Loss and impermanence are inescapable, part of the warp and weft of our lives. They are essential to love, to growth, and to art. And yet, too often, we do not acknowledge loss, let alone honour the experience of it. Illuminating, thoughtful, and deeply necessary, Susan Cain's new book will help us to name and value the experience of loss, pointing the way toward ways of being and rituals that help us to accept it rather than bury it. Blending memoir, reportage, and social science, it will reveal that joy and loss exist in equilibrium; that vulnerability, or even a melancholy temperament, can be a strength; and that embracing our inevitable losses makes us more human and more whole.
A personal memoir explores the intertwined natures of happiness and sadness, discussing how bitter experiences balance out the sweetness in life and how change can be an opportunity for growth and a function of God's graciousness.
"The movement of people out of China is one of the largest movements of humanity in modern times, and large numbers of Chinese emigrated to the colony of the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Bittersweet is the poignant story of one Chinese family's life in Indonesia, and of their eventual emigration to Australia." -- BACK COVER.
Just a few of the vitally important lessons in caring for your aging parent—and yourself—from Jane Gross in A Bittersweet Season As painful as the role reversal between parent and child may be for you, assume it is worse for your mother or father, so take care not to demean or humiliate them. Avoid hospitals and emergency rooms, as well as multiple relocations from home to assisted living facility to nursing home, since all can cause dramatic declines in physical and cognitive well-being among the aged. Do not accept the canard that no decent child sends a parent to a nursing home. Good nursing home care, which supports the entire family, can be vastly superior to the pretty trappings but thin staffing of assisted living or the solitude of being at home, even with round-the-clock help. Important Facts Every state has its own laws, eligibility standards, and licensing requirements for financial, legal, residential, and other matters that affect the elderly, including qualification for Medicare. Assume anything you understand in the state where your parents once lived no longer applies if they move. Many doctors will not accept new Medicare patients, nor are they legally required to do so, especially significant if a parent is moving a long distance to be near family in old age. An adult child with power of attorney can use a parent’s money for legitimate expenses and thus hasten the spend-down to Medicaid eligibility. In other words, you are doing your parent no favor—assuming he or she is likely to exhaust personal financial resources—by paying rent, stocking the refrigerator, buying clothes, or taking him or her to the hairdresser or barber.
Lemon Drops: A Bittersweet Memoir traces the journey of author Frances Chin's mother as she travels from China to San Francisco in 1935 as a "picture bride" in an arranged marriage. She had five daughters with the husband she barely knew and rarely saw, thus was left to raise five daughters alone in a strange new land. After the family moved to Oakland, as each of Frances' two older sisters turned 13, they left home to live and work for rich white families as "mother's helpers." When Frances turned 13, she followed in their footsteps. Each time, she stands at the curb in front of her house with all her possessions in a brown paper bag-waiting for her ride to yet another home-and another job. No one is there to say goodbye or to tell her not to go. Frances kept secrets from her mom of growing up as a teenager-until now. Frances has written this book as a tribute to her beloved mother in appreciation for all of her sacrifices and hard work.
Many families dream of starting a business and creating a long-lasting legacy for furture generations. After a humble childhood filled with economic hardship, L.S. Heath pursued that dream for his family...
A woman's journey across the world in search of sex and chocolates. She is Charlotte of New York whose amours leave her hungry for chocolates because "women crave chocolate when they fall in love with longing." The novel includes recipes for deserts and addresses of famous chocolatiers. A debut in fiction.
Notwithstanding this, Yankele endures as a story of happiness, revealing the depths of faith, courage and honor - in spite of the odds - of this modern day Job."--BOOK JACKET.
