Tell 'Em Charlie Sent 'Ya: Nine Stories of Healing and Death

Addressing life and death issues is a passion for me.  After facing my own impending death at 32, I learned how isolating the experience can be.When I lived, I did not want others to feel as alone as I did.   My focus as a clinical social worker and educator turned to those facing death.  I made the commitment to walk with them, support them, and assist them in connecting to their own healing and ways to share the healing with their loved ones.  This commitment brought me to many different, surprising, and challenging experiences.  The nine stories in this book touch on the amazing healing experiences that I have had the opportunity to witness.
Our cultural response to death and dying is denial and fear.  We all have to face the reality of death when a loved one is dying or has died, or when our own death is in front of us.  I wrote this book to helps us all find the healing that is possible when death is approaching.  If we can be present, the opportunity for healing, learning, and teaching can be found.
I have shared the nine stories in this book with many different people.  I have been asked to write them down to so others can read them, share them, and find comfort in them.  Each story is a different and personal experience of healing, for the person dying and their loved ones.  This is not to imply there is no sadness.  It is just that when people can be calm and present when their loved one is dying, healing experiences occur and they are noticed.  There is plenty of time to grieve and be sad afterwards.Those feelings are then interwoven with the memories of the healing experiences that also occurred. 
If healing comes from conscious endings and closure, then death holds the potential for great healing.My hope for all of us is to be able to manage our fears of finishing/completing and be present with our loved ones, honoring the timing of the ending of life, something which is beyond human comprehension.
For many people, when they have been present for their loved ones dying, their healing journey which follows is interwoven with the joy and belief that their loved one died at "the right time for them" and that they were at peace when they died.  This provides the opportunity to separate the grief of living without loved ones in the physical world from the experience of the individual who has died. 
Since we as humans are not able to predict or control when someone is born or dies, we must finds ways to honor that timing and live our lives with that knowledge.  My goal in sharing these stories, is to help all of us find comfort in knowing that when each of dies, there are healing experiences occurring.May the stories bring you healing and comfort.