Living With the End in Mind
by Erin Tierney Kramp
and Douglas H. Kramp
Three Rivers Press, NY,
1998 ISBN 0-609-80381-6
This is a wonderful little book and one that
everyone
should definitely own. I really mean that because in the
end this is a very useful book. It is practical but at the same time inspirational,
and how many times do you get that precious combination? In fact, isn't that
the best of combinations? Finding something that has enough utility so that
you make time for it and then it gives you something back in return...
This book is billed as a practical checklist
for living life to the fullest and embracing your mortality. A lot of books
have come out since the Schaivo case with all the practical things to
do associated with dying and, though well intentioned, I don't know that
I would buy any of them because that information is generally available
online. But this book is different. The author's intimacy and experience
with the details
from a first hand viewpoint and her commentary
are what really make it tick.
Ms. Kramp is a wonderful writer and person. I don't
know if she is still alive...in the late '90s she was given 3- 18 months
to live, but her spirit certainly shines through in this book. It is spiritual
but I don't get the impression that the author was trying to force religion
on anyone, and somehow she avoids the new-age quasi-spirituality tone that
ruins many a well intentioned text.
So...we recommend that you pick up this little book
and spend some time with it. If that is too difficult for you to do right
now, buy it and put it away to look at later when you are in a less hurried
and worried frame of mind. There is much of benefit to be found here.
