Caregiving : The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal
Author: Beth Witrogen McLeod
List Price: $22.95
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ISBN: 0471254088
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (02 April, 1999)
Sales Rank: 64,963
Average Customer Rating: 4.93 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
highly recommended!
Caregiving is a godsend. Many of my grieving clients have struggled with the challenges of caring for a dying parent, an experience that can be fulfilling but also exhausting and even traumatic at times. In this helpful and heartful book, Beth McLeod weaves her own moving story with the stories of other caregivers, advice from professionals, and helpful suggestions; it offers offers the reader comfort, guidance and inspiration. I have already recommended it to many of my friends and clients.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A manual for finding comfort with the uncomfortable
Please read "Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal," by Beth Witrogen McLeod (John Wiley and Sons, 1999). This extraordinary book presents the most challenging aspects of giving care - adults caring for their infirm or dying parents, spouses, and others - with incredible compassion and grace. I have never read a book which made me feel as comfortable with the uncomfortable as has Beth's. Through her own experience with dying parents while an editor with the San Francisco Examiner Magazine, Beth began a series of "Caregiver" articles which included stories, suggestions, and resources for those going a similar life challenge. Beth's journey became a full-time commitment, resulting in this wonderful book.
In "Soul Keeping," she writes: "It can be necessary to uproot a parent, not just for physical well-being but for preservation of their very spirit. For it is not just a body that we are asked to care for: the unspoken role of every caregiver is guardian of the soul, and this prospect can be the most frightening. For where does well-being come but from within? Where does the giving come but from compassion? We are asked not only to be gatekeepers but especially soul keepers, preserving the best in our parents and inheriting the wisdom of their experience. When we are shepherding their lives, we had best be mindful of their spirits as well."
As instructive as it is moving, "Caregiving" includes action steps designed to assist those facing the many overwhelming challenges of caring for loved ones. It is a manual of compassionate care, and a wonderful gift for yourself.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A highly compelling and poignant book for all of us.
Beth Witrogen McLeod's book Caregiving The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal is a must read for any person taking care of an ill loved one, whether they are a child, spouse and/or aging parent. My interview with Beth revealed a strong woman with a fierce detrmination to help other caregivers make the most of a very painful situation. Beth includes her own personal journey along with the stories of hundreds of people she has met online in her chat groups or in person during her many public appearances in her incredible book. As the creator and editor of HotFlash! a woman's online perimenopause/menopause magazine and online support group, I have found women in the same place as Beth. She has described so well in her book the guilt, the pain, the sorrow and yes, at times, the joy of taking care of a sick loved one. In attempting to find hope and love in a truly difficult situation, Beth guides us to make good decisions not only for the person needing care but for the person herself. She pulls back the curtain on this often overlooked yet important topic.This is a must read for anyone taking care of a loved one and for the rest of us who will one day be in these extraordinary shoes.
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