Grief

The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD
HarperOne, 2023, Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle, and Audiobook, 256 Pages
ISBN 9780062946249

In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor gives us a fascinating new window into one of the hallmark experiences of being human. O’Connor makes cutting-edge neuroscience accessible through her contagious enthusiasm, and guides us through how we encode love and grief. With love, our neurons help us form attachments to others; but, with loss, our brain must come to terms with where our loved ones went, or how to imagine a future without them.

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Why: A Memoir of Love and Lymphoma by John Melithoniotes
NFB Publishing, 2023, 278 Pages, Paperback or Kindle
ISBN: 9781953610485

There is no test of a couple’s bonds like the revelation that one of them has a life-threatening disease. One of them, a husband, wife, or partner, will become a patient who may need care from the other almost constantly. This is the story of John and Marilyn, whose love of nearly forty years encounters a diagnosis of Marilyn’s Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. John’s memoir describes the complexities of how they navigated their way through a large urban cancer hospital, their daily attempts to manage the side effects of chemotherapy, and their emotional struggle to cope with a worsening crisis. He revisits key scenes from their lives in the hope of understanding their actions and the surprises in store for both of them.

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Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
Random House Publishing Group, February 9, 2021, 368 Pages
ISBN: 978-0399588587

Author Suleika Jaouad chronicles her 4-year journey as a young adult with leukemia, dealing with chemotherapy, a clinical trial, and transplant.  She has written a beautifully crafted and deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces her journey from diagnosis to remission and, ultimately, a road trip of healing and self-discovery.

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Opening to Grief: Finding Your Way from Loss to Peace by Claire Willis and Marnie Crawford Samuelson
Red Wheel Weiser Publisher, October 2020, 144 pages
ISBN 978-1-59003-512-2

Opening to Grief: Finding your way from Loss to Peace is an invitation to be with your grief in all its depth and to find your unique way to peace, balance and acceptance. Begin wherever you are and offer yourself kindness at a time of losses and suffering.  Open to any page and you'll find comfort and inspiration, as well as profound practices anchored in mindfulness and meditation.

Author's website: https://openingtogrief.com/

Wife, Widow, Now What?: How I Navigated the Cancer World and How You Can, Too by Rachel Engstrom MSW, CHES
Published September 2020, Paperback, 346 pages
ISBN 979-8690475741

Wife, Widow, Now What? chronicles Rachel’s journey as a 28-year-old wife whose husband is diagnosed with leukemia, the life-altering changes they faced together, and eventually the death and dying process when her husband passes away and she is widowed at age 31.  Using her narrative along with original Facebook, CaringBridge, and Instagram posts, Rachel provides resources for caregivers on how to navigate a cancer diagnosis, treatment, insurance, disability, finances, health care directives, emotions, patient and caregiver self-care and support, and much more.  In addition, Rachel shares how she has to rebuild her life and how she learns to start over as a widow.   Includes mention of the music she listened to during her journey.

Cycle of Lives: 15 People's Stories, 5,000 Miles, and a Journey Through the Emotional Chaos of Cancer by David Richman
River Grove Books, 2020, 376 Pages
ISBN 978-1-63299-299-4 Paperback
ISBN 978-1-63299-300-7 eBook

Cycle of Lives chronicles the lives of 15 people affected by cancer, including patients, doctors, researchers, and caregivers.  These moving stories cover many aspects of a cancer diagnosis.  Readers are able to examine a wide range of experiences and viewpoints to help them grow in empathy, and to better understand how issues affect the way people deal with the traumas that shape their lives.

For more information: www.cycleoflives.org

A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death
By Dr. BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger
Simon & Schuster, 2019, 544 pages
ISBN 978-1-5011-5716-5
ISBN 978-1-5011-5722-6 (ebook)

“There is nothing wrong with you for dying,” hospice physician B.J. Miller and journalist and caregiver Shoshana Berger write in A Beginner’s Guide to the End. “Our ultimate purpose here isn’t so much to help you die as it is to free up as much life as possible until you do.”

Theirs is a clear-eyed and big-hearted action plan for approaching the end of life, written to help readers feel more in control of an experience that so often seems anything but controllable. Their book offers everything from step-by-step instructions for how to do your paperwork and navigate the healthcare system to answers to questions you might be afraid to ask your doctor, like whether or not sex is still okay when you’re sick. Get advice for how to break the news to your employer, whether to share old secrets with your family, how to face friends who might not be as empathetic as you’d hoped, and how to talk to your children about your will. There are also lessons for survivors, like how to shut down a loved one’s social media accounts, clean out the house, and write a great eulogy.

I'll Be in the Car By Annette Januzzi Wick
Three Arch Press, 2006, 392 pages
ISBN: 0977485609

A poetic account chronicling the real-life experiences of author Annette Wick as her husband is diagnosed with, and ultimately dies from, leukemia. Poignantly, this story portrays the even greater challenge for the caregiver - finding life after losing someone so important to every aspect of who you are. For anyone who has or will experience loss, Annette Wick reminds readers, caregivers and widows - We are not alone. We all share the common thread of struggling to live again. About the Author: Annette Januzzi Wick was born in northern Ohio and now lives in Cincinnati with her son and her newly blended family. Excerpts from I'll Be in the Car were awarded Honorable Mention in the 73rd Annual Writer's Digest Competition. I'll Be in the Car was awarded Finalist, Best Books 2006 Autobiography/Memoir.

Liberating Losses: When Death Brings Relief By Jennifer Ellison, Chris McGonigle
Da Capo Press, 2004, 240 pages
ISBN: 0738209481

When someone dies, those left behind are expected to grieve. But, as taboo as it is to admit, not every death brings sadness. Labeled as "nontraditional grief response" by therapists and counselors, a positive reaction following a death is becoming more common, especially now that drugs and medical treatments keep people alive much longer than they and their families might wish. Sometimes we are relieved that our loved one is no longer suffering; at the other end of the spectrum, a death might finally free us of an abusive or unhappy relationship. In either case, the cultural expectation for sadness, loneliness and despair only adds to the guilt and conflict felt by many "relieved grievers."

How to Go on Living When Someone You Love Dies By Therese A. Rando
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, 1991, 338 pages
ISBN: 0553352695

Mourning the death of a loved one is a process all of us will go through at one time or another. But whether the death is sudden or anticipated, few of us are prepared for it or for the grief it brings. There is no right or wrong way to grieve; each person's response to loss will be different. Now, in this compassionate comprehensive guide, Dr. Rando, bereavement specialist and author of Loss and Anticipatory Grief, leads you gently through the painful but necessary process of grieving and helps you find the best way for yourself.