Many years ago, I had a young colleague named Danielle. We worked on isolating virus cultures in a laboratory, side-by-side under sterile hoods; and often our conversation meandered to stories of our respective families. Danielle had recently become engaged and was enjoying the preliminaries to her wedding, which was still some months away. Danielle had one sister, and their elderly parents were happily married, healthy and enjoying their respective retirements in the small rural town where she was born. Mostly,…..
A variety of experiences of death informed and influenced my life. They are reference points for my acceptance of death and expectation of the unexpected. As you read my short vignettes, perhaps you can reflect on your own reference points, how they have influenced your life, and your acceptance of its end. *** One day Lizzie, our female cocker spaniel, was alive; the next she was dead. How did I know? I could hear Dizzy, our male spaniel, as he…..
The following is an excerpt from our book. When Grandma died at the age of seventy-seven, I was thirteen. Grandma had breast cancer, discovered after it metastasized into her back, and the pain there was unbearable. Her stoicism kept her from complaining for a long time. In the late 1960s there was very little that could be done to slow the progression of such a significant spread of the disease. Perhaps now would be no different. I do not recall…..
In Journey’s End: Death, Dying, and the End of Life, it is our privilege to compile a great variety of content and resources. We have several goals for their use: To serve as educational tools in the training of professionals, students and volunteers To help and support families and friends as they prepare for and live through times of dying, death and bereavement To add to the cultural conversation and comfort level with the topic of death and dying Chapter…..
Our goal is to educate, provide information, share articles and resources, and to get discussions flowing. Death is a part of the life cycle. To be born, we will die one day. This is a fact. Our book encompasses so much. Besides providing resource material, references, and quotes, we have professionals and individuals who contributed chapters about their own client’s/patient’s deaths along with their own family’s and friend’s deaths. We cover the death of spouses and life partners, parents, children,…..