The Journey Home
Preparing for Life’s Ultimate Adventure
Ann V. Graber
She came close to dying
and now helps others prepare for it.
About this book
- Have you ever wondered how to help a loved one who is dying?
- Does the thought of death make you afraid?
- What would you do if you found out you were about to die?
In this book, Ann Graber takes the reader on a marvelous journey: first, through her own experience of having to confront her mortality when she suffered a traumatic injury, came very close to dying, and gained remarkable insights about death as the beginning of our ongoing adventure of being; next, through helping others face the process of dying and its associated fears; and finally, through the memoir of Kay, who moved through the final stages of life with courage and preparation, enabling the reader to enter into the spirit of her transition into Light. Examples of celebrating the life of a departed loved one—with commemorations that console the bereaved—are included.
“Where is the care of the soul,
of one’s uniqueness
and individuality?”p. 12
From the book
Home! The very sound of the word evokes in us eternal yearnings for a safe haven, a place of refuge and protection from harm, a place of warmth, comfort, and familiarity. It speaks of love and enduring relationships. For some, it may evoke nostalgia for a place they once knew; for others, a projection toward a heavenly home. For those who come to view dying as a journey home, the powerful attributes of home beckon invitingly. The journey, even if painful, is experienced as a return to a longed-for state.p. 13
By and large, the hospital setting is impersonal. Consequently, when a terminally ill person checks into a hospital, he or she becomes a “patient”—individuality, even personhood, is compromised. There may be help available for alleviating some of the physical symptoms, but where is the care of the soul, of one’s uniqueness and individuality?p. 12
Endorsements
Dr. Graber’s The Journey Home: Preparing for Life’s Ultimate Adventure is nothing short of a gift from above. Readers will be left with a sense of beauty, wonder, awe and a pulling—without fear—toward a meaningful life, the Journey Home, and a continuing adventure that awaits each of us on the other side.
Trace N. Pirtle, Ed.D.Retired Professor, Texas A&M International University
I have read your wonderful manuscript and am deeply impressed. Your own near death experience and your participation in Kay’s preparation for her death confer authenticity to your words that few authors can claim. I would recommend this book to everyone concerned with the dying process, most especially those in hospice work and grief counseling.
John F. Commerford, M.D.Family practice physician, St. Louis
The Journey Home uniquely combines and holds in creative tension the physiological and psychological dimensions of the dying process with the spiritual journey through death…. One of the great strengths of this book is that it… gives both a human and psycho-spiritual character that will appeal to both the layperson facing the reality of death, as well as the professional who is called upon to assist and minister to a dying person and their family.
The Very Rev. Philip C. Linder, D.Min., Psy.D.Dean, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia, SC
What I personally loved about this book was the ability of the author, Dr. Graber, to combine science and religion in discussing the one thing certain in this life, death. Most of the time, one hears the scientific explanation of death versus the religious and spiritual version of death, but not in this book. This book discusses death in a manner in which religion and science can co-exist.
Celina CastilloGraduate student
The Journey Home could very well be that much-needed manual for both pastor and parishioner which—by removing the sting of death—provides comfort and reassurance to those preparing to die, those who care for them and those who live on….
The Rev. Jeremiah N. Murasso, Ph.D., Ed.D.Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi Church, South Windsor, CT
Contents
- Dedication
- In Appreciation
- Prologue
- 1Adventure Inward1
- 2Preparing for the Journey Home11
- 3Journeying With Others23
- 4Help Along the Journey37
- 5Journeying in Faith53
- 6At Journey’s End67
- 7Kay’s Legacy85
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
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