Caring for a loved one who is dying at home is an extraordinary experience and an amazing privilege. It is also a journey with a known destination that we deny right up until we reach its shores. We know it is coming and are surprised when it actually arrives. We long for it to be over and dread that it actually will. It is a sacred, amazing and, sometimes frightening passage.

And, now, you are about to take this journey with your loved one.

It means that someone you love is dying at home and that you are about to enter a trying season of life that may be harder than you imagine. You might be truly frightened about what is to come or maybe you only need some guidance and encouragement. Either way, I want to help you through this time.

By giving you a map, a compass and a lot of encouragement, I hope to help make this a more peaceful passage for you and your loved one. This essential guide will facilitate that process.

You are entering a time of personal growth that may be unlike anything you have been through before. You will be challenged to reevaluate yourself and your beliefs and you will find resources inside you that you didn't know were there.

There will be days when you are filled with energy and love. There will also be days when you are exhausted physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I want you to know that...

• ...You are stronger than you think you are.
• ...You are more courageous than you think you can be.
• ...You are able to take this journey.
• ...You are not going through this alone.

It is designed for the time after the decision for hospice and dying at home has been made. It will show you how to pick the right help, how to care for your loved one, what to expect, the emotional changes you will both experience, and techniques to help you handle these changes well.

It will help you cope with the emotional storms while giving you practical, hands-on knowledge to care for your loved one, giving you answers for some of your questions and resources to find others.

We will talk about family and friends, finances and hands-on care-giving, children and grief, as well as much more. You can keep this book as a handy resource as you move from the beginning to the end of this journey.

You will find checklists to keep you organized and pages for you to chronicle your own journey. The book is designed so that you can quickly and easily find the information you need.

Our goal here is to keep you on course, guide your daily life and not let you get shipwrecked on the way.

I encourage you to journal, either in the pages in this book or elsewhere. This journey's log of your loved one dying at home is something you will return to many times and read. It will recount this amazing time in your life and be a treasure to you later in life.

So, I know you have a lot of questions and a lot to do. Let's get started.

You can get a further preview of this book by going to Peaceful Passage.

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