The Shelf Life of Ashes: A Memoir

(Paperback)

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Nearly 10 million adult children over the age of 50 provide care for their aging parents in the US, and they themselves are aging, which makes the conversation about this topic urgent and compelling.

Women who were 65 in 2014 can expect to live another 24 years, to age 86a fact thats leading many of us to think about the quality of life in later years.

According to the US State Department, US families adopted more than 7,000 children in 2012. This book explores what issues with this familial arrangement persist today.

The number of American Buddhists is booming (an American Religious Identification Survey posits that from 1990 to 2000, Buddhism grew 170%). Practitioners, initiates, and those who are spiritually inclined will be drawn to this story.

Reviews

Wit and wisdom are the accompanying guides in Hollis Giammatteo's well-written and fully engaging memoir about aging and death. Richly spiritual yet solidly grounded, the author guides us through her quirky and humorous vignettes of self-discovery. As we travel together we find ourselves maturing along with the author into these perennial truths. This book is highly recommended for anyone seeking deeper understanding of our basic human condition. Rodney Smith, Buddhist teacher and author of Lessons from the Dying and Awakening: A Paradigm Shift of the Heart Hollis Giammetteo has assembled a multi-dimensional memoir about aging that encompasses her professional work with the elderly, her Buddhist spiritual practice, her own confrontation with life-threatening illness, as well as her own dying mother. On the way she introduces us to many memorable characters and situations, bringing to vivid life all the complexities, challenges, and gifts of growing old. Readers who are themselves aging, or are caring for someone who is, will discover many inspiring lessons. Lewis Richmond, author of Aging as a Spiritual Practice Hollis Giammatteo invites the reader to leap into the reservoir of the heart with both profound insight and engaging humor. The Shelf Life of Ashes is a journey into identity, family, aging, and death with an infusion of Buddhist compassion. A searing and unforgettable memoir. Diana Y. Paul, author of Things Unsaid: A Novel

Author Bio

A practicing Buddhist for over thirty years, Hollis Giammatteo has sought experiences that would challenge her practice, from teaching a method of writing to working with the elderly. She co-founded, managed and wrote plays for The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA; it is thriving still. She was also a playwright in residence for the Rhode Island Feminist Theater (RIFT). This was followed by participation in a womens peace walk, On The Line, which she wrote about in a memoir of that title. She has published in a variety of magazines: Prairie Schooner, The North American Review, Ms., Calyx, Vogue, and Womens Sports and Fitness, among others. She has also been granted an NEA, awarded a residency at the Cottages at Hedgebrook, and received a PEN/Jerard Award, honoring a distinguished nonfiction work-in-progress for an emerging woman writer, for her work On the Line: Memoir of a Peace Walk.