Synopses & Reviews
When Stan Goldberg was diagnosed with cancer, he chose to face his fear by helping others who were already in the process of dying: Stan signed up as a hospice volunteer and spent several years at the bedsides of the terminally ill. In this book, Stan shares the remarkable stories of people he met who were facing the end of life. Their stories shine a light on the human capacity for beauty, insight, forgiveness, and gratitude, as we see how people like us deal with anxiety and sadness with bravery and love.
But what's especially remarkable is that the bravery and love aren't as much expressed in grand, dramatic gestures as they are in ordinary acts and small accomplishments: in simple efforts at kindness, in asking for and receiving forgiveness, in the abandonment of anger, and in learning to speak directly from the heart—and to listen in the same way. What Stan ultimately discovers—and shares here—are not lessons in dying, but rather, lessons in learning how to live.
Synopsis
When Stan Goldberg was diagnosed with cancer, he was afraid and deeply saddened by his prognosis, as anyone in his situation would be. Unlike many, however, he chose to face his fear by helping others in the process of dyinghe signed up as a hospice volunteer to be at the bedsides of people who are terminally ill. His experiences changed his view of deathand lifeforever.
In this book, Stan tells the stories of people he met in hospice. He shares their very ordinary experiences of facing fear and sadness and pain with all the bravery and love they could muster. The stories shine a light on the great capacity of the human spirit for beauty, insight, forgiveness, and gratitude. Stan shows how seemingly ordinary things, such as small acts of kindness, letting go of anger, and keeping things simple can have an extraordinary effect for someone who is dyingand how they offer lasting lessons for the living.
About the Author
Stan Goldberg, PhD, coaches individual and corporate clients in how to effect change more efficiently. He is also Professor Emeritus in Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University. He has authored six technical books in that field.
He is an experienced public speaker and has published articles, poems, and plays addressing end-of-life issues. His three-act play, Choices, won first place in the 2007 Festival of New Work at the Oxford International Institute for Documentary and Drama in Conflict Transformation.
He is one of six essayists who were asked by NPR to read their “This I Believe” essay at a public gathering in 2007. He lives with his wife in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about him, visit his website at www.stangoldbergwriter.com.