What would happen if The Unthinkable blindsided you, requiring everything be put on hold to become a full time caregiver for a loved one? At the very least, it would reshape your life. Without a survival guide, it could even destroy it.Barb Owen delivers precisely that survival guide in NORMAL Doesn "t Live Here Anymore: An Inspiring Story of Hope for Caregivers. She weaves a story, through the first two parts of the book, based on her life-changing experience as primary caregiver for her elderly parents. Following each chapter a bit of wisdom gained from Barb "s experience is summarized as a Reflection. The third part of NORMAL Doesn "t Live Here Anymore addresses the critical need for self-care for the new and seasoned caregiver alike. Specific suggestions abound for Me Time ”how to find it ”what to do with it ”and how very important it is for sustaining oneself throughout the often arduous caregiving-marathon. This truly inspiring book is one part parable, one part autobiography and all survival guide, illuminating a path for the more than 65 million caregiving Americans. SEverything hinges on your ability to care for both yourself and your loved one, says Owen. SThis maxim is of great consequence ”heed it, and you will endure. Dismiss it, and you will have trouble surviving. Take care of yourself, your loved one and keep the faith, because you "re not alone. ----- EXCERPT FROM: NORMAL Doesn "t Live Here Anymore - Chapter 21; The morning after I brought my 90-year-old Dad home from the hospital, Mom called me to say that he was not feeling at all well. My nagging intuition insisted that I visit Dad and spend some private time with him. Finding Dad awake and resting in his bed, I struggled to find my voice. Sitting beside him, I asked, SHow are you feeling this morning? SOh, I "m so-so, he sighed, as a tear rolled from his eye on to the pillow that cradled his head. SReally tired of all of this and worried about your mother. She "s having a hard time with everything. We stayed there in silence ”just being together for a few moments.Holding his hand, the heavy words finally left my mouth. SYou know, Dad, you can trust me to be sure that Mom is okay. I will take care of her, no matter what. He responded quietly, SI know. Studying and caressing my dad "s hand, I knew there was one more important conversation that the voice in my heart insisted upon. SDad, I know that this is getting to be really tough for you. If staying here becomes too hard, it "s okay to let go... During the following few weeks I watched my 89 year old Mom experience a renewed sense of purpose and increased strength as she doted on my dad and met his needs, as best she could. Some days were better than others. Most nights were difficult when Dad "s heart pain was significantly worse and his level of anxiety escalated. Often my mom would pass the hours by reading to Dad. Although her eyesight was clouding, she still managed to read the newspaper, column by column, or inspirational short stories she found in the stack of magazines beside their bed. Amazingly, dawn nearly always brought ease and comfort for them both. And so the nights and days continued ----- REFLECTION; Difficult subjects sometimes need to be discussed. You might be asked by others to deliver bad news ”news of someone "s death, a life-altering diagnosis, or even the necessity for a change in residence. Each conversation carries the potential for unleashed emotions. My advice? No matter how difficult or emotional, don "t leave words left unsaid. People, if capable of understanding, deserve information. Often, they are much stronger than we realize.Words are powerful. They carry courage, condemnation, reassurance or permission. Choose them wisely as your words may be the ones that bring freedom from pain or suffering. It "s tough, but I know you can do it and if you listen to that voice inside, you will know exactly the right time and the right words.Be Strong!

"Very positive and in tune with our needs today." LEO BUSCAGLIA Alan Cohen's story is an inspiration. From his roots as an Orthodox Jew, he took a mind-expanding tour of the teachings of Jesus, Ram Dass, Zen, Jung, the Esalen Institute, and Einstein, to name a few. In this extraordinary collection of lyrical, challenging essays, Cohen synthesizes what he has learned from these masters, and shares his journey with all of us. He discusses overcoming limitations, creating fulfilling relationships, tuning into the flow of life, transformation, finding a personal path, and the greatest gift of all, love. Read it straight through, or essay by essay, for daily meditations on the mysteries of God, love, and the spiritual path.

In this collection of blogs and essays, cultural and media analyst Dr. Walt Mueller wrestles with what it means for God’s people and the world to meet.

With his signature matter-of-fact humor, comedian and musician Dave Hill explores his increasingly close relationship with his recently widowed father in a series of painfully funny essays you will want to read again and again by the fire, at the beach, in a truck stop men’s room, or just about anywhere. It’s your call, really. These days, Dave has just the right amount of spare time to write books at home, preferably in his underwear, but things weren’t always perfect. When he found himself pushing thirty while still living with his parents in Cleveland, unsuited for anything but what an “employment expert” vaguely called a career in “art, music, writing, or entertainment,” he decided to visit some friends in New York for the weekend and never left. However, getting his life together wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped, and even an illegally subletted, rent controlled fifth-floor walk-up studio apartment with a (for the most part) working toilet wasn’t glamorous enough to erase the fact that his four siblings were all married with steady jobs and actual human offspring. And in recent years, Dave’s father had grown tired of loaning him cash and living alone in the empty family home, neither of which made much sense to Dave, but whatever. Through the process of his father’s eventual move to a retirement community, Dave and his dad bonded over the things in life that really matter: scorching-hot rock jams, the gluten allergy craze, eighteen-wheelers, Italian food (pizza and spaghetti), and whatever else could possibly be left after that. Meanwhile, Dave discovered his late-blooming manhood via experiences as disparate and dangerous as a visit to a remote Mexican prison, where he learned that people everywhere love the Eagles, and a martial arts class that pushed his resolve and his groin to their limit. In Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Hill’s voice is sharp, carefree, laced with just the right amount of profanity, and he is—seemingly despite himself—deeply empathetic as he portrays a difficult time in his family’s life and grows up just enough to realize that maybe he and his dad aren’t so different after all.

The church in Canada is in trouble. Media reports suggest that nine thousand churches are likely to close over the next ten years. The United Church of Canada reports closing a congregation a week. The Anglican Church of Canada anticipates closing its last congregation by 2040, and the Roman Catholic Church, Canada’s largest religious denomination, reports having closed one-fifth of the tradition’s 2,500 congregations. God Doesn’t Live Here Anymore traces the story of the church in Canada from its far off historical roots in biblical times, rise to dominance in medieval Europe, role in the colonization of Canada, strained relations with Canada’s First Nations, twentieth-century prominence, and the church’s dramatic decline and loss of influence entering the twenty-first century. Wood Daly pulls no punches in calling the church to accept responsibility for its own decline, while maintaining hope that resurrection is still possible. The church, as Canadians may know it, might disappear, but for Christians death has never been the end of the story.

Establishing the household as the central institution of southern society, Edwards delineates the inseparable links between domestic relations and civil and political rights in ways that highlight women's active political role throughout the nineteenth century. She draws on diaries, letters, newspaper accounts, government records, legal documents, court proceedings, and other primary sources to explore the experiences and actions of individual women in the changing South, demonstrating how family, kin, personal reputation, and social context all merged with gender, race, and class to shape what particular women could do in particular circumstances.