Happy Endings - by Lorna Bell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Happy Endings is a collection of forty stories about people who said good-bye in unique and uplifting ways. This is not to say their narratives--generously shared with the author by families and caregivers--are without pain and sorrow. Yet, the final stage of life holds remarkable possibilities to strengthen bonds between loved ones and confirm our faith in the hereafter. An elderly woman prepares a magnificent deathbed of rose petals from bouquets in her sickroom . . . a young boy climbs aboard a pony only he and his mother can see . . . a delirious man hands his daughter a piece of tissue in the perfect likeness of an angel. Dying is the natural conclusion to life, and these stories invite you to re-examine your own perception of death. Most of all, they remind us that, while our time here on Earth is temporary, our spiritual existence is not. The publication of Happy Endings led to the discovery of more stories in the same vein and a second volume, More Happy Endings, containing an additional forty-five stories, followed the first. Here, both volumes are brought together in a single package.

About the Author

A nurse for forty-seven years and hospice nurse since 1995, Lorna Bell's first book, Gentle Yoga: For People with Arthritis, M.S., Strokes and Wheelchairs (coauthored with Eudora Seyfer), was motivated by her desire to help those with mobility problems. She considers herself a storyteller rather than an author, and since she's been a hospice nurse, Lorna has wanted to help break the uncomfortable silence that often surrounds those concluding their lives. Happy Endings "exemplifies the beautiful, hopeful side of a difficult, sad subject," she says. "Stories like these have been kept a secret long enough." The author lives in Dallas with her husband, Ron. They enjoy gardening, walking, photography, and visiting their four children and eight grandchildren.