlements, and tourist-destination graveyards.

Zoë Colville spent years in a fancy hair salon with a long list of clients, living on cigarettes, croissants, and a shoestring. It was everything she'd ever wanted. But when an unexpected and overwhelming loss caused her life to shift unexpectedly, she found herself on a different path. One where the only use for a hairdryer is warming new-born lambs; where the cycle of life on a farm gives new meaning on purpose, and where nature is both a strict teacher and a balm to soothe the pressures of everyday life.

The place is Richmond, a suburb south-west of London. And something terrible—or wonderful—has happened. An English scientist, known only as the Time Traveler, has invented a machine.... Funny, clever, and heart-breaking, The Timeless Machine reshapes H. G. Wells’ original novella into an exploration of madness and grief.

By beginning a conversation that encourages self-examination and compassion, Combined Destinies invites listeners to look at how white Americans have been hurt by the very ideology that their ancestors created. Editors Ann Todd Jealous and Caroline T. Haskell, both experienced psychotherapists skilled at facilitating dialogue about racial issues, are cognizant of the challenges that even the thought of such conversations often presents. Their book is based on the premise that for positive and lasting change to occur, hearts as well as minds must be opened.

A wife struggles to make sense of her husband’s sudden disappearance. A mother mourns her teenage son through the music collection he left behind. A woman shepherds her estranged parents through her brother’s wedding and reflects on the year her family collapsed. A young man comes to grips with the joy—and vulnerability—of fatherhood. And, in the masterly opening novella, two teenagers from very different families forge a sustaining friendship, only to discover the disruptive and unsettling power of sex.

It's time to invite death out of the closet! The impending or actual death of someone close to you can be devastating. It doesn't matter if you knew it was coming, or if it was a total shock-you'll never be the same. There is no right way to grieve, and no appropriate time frame. It's different for everyone. Author and therapist gone rogue, Becky Aud-Jennison, the creator of The Death Dialogues Project and podcast, has sewn together threads from people's shared personal stories and her own experiences.

Have you ever felt as if you couldn't go on? That you were nearly lost under the weight of your own burdens? Were you told - or did you decide - that the only way out was to soldier on, to blindly grind out the days until you felt like you could breathe again, if not as well as before? What if there was another way?That's the option that Jerry is presented with by his best friend, Robert, along with an incredible tale of the man who came to Robert in his own time of need; the man who calls himself Mister Grief; the man who has a tale of his own to tell.

Mourning: The Day After Loss offers practical advice and insight into the process of coping with grief and bereavement based on extensive experience and research. It leads the listener on a journey through the various stages of bereavement - from the death notification to the formal days of mourning, the burial, and the weeks and months following.

Muitas pessoas que sofreram uma grande perda se sentem julgadas, ignoradas ou incompreendidas por uma cultura que tenta “resolver” o luto e “curar” uma dor que não pode ser remediada. Em Tudo bem não estar tudo bem, Megan nos convida a construir a melhor vida possível - uma vida que comporte a dor e a saudade, que não tente negar o vazio deixado pela perda. A partir dessa nova perspectiva, você vai aprender a dar pequenos passos para reconstruir seu mundo, respeitando seu tempo, ignorando conselhos ineficazes e honrando o amor daquele que se foi.

The first book in the brand-new series from New York Times best-selling author Julie Kagawa. Enter a beautiful and perilous land of shape-shifters and samurai, kami and legends, humans and demons...a world in which Japanese mythology and imagination blend together. When destiny calls, legends rise. Every millennium the missing pieces of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers are hunted, for they hold the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one wish.

In late 2016, prompted by the news that his wife was battling cancer and his own pulmonary medical scare, Erick Erickson posted a piece to his website, The Resurgent. Styled as a letter to his young children, the piece, titled "If I Should Die Before You Wake", was a stirring message - and challenge - about how to live a life of purpose and joy. Now, in a time when our country needs healing and a reminder of our values more than ever, Erickson has expanded the project, composing a total of 10 letters, featuring a wonderful mix of the practical, inspirational, and spiritual.

Worried about your ability to cope after the death of a beloved friend, family member, or partner? Author and longtime Buddhist Margaret Meloni, PhD, has walked this path. With elder parents and a husband with cancer, Meloni knew death was coming. She worked to be as prepared as possible. When the inevitable occurred, she tapped into her practice and strength to keep moving forward. “I’m not the one who died” is the mantra she used to face her overwhelming grief and rebuild her life. She openly shares her wisdom with you as an advocate for death awareness.

Was passiert mit deinem Körper, wenn du stirbst? Was fühlst du - Trauer, Schmerz? Und dann, wenn dein Herzschlag verstummt ist? Was geschieht mit deinem Leichnam, bis du bestattet wirst? Wie wird man um dich trauern? Sterben, Tod und Trauer sind unumgänglich, für jeden von uns. Und doch wissen wir kaum etwas darüber. Wer diese Frage stellt, nähert sich einem Tabu - aber auch einer Wissenslücke. Minutiös und eindringlich beschreibt Roland Schulz, was wir während unserer letzten Tage und Stunden erleben.

This book will help anyone who is interested in learning more about death, coping with a loss, approaching death, or explaining death to a child. It is an exploratory journey that includes multiple viewpoints, including Steve Jobs' embrace of his death, Ray Kurzweil's striving for immortality, and Joseph Campbell's view of death as the "ornament of life". The book looks at death from the perspectives of atheists, Christians, and Tibetan Buddhists, among many others.