Lasting Words: A Guide to Finding Meaning Toward the Close of Life

by Claire Willis, Marnie Crawford Samuelson

Overview

Faced with the ultimate challenge of life-confronting your death-how would you want to be remembered? Are there stories you want to tell? Experiences you want to relay? Explanations about how you felt and why? Maybe you wish to ensure that future generations know your family lore. Perhaps you seek meaning and purpose and don't know how to access them. It's likely that you seek comfort and strength. But at the same time a deep desire to heal unresolved issues may unsettle you. And reaching for a spiritual connection may be the path you want to find.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989983815
Publisher:	Green Writers Press
Publication date:	03/10/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	140
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Claire B. Willis is a clinical social worker, an ordained lay Buddhist chaplain and a yoga teacher. In her private practice, she has spent over two decades working with oncology patients and with end-of-life issues. A co-founder of Facing Cancer Together: A Community of Hope, Claire is also an adjunct faculty member at the Andover Newton Theological School and a former group facilitator and instructor at The Wellness Community. She earned an M.A. from Episcopal Divinity School and a MSW at BU.

Marnie Crawford Samuelson is a documentary photographer and a radio and multimedia producer. Her photographs are featured in The Wild Braid, a collaboration with poets Stanley Kunitz and Genine Lentine. She directs and photographs short films. Her website is www.bostonpicturegroup.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2014
Clinical social worker, ordained Buddhist chaplain, and yoga instructor Willis asks readers to think about how they want to be remembered, as in her work she has found that many dying individuals experience the need to answer unresolved questions and to offer a legacy to those close to us who are left behind. The author provides a framework with examples for expressing gratitude, hope, forgiveness, wisdom, and finality. The images by documentary photographer Marnie Crawford Samuelson enrich the material by offering a glimpse of the simple beauty existing all around us. VERDICT A worthwhile read for those whose loved ones are facing a serious illness or who are merely in the midst of reflecting on life.

Library Journal

Claire Willis has written a psychologically wise and spiritually evocative guide for patients coming to the end of their lives . . . she lays out a path for people to find peace, connection, and meaning in this difficult period of life. — — Susan Block, M.D., Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Dana Farber; Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care

Lasting Words is a gift to all people facing the end of life, their loved ones and those that care for them. Whether dying, or accompanying those who are dying, this book is a simple, practical guide to a very profound journey. I strongly recommend this for patients, families, and professional caregivers. — — Christina Puchalski, M.D. M.S., Director and professor, George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health; Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences at George Washington University; Author of Time for Listening and Caring and Making Healthcare W

What a treasure this simple and profound book is to those nearing the end of their life as well as to pastors, rabbis, chaplains and others who accompany them in the process! — — Brita Gil Austern, Philip Guiles Professor of Psychology and Pastoral Theology, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton, MA

Lasting Words offers us a delicately crafted guide, providing strong, secure scaffolding for the journey of living while dying, dying while living. — — Reverend Julia Dunbar, M.Div, Director of Pastoral Care and Education, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

From the Publisher