Grief Lending Library

An essential part of the Academy, the Kim Peterson Memorial Grief Lending Library houses an extensive collection of books and resources for all ages, available for check out.

Located at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway (3601 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines), the library is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

Use the below categories to assist with your search.

  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Anticipatory Grief
  • Children and Terminal Illness
  • Children's Books
  • Death of a Child
  • Death of a Partner
  • Death of a Pet
  • General Adult Grief
  • Helping Teens and Children
  • Professionals
  • Spanish Language
  • Sudden Death
  • Teen Books

Advanced Search

Search Results for Anticipatory / Before the Death

Clear Search
Title Author Description Category Topics Location
Autobiography Of Dying Hanlan, Archie J. (Double Day and Company, Inc. 1979)

The author’s account of his courageous fight against an incurable, progressive illness, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

  • Lou Gerig's Disease / Historical
B H
Autumn Passage Angeroth, Renae (Renae Angeroth, 2009)

A middle-aged daughter helps her parents take one last journey together. As they drive through the fall mountain colors and long stretches of western highways, she recalls treasured childhood memories, agonizes with her father over his daily struggles against cancer, and ultimately understands what is being passed on to her.

  • Cancer
155.9 A
Caregiving and Loss: family needs, professional responses Doka, Kenneth and Joyce Davidson, eds. (Hospice Foundation of America, 2001)

A valuable resource for those who care for dying patients and their families. A variety of articles by various professionals dealing with many end-of-life care issues.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
362.04 D
Caring For The Patient With Cancer At Home: a guide for patients and families American Cancer Society (American Cancer Society, 2000)

Deals with the physical as well as emotional aspects of terminal illness. A very practical guide for caregivers.

  • Cancer
362.1 A
Caring For Your Aged Parents Grollman, Earl A. (Beacon Press, 1978)

Written with the hope that you will understand your own reactions even as you try to comprehend your parents’ needs.

  • Aging Parents / Historical
301.42 G
Child Shall Lead Them, A: lessons in hope from children with cancer Komp, Diane M., M.D. (Zondervan Publishing House, 1993)

Physician-author Diane Komp uses tender stories of her work with children who have cancer to illustrate timeless biblical truth. Showing how medicine, science, and biblical faith are compatible, she gives readers inspiring insight into the spiritual re-education of a Yale medical professor by her young patients.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death / Religious
362.1 K
Companioning The Dying: a soulful guide for caregivers Yoder, Greg (Companion Press, 2005)

If you work with the dying in your career or as a volunteer, or if you are a family member or friend to someone who is dying, this book presents you with a caregiving philosophy that will help you know how to respond, and what to do with your own powerful emotions.

  • Religious
242 Y
Companioning You: a soulful guide to caring for yourself while you care for the dying and the bereaved Wolfelt, Alan D., Ph.D. (Companion Press, 2012)

Bereavement care is draining work, and remaining empathetic to the painful struggles of the mourners and dying they serve makes caregivers highly susceptible to burnout. But if you make compassionate self-care a priority, not only will your life be richer and more joyful, you will be a more effective caregiver to others. Let this book show you how to have balance in your life and in your work.

  • Professional
155.9 W
Coping with Cancer Weisman, Avery D. (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1979)

Describes the nature of coping as it has been observed in cancer patients and relates these findings to some principles for action aimed toward helping people to achieve completeness in their lives.

  • Historical
616.9 W
Cry, Heart, but Never Break Ringtved, Glenn (Enchanted Lion Books, 2016)

Aware their grandmother is gravely ill, four siblings make a pact to keep death from taking her away. But Death does arrive all the same, as it must. He comes gently, naturally. And he comes with enough time to share a story with the children that helps them to realize the value of loss to life and the importance of being able to say goodbye.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
jF R
Death And Dying: current issues in the treatment of the dying person Pearson, Leonard, ed. (Case Western Reserve University Press, 1969)

Five prominent clinicians and scientists examine the psychological, sociological, and physical aspects of death.

  • Historical
616.07 P
Death And Dying: principles and practices in patient care Benton, Richard G. (Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1978)

Dr. Benton descries grief and the feelings of guilt, rejection, isolation, and fear that may accompany it.

  • Historical
616.07 B
Do Not Go Gentle Howe, Herbert M. (W.W. Norton and Company, 1981)

The author found that his decision to attack his disease rather than "go gently into that good night," had not only saved him but also changed him dramatically for the better.

  • Cancer
B H
Don’t Be Afraid To Die Hunt, Gladys M. (Zondervan Publishing House, 1971)

Provides consolation for the bereaved and for those facing death.

  • Historical
155.9 H
Eric Lund, Doris (Dell Publishing Company, Inc., 1974)

The story of a 17 year old's fight against leukemia as told by his mother.

  • Historical
B L
Final Gifts: understanding the special awareness, needs and communications of the dying Callanan, Maggie (Poseidon Press, 1992)

Teaches “how to listen to the dying, how to understand and accept what they wish or need to share.”

155.9 C
Final Season, The Hagley, Norman, D.Min. (Centering Corporation,1986)

A book of prayers for people facing death.

  • Religious
vf
Ginny A Love Remembered Artley, Bob (Iowa State University Press, 1993)

The authors memoir of life with his beloved Ginny and the battle with Alzheimer’s that consumed her. From their first meeting in 1943 or Ginny’s final home in a care facility, Artley recounts his story of their marriage, family and careers, came the undeniable evidence of Ginny’s mental decline. Faced with the pain and confusion of Ginny’s illness, Artley and his family had to learn to cope with the grim details and long good-bye of Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Partner's Illness / Anticipatory / Before the Death
362.1 A
Goldfish Went on Vacation, The: a memoir of loss Dann, Patty (Trumpeter Books, 2007)

Patty Dann had been married almost 10 years to her husband when he was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal brain cancer. In this memoir, Dann explains how the plans they'd made would abruptly come to an end. Worse, Dann had no idea how she'd explain to their three-year-old son.

  • Death of a Partner
B813.54 D
Grief Undone: A journey with God and cancer Groves, Elizabeth W. D. (New Growth Press, 2015)

This story is about a family’s journey through – and beyond – terminal cancer. For the Groves family, faith in God and an awareness of his care played a pivotal role as they faced Al’s death, processed their deep grief, and gradually moved forward. Without sugarcoating the pain of grief, the book offers hope and healing to all who are facing the shadow of death.

  • Cancer / Religious
362.19699 G
Healing A Friend Or Loved One’s Grieving Heart After A Cancer Diagnosis Wolfelt, Alan D., Ph.D. (Companion Press, 2014)

This empathetic guide will help you be a compassionate cancer companion before, during, and after treatment. Whether the person with cancer is a friend or a family member, it will help you understand his or her physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and spiritual needs, and give you tips and encouragement for reaching out and being a steadfast, loving presence.

  • Cancer
155.9 W
Healing Your Grieving Heart After A Cancer Diagnosis Wolfelt, Alan D., Ph.D. (Companion Press, 2014)

This empathetic guide will help you understand and express your many difficult thoughts and feelings before, during, and after treatment. It will help you take care of yourself physically, emotionally, socially, cognitively, and spiritually.

  • Cancer
155.9 W
Help Me Live: 20 things people with cancer want you to know Hope, Lori (Celestial Arts, 2005)

When we hear that someone close to us has been diagnosed with cancer, we want nothing more than to comfort them with words of hope, support, and love. But sometimes we don’t know what to say or do and don’t feel comfortable asking. With sensitive insights and thoughtful anecdotes.

  • Cancer
616.9 H
Hospice Movement, The: a better way of caring for the dying Stoddard, Sandol (Stein and Day, Publishers, 1978)

Case histories and personal experience; as a volunteer, the author presents specific information on patient care, medication techniques, funding, staffing, administration, home care programs, and architectural requirements for inpatient units.

  • Professional / Historical
616 S
How We Die, Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter Nuland, Sherwin B. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)

Offers a portrait of the experience of dying that makes clear the choices that can be made to allow each of us his or her own death.

616.07 N
Into The Light: a simple way to pray with the sick and dying DelBene, Ron (The Upper Room, 1988)

The author shows us how, through our concern, our compassion, and our prayers we can comfort the dying and help guide them toward the light of risen life.

  • Religious
242 D
Jean's Way Humphry, Derek (Quartet Books, Inc., 1978)

Humphry depicts his empathy with his wife's pain from cancer, his own anticipatory grief and how he helped her to die.

  • Death of a Partner / Historical
362. 1 H
Last Lecture, The Pausch, Randy (Hyperion, 2008)

It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form.

B P
Liberating Losses: when death brings relief Elison, Jennifer, Ed.D., and Chris McGonigle (Perseus Publishing, 2003)

The cultural expectation for sadness, loneliness, and despair when you feel relief, happiness, and even joy, only adds to the guilt and conflict felt by many "relieved grievers." Elison and McGonigle here share their own and others' stories, compassionate clinical analysis, and pragmatic counsel. Wise, compassionate, and groundbreaking, this book expands the traditional definition of grief, and, in so doing, generously validates the feelings that many of us feel obliged to hide.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
155.9 E
Living With Dying Davidson, Glen W. (Augsburg Publishing House, 1975)

Will help guide and support the family and friends of seriously ill patients.

  • Historical
155.9 D
Living With Grief: before and after the death Doka, Kenneth, ed. (Hospice Foundation of America, 2007)

This book is filled with excellent chapters that bring us up to date with the most current information on both pre-death and post-death interventions.

155.9 D
Living with Grief: ethical dilemmas at the end of life Doka, Kenneth, et. al., ed. (Hospice Foundation of America, 2005)

Written and edited by some of the nation’s leading authorities on ethics and end-of-life care, this book explores a range of issues – including pediatric hospice, historical, religious, spiritual and cultural perspectives of the end of life, hospice in nursing homes, surrogate decision making, physician assisted suicide, organ donation and our society’s legal tenants of end-of-life-care.

  • Professional
362.1 D
Living Your Dying Keleman, Stanley (Random House, 1974)

The author is trying to say that dying need not be fearful or painful, either socially or psychologically.

  • Historical
128.5 K
Make Today Count Kelly, Orville E. (Delacorte Press, 1975)

The author's personal account of his battle with cancer.

  • Historical
362.1 K
Mama’s Going to Heaven Soon Copeland, Kathe Martin (Augsburg Fortress, 2005)

Ages 8-11. A compassionate yet straightforward story to assist young children and their caregivers as they deal with an impending death of a mother. The bright, childlike artwork and simple, straightforward language offer readers a hopeful message. The book does not specify what is wrong with the mother, so it could apply to a number of situations or illnesses.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
jF C
Monday Morning Connection Mars, Jackie

A story about a woman’s journey battling ovarian cancer. This biography speaks about the strong connections made with others and the weekly emails she sent to her friends filled with encouraging words of hope and strength from scripture.

  • Cancer/Religious
B M
My Sister Might Die: A book to share with children anticipating grief and loss Brenneman, Dr. Diane Zaerr (Brenneman, 2020)

A book to help sibilings anticipate a brother or sisters death from a terminal illness.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
jF B
My wife said you may want to marry me Rosenthal, Jason (HarperCollins Publishers, 2020)

An inspiring memoir of life, love, loss, and new beginnings by the widower of bestselling children’s author and filmmaker Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose last of act of love before her death was setting the stage for her husband’s life without her.

  • Anticipatory / Before the Death
M R
Near Life's End: what family and friends can do DelBene, Ron (The Upper Room, 1988)

A book created to help people share more deeply with those who are sick or dying.

vf
New Meanings Of Death Feifel, Herman, Ph.D. (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977)

Effective treatment of the dying person and his or her family, educating the child for death and our striving for self-esteem and power, impact of the idea of death on the law, and the role of grief in mental health.

  • Historical
128.5 F
On Death and Dying Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1969)

Reveals the beneficial changes that can occur of the dying person is not isolated and avoided, but instead invited to share his experiences with someone who can listen.

  • Historical
128.5 K
Passing On: the social organization of dying Sudnow, David (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967)

Explores dying and death as they concern the staff members of two large hospitals.

  • Historical
616.07 S
Proceedings: death and attitudes toward death Day, Stacey B., M.D., Ph.D., D. Sc., ed. (Bell Museum of Pathology, 1972)

A transcript of discussions which took place at a symposium.

  • Historical
616.07 D
Questions And Answers On Death And Dying Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1974)

Sequel to On Death and Dying; consists of the most frequently asked questions and Dr. Kubler-Ross's answers.

  • Historical
616 K
Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with incurable cancer and life in Christ Billings, J. Todd (Brazos Press, 2015)

At 39, theologian Billings was diagnosed with incurable cancer. The questions were acute: Why me? Why now? Where is God in all of this? This eloquently written book shares Billing’s journey and reflections on providence, lament, and life in Christ in light of illness.

  • Religious
248.8 B
Someone You Love is Dying Shepard M.D., Martin (Harmony Books, 1975)

Offers specific details involved in preparing for death, ways of minimizing fear and grief and provides a forum in which people share their first-hand experiences with death.

  • Historical
155.9 S
Time to Live, A Time to Die, A: important concerns when death draws near Ash, Beatrice M.A. (Augsburg Fortress, 1993)

With warmth and compassion, the author highlights seven concerns that she has found to be important to people who are nearing life’s end.

248.8 A
Until Tomorrow Comes Kelly, Orville E. (Everett House, 1979)

Contains all that Mr. Kelly has learned about cancer and how to live with it. The author is founder and president of the national organization "Make Today Count."

  • Cancer / Historical
362.1 K
Voices of Death Shneidman, Edwin (Harper and Row, Publishers, 1980)

Will help find guidelines both to increase the psychological comfort of our own dying and to enhance our understanding of loved ones who may be dying.

155.9 S
Walking Through the Fire Lee, Laurel (Bantam Books, 1978)

At thirty, Laurel Lee discovered she had Hodgkin’s disease – an agonizing illness that could take her life and her baby’s as well. Refusing to give up, she learned to overcome the pain with humor and faith, and began to write this remarkable journal of her feelings and experience.

  • Hodgkin's Disease / Historical
B L
What Dying People Want: practical wisdom for the end of life Kuhl, David M.D. (PublicAffairs, 2002)

Heart-wrenching personal stories are intertwined with practical suggestions, and specific instances are frequently used to illustrate techniques, processes, and the importance of telling your story, rather than assuming your family already knows it. Kuhl focuses particularly on coming to terms with one's past. Discussions of family histories, lifelong priorities, and difficult choices are emphasized as tools for making peace among family members and with one's own conscience.

155.9 K
When Breath Becomes Air Kalanithi, Paul (Random House, 2016)

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

  • Death of a Partner
M K
When Life Becomes Precious: A Guide for Loved Ones and Friends of Cancer Patients Babcock, Elise NeeDell (Bantom Books, 1997)

This book will teach readers to assess and put into perspective, their own feelings about the disease so that they can truly help those who are afflicted with it. The use of cartoons, anecdotes and personal stories will set an upbeat and positive tone.

362.1 B
When You’re Ill Or Incapacitated / When You’re The Caregiver Miller, James E. (Willowgreen Publishing, 1995)

Two books in one. Twelve suggestions to help someone who is sick, injured or otherwise disabled and twelve suggestions for the caregiver.

362.1 M
When Your Loved One is Dying Grollman, Earl A. (Beacon Press, 1980)

Helps you make the important decisions that will allow your loved one to face death with courage and dignity – and you to continue living a full life.

155.9 G
Your Aging Parents: reflections for caregivers Grollman, Earl A. and Sharon Grollman (Beacon Press, 1997)

Father and daughter explore ways to communicate with and care for aging parents while finding the support you need to adjust to new responsibilities and roles.

  • Aging Parents
306.874 G