As Edith, her best friend of forty-two years who is dying of ovarian cancer, spends her last days at a hospice near her, Ashley, stumbling around into heartbreak, helps Edith celebrate her life as they reminisce, hold on, and try to let go.

When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife work together to make his final days comfortable. Their daughter, Lorraine, comes home from Denver to help look after Dad, which helps to soften the bitter absence of the Lewis's estranged son, Frank. Next door, young Alice lives with her grandmother, and Dad's condition stirs painful memories of her own mother's death. Meanwhile, the town's newly arrived preacher attempts to mend his...

The wonderful story of a talented and passionate young pianist on the verge of adolescence who learns the devastating news of her mother''s critical illness. Heartbreak and joy are intertwined in this powerful gift book.

"When the dean of Lovegood Junior College for Girls decides to pair Feron Hood with Merry Jellicoe as roommates in 1958, she has no way of knowing the far-reaching consequences of the match. Feron, who has narrowly escaped from a dark past, instantly takes to Merry and her composed personality. Surrounded by the traditions and four-story Doric columns of Lovegood, the girls - and their friendship - begin to thrive. But underneath their fierce friendship...

In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep and wander deep in the night? And why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, the quiet life Grace has known is irrevocably altered, leaving her to question all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment. - Back cover.

Determined to leave a mark on the world even though they are in the hospital and their days are dwindling, unlikely friends, seventeen-year-old Lenni and eighty-three-year-old Margot, devise a plan to create one hundred paintings showcasing the stories of the century they have lived. Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson has been told she's dying, but still has plenty of living to do. She lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital....

Georgia Byrd is a department store employee who leads a life of frustrated desires. She particularly likes the bashful salesman from the outdoor furnishings department. But when she learns she only has a few weeks left to live, Georgia gathers her money, quits her job, and flies to the swank European resort she's always dreamed of visiting. Naturally, her new carelessness with money and fearless candor lead everyone around her, including a senator...

"Dawn Edelstein is on a plane when she is told to prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her...

"A hospice chaplain passes on wisdom on giving meaning to life, from those taking leave of it. As a hospice chaplain, Kerry Egan didn't offer sermons or prayers, unless they were requested; in fact, she found, the dying rarely want to talk about God, at least not overtly. Instead, she discovered she'd been granted an invaluable chance to witness firsthand what she calls the "spiritual work of dying"--The work of finding or making meaning of one's...