Grief Science

Coping with the death of a loved one may feel like an overwhelming and never-ending journey. Your loved one is no longer with you, and you must learn to live without them. However, they will always be in your mind and heart.

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.

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.

An escaped madman is heading toward Chicago, leaving behind a trail of corpses. The victims are savagely torn apart - and partially eaten. Is the killer merely a cannibalistic psychopath - or a creature from the darkest pits of superstition?

This is a book of stories and inspiration. And it’s a little more than that. It’s a collaboration of 25 end-of-life experts, coaches, healers, therapists, and practitioners who’ve trained in modalities to assist the dying, and their caregivers. This is a powerful book with glimpses into what’s next for us. It’s a collection of brave authors who share, not only what death means to them, but how life has changed with their deeper understanding.

Death and the treatment of the dead body loom large in our collective cultural consciousness. The authors explore the materiality and meaning of the dead body and the living's relationship to it. All the biggest questions facing the planetary human community relate in one way or another to the corpse. Surprisingly, Christian communities are largely missing in the discussion of the dead, having abdicated the historic role in care for the dead to the funeral industry.

It is the Winter Solstice and Sarah Sands is sitting by her father's bedside, bracing herself for loss. What her father needs to do, she thinks, is conserve his energy - to hibernate like a hedgehog. When the hedgehog curls up in its bed of leaves, its heart rate slows, its body temperature drops and for months there it remains, hardly breathing at all. A few days earlier, Sarah and her grandson had found a poorly hedgehog in the garden and taken it to the local hedgehog sanctuary. They named her Peggy, and her fate had become a matter of pressing concern.

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the way we die. More than 1.5 million Americans a year die in hospice care - nearly 44 percent of all deaths - and a vast industry has sprung up to meet the growing demand. Once viewed as a New Age indulgence, hospice is now a $14 billion business and one of the most successful segments in health care. Changing the Way We Die, by award-winning journalists Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel, is the first book to take a broad, penetrating look at the hospice landscape.

On a Sunday in May 2008, an F5 tornado hit the town of Parkersburg, Iowa, killing eight people and destroying 250 homes and businesses within a span of 34 seconds. The next day, Parkersburg's beloved football coach, Ed Thomas, made a stunning prediction: "God willing, we will play our first home game here on this field this season."

Mati’s mother is dead; her father has withdrawn; her sister, Chichi, is acting out; and her young brother, Tana, is desperate for any sign of love and normalcy. When Chichi pulls her worst stunt yet, Mati’s father uproots the family from their home in England for an extended camping holiday in their native Zimbabwe. Along for the trip is Meticais, a talkative, fabulously attired gender-neutral spirit—or ghost? or imaginary friend?—whom only Mati can see and speak with.

The sea has always called to Sofia, even when she and her mom lived in a big city nowhere near its shore. That's how Sofia always knew she was a mermaid--that, and the fact that the sea and its creatures are much easier to understand than people. Like her mother, who is sending Sofia away instead of her barracuda of a boyfriend; that's a flying fish if Sofia's ever seen one, spending so much time reaching for the sky she can't see what's going on below the surface. When Sofia meets her abuela, she knows she's up against a sea dragon.

I made this audiobook to chronologize my personal experience of going through the lockdown in Shanghai during the covid-19 ordeal for over 60 days. In those days of confinement, I had a full taste of how brutal the authoritarian socialist system could be, and how fragile, helpless, and insignificant individuals were in front of the cold and inhumane government policies.

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.

Threnody is an archaic word which has its roots in the Greek term, which means to sing a dirge, generally at a funeral or at the loss of a cherished person. In this volume, D. Scott Smith (author of Motivational Listener) provides vision and understanding that allows for comparison between the “good old days” and the present times. The nineteenth century seems so distant and unreal, almost as if there is no connection between the people of that era and ourselves. When listening to this book, you will be surprised at how much we have in common.

This audiobook speaks to several extremely important issues essential to living a long, healthy, and productive life, and it addresses some of the myths associated with healthcare practices, cures, and treatments.

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.

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.

In an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain. This audiobook is the record of her experiences.

Losing a parent is a traumatic blow, and the grief can seem unbearable. But you are not alone, and you can get through this. In this first book dedicated to the experience of adults who have lost a parent, expert on grief Katherine Fair Donnelly shares intimate, telling interviews with surviving sons and daughters and presents practical ways in which surviving family members can take steps toward recovering from their devastating loss.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans are still struggling with a complex range of emotions. From the Ashes is a collection of extraordinary writings from religious leaders and remarkable citizens whose wisdom will help lead us on a spiritual search toward justice, hope, and healing.