She Came to Live Out Loud

Acclaimed author and journalist Myra MacPherson takes the reader on a remarkably intimate journey into the world of Anna, a vibrant young woman, as she and her family live with dying. Threaded through this personal tapestry are vital information and guidance needed by each of us when struggling with great stress and grief. It teaches us all how to be stronger friends for those we love who have a limited time to live.

Anna was wise and witty, brave and boisterous MacPherson spent three years with her, her family and friends, you are there, experiencing the fun and laughter, anger and despair, remission and, yes, humor. Anna teaches us that a positive attitude can prolong life and how to live out loud until the last second.

MacPherson addresses common concerns:

* How families deal with young and teenage children of sick and dying parents

* How family and friends provide better caregiving support

* Why resilience, anger, and humor sustain us and why platitudes are odious

* The health field, why doctors avoid death and often ignore dying patients, and advice for change

* Grieving: how long it lasts, how and why men and women grieve differently, what grievers can do, and how friends can help

After Anna dies of breast cancer, you observe her husband, Jan, who learns how to grieve positively as he copes with both his pain and the struggles of a single parent raising two adolescents. There are lessons for everyone -- those confronting death for the first rime and those living on after loss. As technology allows us to live longer, most of us will experience the "abnormal normalcy" lived in the homes of the seriously ill. Ordinary daily routines commingle withthe terror of waiting for the next medical report, the next stage, the next new hope.

At a time when most of us seek alternatives to the inhumanity of dying in impersonal institutions. Anna found her solution in her own home surrounded by loved ones assisted by hospice professionals. You are inside that home, a home filled with love and care. Ultimately her caregivers' grief was lessened knowing that they contributed to a palliative, pain-free ending.

"She Came to Live Out Loud" is a heartfelt tribute to the triumph of the human spirit in adversity. It reminds us that the capacity for love is what gives us the opportunity to live meaningful lives. It teaches us survivors that there is, eventually joy in remembering those who once gave so much to us that there is, indeed, love after death.