No Way to Behave at a Funeral


Book Description

This is the story of Noel who lost Maris, his beloved wife of 42 years, to suicide following years of struggling with depression. The abrupt ending of a life by suicide can be the most catastrophic of events for those left behind. Survivors experience intense pain and massive guilt. Grief banishes survivors to a place so removed from the normal hurly-burly of everyday life that they feel close to madness. Somehow they have to claw their way back. Noel accepted there was no way around his anguish and met suffering head on. His pain allowed him to discover the richness within him and to grow in wisdom which he hopes might be of benefit to others. Maris' death did not shut her out of Noel's life. She remains a very real presence. This is a love story with a difference. 'An involving account of the devastation, guilt and pain commonly experienced by people bereaved by suicide. It is a moving love story and a tale of resilience, offering reassurance and a sense of hope to others similarly bereaved.' - Barbara Hocking, OAM Executive Director, SANE Australia 'Noel Braun gives us the honour of travelling his suicide grief journey after the loss of his beloved wife Maris. He lets us walk with him and understand the devastation that suicide brings and his road of learning to find hope again.' - Michelle Linn-Gust, PhD., President-Elect, American Association of Suicidology 'Noel takes us into his innermost thoughts, feelings and emotions as he describes, with incredible love and candour, 'losing' his Maris. Noel's story is immensely powerful and the depth and duration of his grief is testament to his enduring love for Maris.' - Kate Friis, Counsellor and Psychotherapist




Confessions of a Funeral Director


Book Description

“Wise, vulnerable, and surprisingly relatable . . . funny in all the right places and enormously helpful throughout. It will change how you think about death.” —Rachel Held Evans, New York Times–bestselling author of Searching for Sunday We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and—when it can be avoided no longer—letting the professionals take over. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference—in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed the family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial; the nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away; the funeral that united a conflicted community. Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde’s candid memoir offers an intimate look into the business of death and a new perspective on living and dying. “Open[s] up conversations about life’s ultimate concerns.” —The Washington Post “As a look behind the closed doors of the death industry, as well as a candid exploration of Wilde’s own faith journey, this book is fascinating and compelling.” —National Catholic Reporter “[A] stunner of a debut.” —Rachel Held Evans, author of Inspired




Funerals Aren't for the Dead


Book Description

Funerals Aren't for the Dead is a handbook of handbooks on a very misunderstood subject . . . a very practical and informative view of everything from the grief we experience to saying goodbye at the funeral. This book is a rare blend of Christian wisdom, common sense, honesty, and candor. Read this book before you need it -John Hagee, Pastor, Cornerstone Church, San Antonio, Texas Do you know . . . 7 What the Bible says about death, grief, burial, and cremation? 7 What a funeral director does and what happens in a funeral home? 7 What your loved ones' wishes are concerning their funerals? 7 What to say to children in grief to avoid fear? Funerals Aren't for the Dead answers these questions and more Find out what you need to know, before anyone dies.




A View from the Fog


Book Description

A View from the Fog recalls one womans struggle to accept the loss of both parents in a single automobile accident. It is an account of both grief and hope, darkness and light, love and loss. As a lay minister raised in the United Methodist Church, Jada still felt like a three-time orphan. Her mother and father are dead, and God has gone silent. With prayer support and loving friends, Jada heard God speak again, I love you and will never leave you. Jada has asked and wrestled with some of the questions you will probably face in the fog. She does not presume to offer answers, only hope in the presence of a loving God, the God who truly loves you and would never, ever leave you.




Knick Knack Paddy Whack


Book Description

A surprise best-seller in Britain, this outrageous, weirdly funny first novel will appeal to fans of Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha. Not since Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye has literature seen a young man with as much contempt for hypocrisy and phoniness as Patrick Scully, the narrator of this brilliantly observed tale of a nineteen-year-old's frustrations and dreams. Stuck in a dead- job in Dublin, while his friends pursue useless degrees at the university, Patrick escapes for a week to his hometown of Killeeny, a few hours' bus ride from Dublin. There he hooks up with his childhood chum, Balls O'Reilly, and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Francesca, who, as we learn in chapters from her diary, is more interested in Balls than she'd want anyone, especially Patrick, to know. What follows is a rollicking week of carousing, drinking, and depravity, all seen through Patrick's searing and unforgiving eyes. Laced with hilarious small-town insight, this gripping first novel builds to a shocking climax as Patrick's insight into the duplicity of his so-called friends becomes more than he can bear.




Ask a Manager


Book Description

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together




Do I Have to Wear Black?


Book Description

A Guidebook for the Modern Pagan Funeral Explore death and dying from the perspective of magical and Pagan communities. Filled with rituals, meditations, legal considerations, and practical advice, this book provides profound insights into death as a spiritual process. Within these pages, you will discover more than fifty rituals for funerals, memorials, and remembrances as well as meditations for mourning and letting go. Each chapter shares the beliefs and specific rituals of a distinct tradition, including British Traditional Wicca, Dis-cordianism, Eclectic Wicca, Heathenry, Hellenism, Druidry, Thelema, and more. You will also discover hands-on advice for creating shrouds, coffins, and death masks as well as tips for advanced planning, wills, and power of attorney. Whether you want to share this book with a non-Pagan funeral professional, learn what to expect at a Pagan funeral, or develop a ritual for a loved one's passing, the wealth of material within is designed to help readers experience final transitions in a spiritually meaningful way. With contributions from a variety of practitioners across many traditions, Do I Have to Wear Black? delivers a multitude of magical rites and detailed explanations in one thorough manual.




Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia


Book Description

Drawing on ethnography of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia, Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia focuses on the current ways in which indigenous people confront and manage various aspects of death. The contributors employ their contemporary and long-term anthropological fieldwork with indigenous Australians to construct rich accounts of indigenous practices and beliefs and to engage with questions relating to the frequent experience of death within the context of unprecedented change and premature mortality. The volume makes use of extensive empirical material to address questions of inequality with specific reference to mortality, thus contributing to the anthropology of indigenous Australia whilst attending to its theoretical, methodological and political concerns. As such, it will appeal not only to anthropologists but also to those interested in social inequality, the social and psychosocial consequences of death, and the conceptualization and manipulation of the relationships between the living and the dead.




Modern Etiquette for a Better Life


Book Description

The Easy and Smart Way to Mind Your Manners in the Boardroom and Beyond Diane Gottsman is here to make minding your manners more practical, relatable and modern. In today’s busy world, there are too many instances when proper social behavior can go awry, holding us back or making us nervous. Knowing what to say, wear and how to conduct ourselves not only opens many doors, but also puts us at ease and brings out the best in us. Without being rigid or stuffy, Diane’s simple and easy tips show readers how to feel comfortable in any situation and how to elegantly become their best, most confident selves. Readers will no longer worry about what to wear to work; how to shake hands with a higher-level executive; how to travel with the boss and deal with office cliques; how to conduct oneself on social media and the do’s and don’ts of everything in between, from table manners to baby showers.




Continuing Bonds


Book Description

First published in 1996. This new book gives voice to an emerging consensus among bereavement scholars that our understanding of the grief process needs to be expanded. The dominant 20th century model holds that the function of grief and mourning is to cut bonds with the deceased, thereby freeing the survivor to reinvest in new relationships in the present. Pathological grief has been defined in terms of holding on to the deceased. Close examination reveals that this model is based more on the cultural values of modernity than on any substantial data of what people actually do. Presenting data from several populations, 22 authors - among the most respected in their fields - demonstrate that the health resolution of grief enables one to maintain a continuing bond with the deceased. Despite cultural disapproval and lack of validation by professionals, survivors find places for the dead in their on-going lives and even in their communities. Such bonds are not denial: the deceased can provide resources for enriched functioning in the present. Chapters examine widows and widowers, bereaved children, parents and siblings, and a population previously excluded from bereavement research: adoptees and their birth parents. Bereavement in Japanese culture is also discussed, as are meanings and implications of this new model of grief. Opening new areas of research and scholarly dialogue, this work provides the basis for significant developments in clinical practice in the field.