I WAS 27 WHEN MY DAD WAS GIVEN 3 MONTHS TO LIVE. THERE WAS NOTHING MORE THEY COULD DO.
HE WAS TERMINAL.
6 WEEKS LATER HE DIED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
ALONG WITH MY MOM AND MY SISTER I HELD HIS HAND AND HE TOOK HIS LAST BREATHS IN THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN.
TWO HOURS LATER, I READ THIS BOOK...
“WITH OVER 30 MILLION COPIES SOLD, THE LITTLE BLUE BOOK IS THE MOST BELOVED AND WIDELY USED RESOURCE OF ITS KIND. HOSPICE PIONEER BARBARA KARNES, RN, WROTE GONE FROM MY SIGHT TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE NORMAL, NATURAL STAGES OF DYING.”
& THEN I WROTE THIS BOOk...
SO SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS DYING IS A MODERN GRAPHIC NOVEL THAT IS AN UPDATED, REIMAGINED TAKE ON THE LITTLE BLUE BOOK.
THIS BOOK HAS THREE PARTS...
Part OnE
An intimate guide through the dying experience.
Explains what happens to someone who is terminally ill during the months, weeks, days and minutes before death.
Part TWO
A workbook-memorybook-handbook
Practical things to do when you find out someone you love is dying. From questions to ask a dying loved one, to planning a meaningful funeral to writing a memorable obituary.
PART THREE
My experience losing my dad
Anecdotal snapshots of my experience while my dad was dying of cancer, from diagnosis to his final 3 days. You’ll see these excerpts appear on the yellow pages. The reader has the option to flip through them to read or skip these parts.
SO SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS DYING...
INtimatelY GUIDES THE READER THROUGH THE DYING EXPERIENCE OF SOMEONE WHO IS TERMINALLY ILL
EXPLORES WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE MONTHS, WEEKS, DAYS AND SECONDS BEFORE DEATH
IS CONVERSATIONAL, COMPASSIONATE and PROVIDES STRAIGHTFORWARD FACTS, PAIRED WITH BEAUTIFUL BLACK AND WHITE HAND-DRAWN GRAPHICS AND TYPOGRAPHY.
HAS INSERTED ANECDOTES FROM THE AUTHOR’s EXPERIENCE OF LOSING HER FATHER
GIVES practical ADVICE ON THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT THINK TO DO WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS DYING.
provides inspiration on how to plan a meaningful funeral and write a memorable obituary.
SO SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS DYING... IS BOTH “THE INFORMATION” AND “THE HUG” YOU NEED WHEN FACING DEATH YOURSELF OR WATCHING SOMEONE YOU LOVE DIE. IT’S THE BOOK I WISH I HAD READ WHILE MY DAD WAS DYING OF CANCER.
The Little Blue Book was so helpful and I wished I had read it weeks prior to my dad’s passing. It was unbelievable how much of that book actually happened to my dad. The dying experience does follow some sort of pattern.
I found comfort in that; I found comfort in the facts.
Reading Hospice’s Little Blue Book made me realize I wanted to create something just as helpful and informative, but when read feels less like a textbook and more like a hug. I want the experience of reading it to feel like a friend talking to you about what to expect during a scary time. I want the pages to be sensitive and compassionate to the dying experience and to what the reader is facing while also helping them find the love and beauty in loss.
I want to normalize the conversation around the dying experience.
Why are we so afraid of it? WHY IS IT SO HARD TO TALK ABOUT?
Maybe if we knew more, it wouldn’t be so scary or hard.
