There is a lot of living to be done while you're dying. This book is a synopsis of end of life living and how the life of the author changed day by day during the dying time and following the death of her parents Helen and Geoffrey Byrne. It begins when the author's parents both faced death from different causes on the same day, the author was just three and a half years old. Fast forward from there to the time her parents made a will and put a funeral plan in place. The action moves on from there with many twists and surprising turns along the way. From cover to cover this book is a comprehensive record of what really happened. The chapters are excerpts are taken from the author's personal journal so the information shared is fresh. Some chapters are raw and very real. Some are funny. Some cover the very practical issues of holding a funeral and dealing with the family dynamics that come into play when people we love die or are dying. Everyone can get something from reading this book. It even has song lyrics, dreams and encounters with Jesus recorded as they occurred. It is inspirational for those struggling with their personal emotions when they face something similar or when trying to deal with funerals and the scattering of their parent's ashes in a more creative way than usual. If you read this book you may laugh till you cry so keep your tissue box handy. It is an honest recollection of how the author passed through her bereavement of her parents and found a way to move on with her life after their death. When all the issues had been dealt with the author recognised God's word and presence with us in this world would help her rebuild a new heaven and a new earth just as Jesus promised would happen.

The unexpected collection of my parent’s ashes from the crematorium opened the door to a new adventure in dealing my parents death that I personally found very liberating for my soul. It marked the beginning of a personal pilgrimage of faith I had no intention of taking, I thought I was dealing with my parents remains. As time passed I realized I had no choice but to take this path – this journey was the only way forward for me. Surprisingly for me it actually strengthened my faith in God and his ways as taught in the Christian faith and it’s hard to describe how. Once I committed myself to the task I had to take action. I plunged my hands into their ashes that first day even though for me it was like plunging my hands into my parent’s dead bodies. It was irksome and revolting to me the first time.

"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.

"Built on her ... Modern Love column, 'When a Couch is More Than a Couch' (9/23/2016), a ... memoir of living meaningfully with 'death in the room' by the 38-year-old great-great-great granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson--mother to two young boys, wife of 16 years--after her terminal cancer diagnosis"--

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.

"A blend of memoir and investigation of the choices we face when our terror of death collides with the technological imperatives of modern medicine"--

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