Final Gifts
   Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelley
  1997 Bantam Books NY USA
   ISBN: 0553378767


Authentic, luminous & responsive stories & understandings of the special awareness, needs & communications of those at the edge of life, those nearing their dying & their loved ones.

Profoundly moving, deeply calming & clearly compassionate, Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelley have sewn together a quilt of tender, often troubled deathbed experiences where the hints for redemption, for reconciliation, for courage can be recognized.

In Section I, we are introduced to the Nearing Death Awareness & we are given some background about those of us who work with dying patients & their families. Their message is: "Let [us] tell you what we know about this process. Let's apply it to you & your individual qualities, needs, & relationships, & together we can make this experience the best it can be for you & your family."

Section II is about: What I Am Experiencing. Amazing stories gifted to us from those who are dying about their preparations for Travel or Change; about Not Being Alone; Seeing a Place; Knowing When It Will Be.

Section III is all about: What I Need For A Peaceful Death. The need for reconciliation; the feeling of being held back; the interpretation of gestures, looks & sounds; Symbolic Dreams; Choosing a Time. Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelly's final gift in Final Gifts is to coach us, describe for us & list a fine Recommended Reading & offer some simple practical ideas for meeting with the final frontier of our lives.

Thank you for the comfort of your company, your caring & your courage to give us access to so many people's Final Gifts.
(05/23/99)

Rebecca