Common Threads: Nine Widows' Journeys Through Love, Loss, and Healing - Hardcover

Kaimann, Diane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895032643 ISBN 13: 9780895032645

Publisher: Routledge, 2001

Synopsis

The middle-aged women described within the chapters of "Common Threads" are ordinary yet extraordinary. They have faced one of life's greatest challenges, working day-in and day-out to design new lives for themselves. As readers witness the resilience of the human spirit, they come to a new perspective on their own experiences, recognizing the good still in their lives. "Common Threads" is a tender and warm embrace, a story of faith and love, of insight, determination, independence and strength. These women's large and small victories are metaphors for hope and continuity.

About this title

About the Author

Diane Kaimann

From the Inside Flap

"Common Threads is for women who have lost a spouse. Diane Kaimann has used both her own experience and that of other women to show that one can sustain grief to grow, change and reach new competence and identity. Loss forces growth. Reaching out to others is the bridge to these changes."
Judith N. Huizenga, MD, Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

"This magnificent book is more than a story about death. It is about the art of living and loving, written with exquisite understanding of pain and fear-and also of the reach of the human spirit when responding to life's greatest challenge. It is authentic, exciting, and hard to put down."
Rabbi Earl A. Grollman, DHL, DD, Author, Living When a Loved One Has Died

"Diane Kaimann compassionately captures the essence of grief as she takes us on the circuitous journey of nine women, who, undaunted, contend with the demands of reestablishing their identities. This inspirational volume speaks to the practical questions and inevitable challenges that demonstrate how women in mourning can triumph over tragedy. A must read book."
Lee Raffel, MSW, CLinical Member of American Association for Mariage and Family, Auhor, Should I Stay or Go? How Controlled Seperation (CS) Can Save Your Marriage

"How does a widow turn hope to cope? Common Threads by Diane Kaimann is a beautifully written and sensitive book, in which nine widows share the unraveling of their lives through the death of their husbands, to a new weaving sewn on the fabric of their God-given coping skills. As a fellow journeyer on the road of grief, a 'newly bereaved' person will derive hope that there is a reward at the end of the dark tunnel of grief, i.e. a new appreciation for faith, friends, loved ones and the ability to survive in the darkest moments of life."
Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts, M.H.L., DMin., D.D., Author and Lecturer on the subject of Death and Dying

"It was when Diane Kaimann's husband died unexpectedly while scuba-diving in Hawaii that she was compelled to deal with the devastating condition of widowhood and began the sometimes painful, sometimes surprising, and ultimately rewarding process of reshaping her life. Common Threads: Nine Widows' Journeys Through Love, Loss, And Healing is a tremendously powerful book based upon her own experiences and those of eight other women having to adapt and overcome the grief and deal with the inevitable and sometimes traumatic life changes that come from losing a beloved spouse. Personal testimonies are the highlight of this profound, sincere, insightful, and ultimately inspiring book about sadness, and hope, and learning how to remember love. A treasure of emotional wisdom and insight, Common Threads is highly recommended, invaluable reading for anyone faced with the loss of a spouse and the necessity of working through their grief and reweaving the fabric of their life."
The Women's Study Shelf, Internet Bookwatch

"This book can touch people, even those who haven't lost a spouse. It can be loss suffered in a divorce, a breakup. It's about dealing with loss, yet it's very uplifting. It's about moving on. I like to think the book is universal and timeless. It is very much in the genre of Tuesday's with Morrie. It's predicated on death, but it's about life, challenge, healing and growth ... .I hope it will help a lot of people. If it moves just one mourner to say, 'If they can make it, so can I,' or one friend to say 'Today I'll go and be with my friend who is so alone,' then the book will have succeeded."
Susan Skibba, Stritch Magazine, Summer 2002

"This book collects people, stories, anecdotes and truth that dispels the myth that all widows are 'little gray-haried ladies boarding busses to see the leaves change color in New England.' Through frank discussion we meet widows of all ages, of all stories and feelings, in ways that will help us connect in new and more effective ways."
Rev. Dr. Richard B. Gilbert, BCC, Resources Hotline, Volume 5, Number 14

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0895032643
• ISBN 13: 9780895032645
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192