All Kinds of Love, a book about "good dying," gently narrates the personal experiences of the dying, their families, friends, and caregivers, as they interface with their unique gifts and needs through the miracle of hospice.
The authors are well qualified for the job Carolyn Jaffe is co-founder of Hospice of Metro Denver, and Carol Ehrlich, Ph.D., is chair emeritus of audio and speech pathology at Children's Hospital, Denver. They present nine stories of people with faces, feelings, fears, fantasies, choices, and decisions.
Written in a conversational journal/ diary form, the book is an attitude changer and emphasizes that death is primarily a personal experience wherein the uniqueness of each individual is honored and affirmed. Thus the needs of the body, mind, spirit, past, present, future, things done and things left undone, likes, dislikes, families, and friends are all part of the mix. The reader quickly becomes involved as part of the caregiving team and not a passive observer of what's happening to someone else. Therein lies the uniqueness of the book.
I highly recommend the book to parsons, persons, and parishes. It will serve as a ready-to-use study. Each chapter is followed by a reflective interpretation to promote discussion and encourage further reading from the bibliography provided.
