We Borrowed Grandchildren for Swiss Vacation is a lovely story about two-week vacation trip to Switzerland of the European-born grandparents with their American-born eleven- and eight-years old granchildren, the first time together travel. It is an optimistic, funny and adventurous tale of worm and fulfilling relationship of the active and curious granchidren and non-less active and loving grandparents, their interaction, observations and new experiences together in the midst of the Alps, trains and boats, Swiss villages and cities. The story has a happy ending in spite of the unusual for Switzerland (once in the last 100 years) disaster - flood. The economical, informative and convenient way of travel via "Untours" is described.

Exploring subjects from the challenges of retirement to an array of travel adventures to reflections on the vagaries of daily life, author Zoya Schmuter presents in her book a collection of essays and stories that capture personal moments, but also make insightful connections that link universal experiences. The essay Retirement Coming addresses the concerns of many professional people fearful of the retirement proposition and who are challenged by the necessity of restructuring their life. We Borrowed Grandchildren for Swiss Vacation shares a funny tale of a warm and fulfilling relationship during a two-week vacation trip to Switzerland of the grandparents with their grandchildren, ending with unusual adventure caused by flooding in the Alps. The Bavarian Castle tells a romantic story of Schmuters week in a beautiful castle in Franconia where the underground path led her to the professional encounter with ancient mummies. From New York to Florida to the Poconos and beyond, Walk of Life offers a plethora of stories that explore both conflict and epiphany.

Over the last 22 years in the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Schmuter performed thousands of autopsies and testified in courts hundreds of times. Many of these cases present interest for a general reader, especially given the attention to this profession in the last decade in movies, TV shows and fiction books. The first chapter of this book is dedicated to the evolution of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner over the last 20 years, its transformation to one of the largest and best in the world. This tale is presented throughout the prism of the authors individual experiences and closely intertwined with her professional life. It lays the foundation for the following 25 chapters of challenging cases from the authors personal experience. Many of them include captivating stories of homicide investigation with court testimonies. The truth, however, is that the crime related deaths cover fewer than 15% of all cases performed by medical examiners. This book brings up and creates public awareness of many important issues beyond the traditional topic of homicides, among them drug intoxication death, child negligence and abuse, sudden death of young people, misdiagnosis, prophylactics of sudden infant death.

The Christian faith is about grace, not law, yet the evangelical church gets it wrong. Gerard Kelly uses the story of the Prodigal Son to unpack the idea, explaining as he does so why he is still willing to describe himself as part of the tribe. This book explores in depth the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, suggesting that this one story carries in concentrated form the DNA of the message of Jesus. Exploring this parable and the wider biblical story arc in which it is set, The Prodigal Evangelical suggests a reframing of the gospel narrative in four key words: beauty, brokenness, forgiveness and invitation. These four words describe the human condition ' we are beautiful, broken, forgiven and invited ' and create a telling of the Christian story that centres on the breadth and depth of the love of God. This is the narrative at the heart of evangelical faith. The Prodigal Evangelical embraces the death of Christ as essentially about forgiveness. The cross is where it becomes possible both to be forgiven and to forgive: this is the game-changing force that creates the Christian movement. In both dimensions the forgiveness offered is unilateral. The Prodigal Evangelical leads directly to Gerard's personal experience of the cross as a life-changing encounter.

Listen in as women from around the world shout Gods praise. Moments of joy and seasons of heartache are common to all of us, yet these women have learned to watch and listen for Gods love in actionHis love out loud. They have recognized His hands reaching out in welcome, His tears sliding down the face of a beloved friend, His voice whispering words of encouragement. And even when He was silent and the world seemed to be crashing down around them, they have felt His presence. You never know . . . you may have already heard His love out loud too.

Snake Mountain was in jeopardy. Plans in place to thwart zoning would level it for it's valuable road building rock. Under its shadow, the Kinderhook Creek and a small hamlet were threatened by pollution, noise, dust and a devastating visual impact. Within that hamlet was a large two-story brick former schoolhouse - deserted and deteriorating. Conventional wisdom said, 'This is a place to avoid." No, not for a couple in their seventies, an artist and a retired engineer, who had a vision which defied 'conventional." They found it by chance, saw an enormous potential, and were bold enough to accept the formidable risks in acquiring and renovating it. And so a process of change was started as they imagined a different future and then deliberately induced change to meet it. The building changed into a beautiful, studio/home later placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. They used the empty upstairs classrooms as art studios for local artists. They participated in the process that removed the threat to Snake Mountain. The artist produced important new work acquired by Boston and New York City collectors. Finally, the author found that the process of changing the building actually changed him.

The Third Edition of Family Stress Management by Pauline Boss, Chalandra M. Bryant, and Jay A. Mancini continues its original commitment to recognize both the external and internal contexts in which distressed families find themselves. With its hallmark Contextual Model of Family Stress (CMFS), the Third Edition provides practitioners and researchers with a useful framework to understand and help distressed individuals, couples, and families. The example of a universal stressor—a death in the family—highlights cultural differences in ways of coping. Throughout, there is new emphasis on diversity and the nuances of family stress management—such as ambiguous loss—plus new discussions on family resilience and community as resources for support.