Tell Them You Are Human By: Vestine Furniss The book starts with the journey of one woman trying to figure out her identity during the Burundian Civil War. At that time, being fatherless meant also being friendless unless she could tell her mother's tribe if she was Hutu or Tutsi. Her mother’s answer was and always has been “Tell them you are a human”. But in that time, being human meant nothing and she had to learn how to survive. At a young age, Vestine learned to hide her pain and smile while her heart was in pieces. She became a people-pleaser and became Christian looking for inner peace. Her walk with the Lord made her understand that her past pain was only a path to her destiny which is to care for wounded hearts. In Tell Them You Are Human, Vestine shares her inspiring life story to encourage readers to embrace their imperfect human nature, be happy with their lives, and know that they are perfect and priceless. She wants her experiences to inspire young women who may feel that life is senseless so that they embrace their pain, knowing that pain is a vehicle to our destiny. Vestine’s deepest desire is that readers keep their faith in God, knowing that no matter how messy their lives look, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Mae Collins graduated from a segregated high school at the age of sixteen. She was very intelligent and a visionary. Ms. Collins met a struggling entertainer; his name was James Brown. Ms. Collins was working at the Plaza Hotel in San Francisco, California. She worked at the main desk. She talked to James about his future and his goals; she even loaned him money. Ms. Collins had a vision that James would be superstar. She would give him a suite every time when he could only afford a room. She told him, aEURoeOne day you will stay in suites,aEUR and he did. This book takes you along their journeyaEUR"together to the end.

Hope Lord was taken from her family as a teenager and had to be placed in foster care. She faced a cruel treatment and a lonely existence but worked diligently through pain and grief towards achieving her dreams. Despite many heartbreaking setbacks, Hope always managed to find her way back to the right track. Powered by the consistent support of her mentor and fueled by her inner strength, she overcame all the drawbacks and disappointments of her rocky destiny. Her success will lead her back to her tormenting past where her life comes full circle and she finally heals and starts to love again.

The National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author delivers a collection of essays that serve as the perfect “antidote to mansplaining” (The Stranger). In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!” This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women. “In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized.” —The New York Times “Essential feminist reading.” —The New Republic “This slim book hums with power and wit.” —Boston Globe “Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Essential.” —Marketplace “Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions.” —Salon

About Tell Them So Just before Hannah Miller died, she expressed to her daughter Darcy that she regretted not having done more to help the needy and hurting people of the world. Darcy was to discover in the weeks and months to come that her mother had made a far greater impact on the world than either of them realized. What she didn’t know was just how much that impact was yet to be felt. Anyone who reads this moving and heart-warming story will come away with a greater appreciation for those who have blessed their lives.

This book was written from the heart and from the mind. It is a filtered, clean take on the life of one family minus descript or graphic material. The text conveys that both problems and options for healing converge upon the all-important family unit and that as long as we have options, we have hoped to heal. It is intended for parents as a resource on the journey to healed family communications. Techniques and resources are included in the book that provide scaffolding for families in turmoil and transition and that also allow for creative and personal applications. It is a guide that speaks to parents, families, children (especially adolescents), ministers, counselors and friends of families. There truly is something for everyone and includes touches of humor as well as humanitarianism. It is written with love, it is laced with laughter and it is offered in life-support.

Have you ever asked yourself how you would want to die? Would you prefer to go in a blaze of glory, saving thousands of people in the process, having your name go down in history, but without an opportunity to tell your loved ones goodbye? Or would you prefer to have a long protracted death where you have every opportunity to tell folks how you feel? My preference is the first scenario. I have always wanted to go up in flames with half of the world thinking, Man, that S.O.B. was something else. He saved all of those people with little regard for the consequences of his actions. That guy is really a hero. I would choose the quick path. My family knows how I feel about them and they know I love them. They dont need goodbyes. Besides, lying around in pain and losing control of my bodily functions for months prior to my death is not my idea of a good way to go. Unfortunately, we dont always have a choice in these matters of life and death. My life changed dramatically three years ago when I went to the doctor for a routine visit and received a diagnosis that I never thought I would hear. I had a terminal illness and I was going to die from it. No treatments. No cure. Just death. Along with this little bit of good news also came the realization that this was not something that was going to happen overnight. Estimates of the day of reckoning ranged anywhere from eighteen months to five years, give or take a day or two. My disease also becomes more debilitating as it goes along. I will lose control of my bodily functions and I will embarrass myself and my family. But I do have a chance to tell them goodbye. And I have a chance to sit down and write a book that chronicles the trials and tribulations of my successful completion of the first fifteen months of life after my diagnosis. This little terminal lung problem was the impetus behind Never Tell Them Youre Dying, a book written by Barry and Kerry Morgan. A book that examines many of the problems one faces with a terminal illness. A book that was written as a legacy for our children. And hopefully a book that might help you if you are ever faced with a problem like mine. Here is a bit of history about me that might clear a few things up in advance. I have always had a sick sense of humor and I am a bit of a cynic, actually a royal smart ass. I also have been in sales a long, long time, which has honed my observation skills to another level. This cryptic visual acuity allowed me to look at life with a terminal illness from a whole different angle. The first part of the book examines life and the reality of terminal illness. We terminally ill types go through several emotional stages when we are diagnosed. Our loved ones go through various emotional stages as well. Our friends go through emotional stages and people we dont like or even know also go through emotional stages. It seems the whole world goes through these emotional stages when they find out about the terminal illness. Unfortunately, we are all in different stages at different times and that really can make life difficult on everyone. Since we all react differently, there is no set of ground rules that apply. Thats the beauty of this book. You will get to see what I went through. You will get to see what my wife, Kerry, went through. You will get to see what my children went through. You get to see what my parents, my brothers, my best friend, my coworkers, well, you get the point. No stone is left unturned and the raw, stark reality of the situation is laid bare on the pages of this book for you to see, and experience. Not only do we look at the various emotional stages all of us experience at a time like this, we also look at the insanity called the medical system that we blindly place our faith in. Ill show you what I had to deal with when it came to my wonderful insurance company. You will get to see just how the benefits (or lack of benefits) at your job apply in situations like this. Ill tell you all about FMLA, COBRA, STD, LTD, 401K, and SSDI and Ill do it in a manner that you can understand. You wont get any HR speak here, just facts on how all of this stuff works and doesnt work. Ill give you tips on trips. Ill even give you advice on the best places in the United States to retire and how to choose them. You will be enlightened on the benefits of having a dog. I will tell you why soft serve ice cream is good for the soul. You may even learn the secret to a long and happy marriage. I promise you a love story as well. You will see this for what it really is. This is a story about one mans love for his wife, his daughters, his family and friends, and his life. You will see how much I love everything about this crazy life we lead. It is all good and that is the message Kerry and I are trying to get across. Life truly is amazing. Dont focus on the dying. Just keep on living moment by moment, because in the end, that is all any of us will ever have just that moment. You will thank me someday. You probably dont want to hear this, but you too are going to die. As a matter of fact, there are approximately 3.4 billion people on the face of this planet and each and every one of them was terminal at birth. The only difference between them and me I have a little better idea of when I am going to end my journey. While none of us has a choice in how all of this pans out, I do know one thing. Very few of us are ever going to end up going out in a blaze of glory. Most of us are going to go the way of the dinosaur slowly and without much fanfare. That isnt a bad thing. The world only has room for a few heroes. And that brings us back to the title of the book. Since all of us were terminal at birth, a definitive diagnosis shouldnt make any difference. It isnt how you die that is important. It is how you live your life that counts.