Final Gifts : Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying

Rating:
Summary: Final Gifts
Review: I have used this book repeatedly both as a reference for myself and to give to other families. Everyone who reads it finds it so helpful to understand the process of dying. They are able to better help loved ones and to make appropriate responses. Thank you for a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Thank You!
Review: My dad is dying and this book has helped me so much. I give it my highest recommendation for anyone currently experiencing the death of a loved one or if you're dying yourself. I have read about exactly what I'm feeling and experiencing. Things that have been so painful and confusing to me, I now understand. What a blessing to have found this book.

Rating:
Summary: a great comfort
Review: My father died this week of COPD from smoking cigarettes. I had bought this book about 2 months before his death, because he wanted to die at home, and was in the hospice program. My family was helped so much by this book, especially my mother. It helped her to come to terms with what was happening. Before she read this, she kept talking about his recovery. Afterwards, she learned to listen to my father. This book helped her to grow. Although it is hard to process everything that has happened this week, I have no regrets about leaving things undone. We listened to my father's requests, and did everything we could to meet his needs. This book taught us to listen to him, and we were able to let him go when it was his time to die.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Timing
Review: I was summoned to fly home to be with my mother after tests disclosed tumors in her lung and brain. Before going to the airport, I stopped at the library and checked out FINAL GIFTS. I am so thankful that I had a long flight and was able to finish the book before arriving in my hometown. The book had a definite impact on my actions and reactions. I was able to listen and participate in discussions with her that I would not have considered before reading the book. I truly believe it was no accident that I grabbed this book before beginning what was to become a short, 3-week vigil. This book educated me in a way that enabled my mother and I to release each other with love, acceptance and understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Caring for elderly
Review: This is an excellent book for families dealing with all of the emotions and loss involved with caring for elderly family members. If found the book very helpful in understanding how my family is behaving as well as my elderly grandparents.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: My siblings and I lost a brother to cancer in January of 1999. Each of us read this book and it gave us a better understanding of what our brother was going through in the last month or two of his illness. This book doesn't present dying in a morbid sense at all. It gave my siblings and I a sense of comfort and a greater sense of understanding when certain things happened in the course of our brother's illness. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is going through a terminal illness with a loved one.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding the needs of the dying and their family
Review: A friend of mine loaned me this book the winter before my father died, which was June 15, 2000. This book was a huge comfort to me and helped me to listen to my Dad in new ways. I was unable to convince other family members to read it as they thought it was a morbid thing to do. While it is not cheerful, it puts death and the needs of the dying into a different perspective, shedding light and peace on what is a difficult subject. I recommend everyone read this book before they have to deal with the death of a family member or a close friend. It will bless you in ways you never thought possible.

Rating:
Summary: My mother, a hospice nurse, recommended this to me...
Review: ...when a friend of mine died last spring. Written by hospice workers, this is a gentle book about the way the dying communicate. Callanan & Kelley explain that the dying may be aware of things we do not see, that they have special needs, and that they have ways of communicating that we may not understand. They explain how to listen and respond, how to help provide what a loved one may need in order to die in peace. They use brief stories to illustrate each point. I lent this to a friend whose father-in-law was dying; she passed along information she learned to one of her friends. I have ordered another copy; this is so profound I want to keep one for study and taking notes. The other(s) I will lend out as needed.

Rating:
Summary: Callanan and Kelley's Bouquet of Wisdom
Review: In the Western world, some might argue that the sublime beauty of both birth and death have been sanitized and institutionalized. Using engaging case studies and their own personal commentary, Callanan and Kelley, two hospice nurses who have worked with the dying for decades, maintain that those in the twilight of their physical lives have much to teach those witnessing their journey. Many of the lessons of the dying, though subtle and easily missed or misunderstood by those near-at-hand, could help ease those individuals' fear of death and improve their present quality of life!

Rating:
Summary: Help to everyone
Review: This book has great insight from the view of two hospice workers dealing with death and dying. It gives both the view of the dying and from the family views. From the one who is dying, it tells how they feel and what concerns them the most. It also gives the view of the caregivers and family and how they feel and what to do to help. I have sent this book to many friends and associates that need help when a loved one is dying. It has eased the pain of losing a loved one and makes the end of life more illuminate.