Georgetown Peabody Library

Lessons from a gentle life, reflections on love, loss and healing, Janis Gonzales, MD

eng

no index present

non fiction

Lessons from a gentle life

Janis Gonzales, MD

reflections on love, loss and healing

At its most fundamental level, this is a story of a child’s life and death, and a mother’s subsequent struggle to find meaning again and to live an examined life. But this is much more than another personal memoir; it is a heartfelt, incisive, sometimes painful and often funny description of the way in which a mother’s life was transformed by the lessons she learned from her young daughter, lessons that enabled her to become resilient and, in time, to fully live, and even find joy, after a devastating loss. From her unique perspective as a physician, mother, spiritual seeker, and writer, Dr. Gonzales uses the story of her daughter’s life as a springboard to discuss such broad-ranging topics as the practice of medicine, prenatal testing, the power of prayer, the search for guidance, and the need for connection, giving us a profoundly moving look into both the depths of grief and the possibilities of hope. She shows us how to help someone who is grieving, and how we can go on and find healing in the face of devastating loss. Through it all runs a bond of pure love between a mother and a daughter, a love so powerful it goes on, even after death.This book is a gift to anyone who has suffered from an illness, anyone who has grieved a painful loss, and anyone who has been forced to realize that life doesn’t happen according to plan

Introduction -- Lightning strikes -- The blessings of an imperfect life -- Practicing medicine -- To hope or not to hope -- A grief observed -- Growning pains -- Signs of life -- Unexpected gifts -- Alchemy -- Epilogue