Some pasts are doomed to be repeated. Seventeen-year-old Dominique thinks her life is over when she’s forced to move across the country during her senior year. All she wants to do is make it to graduation, and then she can move back to Michigan for college. That's the plan. That is, until her new neighbor pressures her into playing a mystical card game. And this deck is like no other. With one touch of the cards, Dominique plunges into a vision of a crimson desert inhabited by a dark presence with murderous intent. She desperately tries to convince herself it’s all in her head, but the images refuse to be ignored. And when the apparitions include hints of past lives, Dominique realizes the darkness is really after her. Not only in her visions, but also in her reality. If she’s to survive, she must discover the secrets hidden in her past. If she doesn’t she’ll be dead. For real.

For seventeen-year-old Dominique, nothing sucks more than being forced to move across the country during senior year. Angry and feeling alone, she thinks things can't get any worse until her new neighbor pressures her into playing a psychic card game. When she touches the cards, she has a vision of a red desert where a malignant presence hints at past lives and threatens to kill her...again. Convinced she's gone crazy, Dominique struggles to forget the experience, but the vision follows her and intensifies with each repetition. Adding to her problems are two guys mysteriously connected to her fate. If Dominique is to put an end to the evil pursuing her, she must push through her fears, discover the secrets of her past, and set the ultimate survival plan into action. If she doesn't, she'll be dead. For real.

"Grounded in ethnographic data, the book offers an examination of how policy and meaning frame the choices Japanese make about how to die. As an essay in descriptive bioethics, it engages an extensive literature in the social sciences and bioethics to examine some of the answers people have constructed to end-of-life issues. Like their counterparts in other postindustrial societies, Japanese find no simple way of handling situations such as disclosure of diagnosis, discontinuing or withholding treatment, organ donation, euthanasia, and hospice. Through interviews and case studies in hospitals and homes, Susan Orpett Long offers a window on the ways in which "ordinary" people respond to serious illness and the process of dying."--BOOK JACKET.

In this full length book with a new preface added, Barbara Karnes shares her insights and experiences gathered over decades of working with people during their final act of living. For both professionals and lay people, this book weaves personal stories with practical care guidelines, including: living with a life threatening illness, signs of the dying process, the stages of grief, living wills, and other end of life issues. The Final Act of Living: Reflections of a Long-Time Hospice Nurse is an end of life book; a resource that reads like a novel, yet has the content of a textbook.Barbara wrote this book following years of being a hospice nurse at the bedside of hundreds of people in the months to moments before death. From the stories and experiences she shares, you will see that death doesn't just happen, there is an unfolding; there is a process to dying. The Final Act of Living is used as:*A resource on end of life for palliative care nurses*A training handbook for hospice nurses and volunteers*A reference book for anyone working with end of life issues: Lay ministers, social workers, counselors, nurses, chaplains*An easy read for anyone interested in dying and grief*A text book in college and university classes, CNA training, social work and LPN/RN classesThis material may be described as an "end of life book" however, as the title states, its content and philosophy is all about The Final Act of Living.

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.

In this moving and compassionate classic—now updated with new material from the authors—hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill. Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share. Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.

The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments The book The In-Between by author Hadley Vlahos explores the profound experiences and encounters of individuals nearing the end of their lives. Vlahos, a hospice nurse who has worked intimately with terminally ill patients, shares some of the most poignant and memorable stories and moments she has witnessed in her patients during her career. Throughout the course of the book, Vlahos thoughtfully recounts the tales and narratives of the unique people she has cared for who are navigating the challenging and painful journey of dying. Each chapter focuses closely on a specific encounter Vlahos had with a patient, illuminating the distinctive personalities, struggles, fears, insights, and triumphs of each individual. From an elderly woman reminiscent about her long, fulfilling life to a young man bravely facing his mortality with grace, each person's intimate story and perspective provides a vivid testament to the resilience and strength of the undaunted human spirit when confronted with its mortality. One of the fundamental themes Vlahos emphasizes throughout the book is the overpowering importance and impact of human connection, relationships, and support when dealing with dying patients. Vlahos stresses just how profoundly meaningful the effects of companionship, community, and caring support can be for individuals nearing the end of their life's journey. She also highlights the significance of being attentively present, empathetic, and responsive to the multifaceted needs of the dying, even when it can be extremely emotionally difficult and challenging for caregivers and loved ones to do so. Overall, The In-Between represents a stirring and candid tribute to the diverse individuals Vlahos has encountered whose lives have touched her deeply as their nurse, and who faced the process of death with grace, courage, and stoic dignity.

Perfect for fans of The Illuminae Files and The 100, in this heart-racing sequel to The Final Six the teen astronauts must figure out the truth about Europa before it’s too late. It was hard enough for Naomi to leave Leo, a fellow Final Six contestant, behind on a dying Earth. Now she doesn’t know who to trust. The International Space Training Camp continues to dodge every question about its past failed mission, and Naomi is suspicious that not everything is as it seems on her own mission to Europa. With just one shot at Jupiter’s moon, Naomi is determined to find out if there is dangerous alien life on Europa before she and her crew get there. Leo, back on Earth, has been working with renegade scientist Dr. Greta Wagner, who promises to fly him to space where he can dock with Naomi’s ship. And if Wagner’s hypothesis is right, it isn’t a possibility of coming in contact with extraterrestrial life on Europa—it’s a definite, and it’s up to Leo to find and warn Naomi and the crew. With questions piling up, everything gets more dangerous the closer that the mission gets to Europa. A storm threatens to interfere with Leo’s takeoff, a deadly entity makes itself known to the Final Six, and all questions the ISTC has been avoiding about the previous mission get answered in a terrifying way. If the dream was to establish a new world for humans on Europa…the Final Six are about to enter a nightmare.

Life's Final Exam is an inclusive treatment for one's last days of life that gives readers the resources to face death squarely and deal successfully with that often fearful and painful but also saving moment. Down-to-earth and practical as well as scriptural, both fresh and mature, it draws us in with superb narratives and also answers tough questions about death and dying.

Retellings of the Buddha's life story have animated and sustained Buddhist thought and practice through some 2,500 years of history. To this day, Buddhist holidays and rituals are pinned to the arc of his biography, celebrating his birth, awakening, teaching, and final nirvana. His story is the model that exemplary Buddhists follow. Often, there is a moment of insight akin to the Buddha's experience with the Four Sights, followed by a great departure from home, and a period of searching that it is hoped will lead to final awakening. The Buddha's story is not just the Buddha's story; it is the story of Buddhism. In this book, twelve leading scholars of South Asian texts and traditions articulate the Buddha-life blueprint--the underlying and foundational pattern that holds the life story of a buddha together. They retell the episodes of Buddha Gautama's extended life story, while keeping in mind the cosmic, paradigmatic arc of his narrative. The contributors have dedicated their careers to exploring hagiographical materials, each applying their own methodological and theoretical interests to shed new light on the enduring story of Buddhism. Using multiple perspectives, voices, and sources, this volume underscores the multivalent centrality of this story. The book will be an invaluable resource to practicing Buddhists and students of Buddhist Studies to help them engage in the most foundational story of the tradition.