Final Gifts: Understanding and Helping the Dying - Softcover

Callaghan, Maggie; Kelley, Patricia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 034057481X ISBN 13: 9780340574812

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Religious Division, 1992

Synopsis

For everyone who has been or ever will be close to someone who is dying, this book is aimed at helping them to understand not only what the experience of death is like, but also how to interpret the symbolic messages by which the dying attempt to communicate their needs to us. In many cases, the dying need to pass on some vital message before they feel able to "let go". Often, communication can break down entirely, with neither side feeling able to reach the other or to express feelings honestly. The authors draw on their many years of hospice nursing to show that by keeping an open mind and by listening carefully to dying people, friends and relations can begin to understand not only what they need to tell them, but also what the experience is like.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"When someone we love is dying...

It's hard to know how to help, what to do, what to say. Yet if we know how to listen and what to look for, the dying themselves can often supply the answers, letting us know what they need to hear and express to allay their fears and face death with serenity.

For more than a decade hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley have tended the terminally ill. Now, in this moving and compassionate book, they share their intimate experiences with patients at the edge of life. through these stories you'll come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; you'll gain new insight into the leave-taking process; and in the end you'll discover the gifts -- of wisdom, faith and love -- that the dying leave for us to share.

"Beautifully written, illuminating and reassuring... Final Gifts is truly a gift to us all." -- Judy Tatelbaum, author of The Courage To Grieve

From the Inside Flap:

Five years after its first publication, with more than 150,000 copies in print, Final Gifts has become a classic. In this moving and compassionate book, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years experience tending the terminally ill.
Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts--of wisdom, faith, and love--that the dying leave for the living to share.
Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Religious Division
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 034057481X
• ISBN 13: 9780340574812
• Binding: Paperback