Do you ever wonder why you don't seem to be 'getting over' your grief? Do you ever get annoyed by people's pop psychoanalysis of your loss? Do you ever catch yourself wondering 'I never thought loss would be like this'? In this powerful and moving book, 25 everyday Australians reflect upon these questions and more, as they describe their own unique experiences of grief. They mourn for their spouses, friends, parents, children, or siblings. Some mourn for members of a community which has become part of their identity; others remember the patients they have treated, or the animal companions which were part of their heart and home. Contributors to this book are from diverse social backgrounds – they are men, women and children of different occupations, ethnicity, sexuality and age groups. For the first time, we hear the voices of people who are at the very centre of the experience of grief – no professional theorising, no 'stages' or 'models' of grief, and no judgments. This is a welcome and long overdue book for those of us who want to understand our own experience, and the experience of others, at home, work or school, who have lost someone they love. Allan Kellehear: 'Most grief, however complex and difficult to live with, is normal. We don't need 'therapy' or 'pills'. We just need to understand it - and find some meaning and sense in it. Sometimes we need some extra support. But most of the time we battle on with the battle inside our hearts. Grief is like that. Much of life is like that. And finally, we have a book that tells it like that.' Contents: Preface Introduction: The Grief That Time Forgot Allan Kellehear LOVERS Chapter 1: Dynamite Jean Marie Gordon Chapter 2: Angie Denis Williams Chapter 3: An Alien Place Jacqueline Kinsey Bambery CHILDREN Chapter 4: Darling Little Frankie Erica Kurec Chapter 5: Forever Carolyn Foot Chapter 6: How Life Changes Melissa Ryan PARENTS Chapter 7: Remembering Pater Allan Kellehear Chapter 8: The Language of the Dead Mary Fraser Chapter 9: The Road to Nowhere James Carman Chapter 10: Hallowed Ground Neville Millen Chapter 11: A Good Death Raffi Ghazarian COMMUNITY Chapter 12: Being Dead is Being Something David Edler Chapter 13: A Shopping Bag from Harrods Michael Hurley SIBLINGS Chapter 14: 'Pockets' Sarah McKenzie Chapter 15: My Baby Sister Isobell Matthew Pearce Chapter 16: It's So Unfare Cheryl-Lee M Charles Chapter 17: The Mean of Paul Megan Denby Chapter 18: My Brother Timothy Baxter PATIENTS Chapter 19: The Butter Dish Sally Greenaway Chapter 20: She Smiles Susan Sawyer Chapter 21: Ron's Story Robert Benson FRIENDS Chapter 22: So Much Unfinished Tony Magri Chapter 23: The Eulogy Ian Anderson AND MORE FRIENDS Chapter 24: Letter to Lucy Eithne Mills Chapter 26: Pepi Jeanne Daly PARTING WORDS Chapter 26: Grief: A Part of Life Julie Edwards Acknowledgments About the Editor: Allan Kellehear, PhD (UNSW) is a sociologist. He is Foundation Professor of Palliative Care and Director of the Palliative Care Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University in Melbourne and an adjunct Professorial Fellow in the Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne Medical School. In 2000, he was British Academy Visiting Professor at the University of Bath and the Religious Experience Research Centre at Westminster College, Oxford. He was previously Professor and Head of Research Development at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre in Fitzroy – a non-government research and clinical services organisation affiliated with the University of Melbourne and St Vincent's Hospital. His 14 books include textbooks, scholarly monographs and popular works. His more recent books include Eternity and Me: The everlasting things in life and death (Hill of Content Publishing, Melbourne, 2000) and Death and Dying in Australia (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2000). |