They Live On: Saying Goodbye to Mom and Dad [first edition]

xx, 227 pp. Beginning with her fathers broken hip, the authors transcription of her journal became a series of 300 vignettes portraying the stages of caring for and saying goodbye to a loved one, as seen through the eyes of a daughter and her terminally ill parents. The intense grief of an adult losing a parent needs a stronger voice to be appreciated in our culture, and this book validates the pain that adult parental loss can generate and how long it can linger. Its been called a crying catalyst, enabling readers to more openly express what it feels like to lose, or to be losing, a parent or any loved one. Knowing that we are not alone and that others share our feelings of helplessness, hope, fear or anger is a step toward being able to say goodbye. And realizing that they do live on allows us to keep going after our loved ones have passed.