How to Say Goodbye

(Hardback)

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Description

A poem to mortality and the beauty of how we can cope with it.Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal New York Timesbestselling artist Wendy MacNaughton shares wisdom from hospice caregivers: how to be, when to help, what to saywith full-color drawings throughout. As artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project Guest House in San Francisco, Wendy MacNaughton witnessed firsthand how difficult it is to know what to do when were sharing final moments with a loved one. In this tenderly illustrated guide to saying goodbye, MacNaughton shows how to make sure those moments are meaningful. Using a framework of the five things taught to her by a professional caregiver, How to Say Goodbye provides a model for having conversations of love, respect, and closure: with the words I forgive you, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you, and Goodbye, each oriented toward finding mutual peace and understanding when it matters most. With a foreword by renowned physician and author BJ Miller, and practical resources, How to Say Goodbye features MacNaughtons drawn-from-life artwork from both the Zen Hospice Project Guest House and her own aunts bedside as she died, paired with gentle advice from hospice caregivers on creating a positive sensory experience, acknowledging what you cant control, and sharing memories and gratitude. A poignant guide to embracing the present and deepening relationships during great vulnerability, How to Say Goodbye shows that just as there is no one right way to live a good life, there is no one right way to say goodbye. Whether were confused, scared, or uncertain, this book is a starting point.

Reviews

Words are spare, poignant, and practical: 'If you don't know what to say, start by saying that. That's very vulnerable.' An introduction from a hospice physician and a list of resources round this out as a perfect library book: one that everyone could use, one time or another. * Booklist *
There are many kinds of grace in this little book . . . [there is an] underlying kindness that runs throughout. * Rebecca Solnit, author of HOPE IN THE DARK *
Accessible, profound, moving, and beautiful. A unique and much-needed addition to the literature about death and dying. * Louise Aronson, MD, author of ELDERHOOD *
Like singing bowls whose sounds reverberate through us, MacNaughton's drawings resonate emotional tones of the tender moments she deftly portrays. * Ira Byock, MD, author of DYING WELL *
With keen eyes, a skillful hand, and a warm heart, MacNaughton has created a teaching manual on how to say goodbye . . . a gift to all of us as we face death in its many forms. * Mary Pipher, author of WOMEN ROWING NORTH *
This beautiful little book is luminous and dark, heavy and light, heartbreaking and glorious. It's a gift to see the world through Wendy MacNaughton's eyes. * Lucy Kalanithi, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine *
A modern legend in the field of American illustration...[her] illustrations skitter across the page with delicate intensity, like fresh fuzzy roots meeting soil. * Saveur *
We've been enamored of artist-graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton's breezy-yet-hyper-perceptive sketches, humanizing portraits, and urban tableaus for years now... the SF resident [is] something like our illustrator laureate. * San Francisco Bay Guardian *
[MacNaughton is] like a modern-day Margaret Mead armed with ink and watercolor, not a critic or commentator but an observer and amplifier of voice. * BrainPickings *

Author Bio

Wendy MacNaughton is a New York Timesbestselling artist, illustrator, and graphic journalist with a degree in social work who combines these practices to tell the stories of people who are often overlooked. She has illustrated and/or authored eleven books, including Salt Fat Acid Heat, The Gutsy Girl, and Meanwhile in San Francisco: The City in Its Own Words. Her visual storytelling series Meanwhile was the New York Timess first weekly drawn journalism column. The creator of DrawTogether and co-founder of Women Who Draw, she lives in the Bay Area with her wife, the author Caroline Paul. Instagram/Twitter/YouTube @wendymac / wendymacnaughton.com