Note: This list of resources is a work-in-progress. Please check back from time to time as we add resources.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
* Available in the Gloria Dei Library
* BYOCK,M.D., Ira. The Four Things That Matter Most: A Book About Living (New York: Atria Books, 2004).
Dr. Brock is a hospice physician and a leader in the hospice movement. In this wonderful little book, Dr. Brock describes what he has learned from walking with thousands of people on their final journey. He tells us that at end of life we only need to say four things: “Please forgive me.” “I forgive you.” “Thank you.” and “I love you.” He has found that finding a way to say these four things is the key to a good death. They are also the key to a good life, because these are the words we need to build and maintain healthy and meaningful relationships.
* CALLANAN, Maggie and Patricia Kelley. Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying (New York: Bantam Dell, 1993).
DOUGHTY, Caitlin. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2014).
* GAWANDE, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2014).
* KRAMER, BRUCE H., with Cathy Wurzer. We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015).
*LYNN, M.D., Joanne, Joan Harrold, M.D., and Janice Lynch Schuster, M.F.A. Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness, 2nd Ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
This is one book you must have if you or a loved one is facing a serious illness or you are providing home hospice care. It contains practical information, sound advice and food for your soul. It also contains a wonderful list of carefully vetted online resources on a wide array of conditions and diseases and dealing with various end-of-life issues (for example, care options and care-giving).
* SMITH, Harold Ivan. Finding Your Way to Say Goodbye: Comfort for the Dying and Those Who Care for Them (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2002).
Finding Your Way to Say Goodbye was written for those who have received a terminal diagnosis and their loved ones. It is as though Harold Ivan Smith, a well-known death educator and grief counselor, wants to take you by the hand and guide you step-by-step as you begin this final journey, offering comfort, encouragement, the wisdom of those who have gone before you, spiritual insight, much-needed practical advice, and even humor. Smith doesn’t sugar-coat the hard stuff, but his approach is gentle and reassuring.