"For all those seeking to reclaim their innate and legal right to care for their own dead, create home funeral vigils, and choose greener after-death care options that are less toxic and more sustainable for the earth More natural after-death care options are transforming the paradigm of the existing funeral industry, helping families and communities recover their instinctive capacity to care for a loved one after death and do so in creative, nourishing,...

"Joy is a word rarely associated with death. Yet joy is ultimately the effect in this collection of stories about Janet Wehr's experiences in witnessing the death of her patients during her fifteen years as a hospice nurse. Her first-hand account gives illuminating and comforting insight into the spiritual aspect of what occurs in the transition between life and death, highlighting the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection as it manifests...

In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, dö meaning "death" and städning meaning "cleaning." Margareta instructs readers to embrace minimalism, and suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you'd ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children's art projects). Digging into her late husband's tool shed, and her own secret...

Twelve-year-old Parker Pitts hates a mess. Ever since his grandmother died, he's much more comfortable when things are organized: He scrubs the kitchen counters at home, avoids the school bully at all costs, and never even speaks to Gabriella Cortez, the most interesting girl in the sixth grade. But now Parker's older sister is traveling abroad for the semester, leaving behind her obnoxious and extremely disorderly goldendoodle, Boof, for Parker to...

In an alternate Tang Dynasty China, aspiring royal alchemist Zilan, who has the ability to resurrect the dead, arrives in the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country and becomes drawn into the dangerous political games of the royal family. Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. Instead she lives in an impoverished...

The Altar of the Dead Henry James - The Altar of the Dead is a short story by Henry James, first published in his collection Terminations in 1895. A fable of literally life and death significance, the story explores how the protagonist tries to keep the remembrance of his dead friends, to save them from being forgotten entirely in the rush of everyday events. He meets a woman who shares his ideals, only to find that the past places what seems to be...

Find fullness of joy during the holidays-especially for the brokenhearted. Divorce. Financial stress. Chronic illness. Losing a loved one. Experiencing any of these situations during the year is already difficult. But the holiday season, once joyful and happy, can heighten this pain even more. Author Bo Stern has spent the past two Christmases struggling to connect with the joy of the season. As she has watched her husband, Steve, struggle with terminal...

"Informed by the author's pioneering work with veterans and cancer patients, and her years of teaching writing and researching its healing properties, The Story You Need to Tell is a practical and inspiring guide to transformational personal storytelling. Riveting true stories illustrate Marinella's methods for understanding, telling, and editing our own stories in ways that foster resilience and renewal. Marinella also shares her own experience of...

A grieving teen faces dangerous classmates, reckless friends, and the first anniversary of his sister's devastating death in this poignant, quirky, often humorous novel that's perfect for fans of Jeff Zentner and Brendan Kiely. Kirby Burns is about to have the second-worst day of his life. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the worst day of his life, and in the three hundred and sixty-four days since then he hasn't stopped running: from his family,...

"An inspiring, informative, and practical guide to navigating end of life issues, by a groundbreaking expert in the field and the New York Times bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven's Door. In the mid-1400s, an unnamed Catholic monk composed a popular self-help book called Ars Moriendi, or The Art of Dying. Written in Latin, this medieval death manual taught people how to navigate the trials of the deathbed, using simple rituals of repentance,...