National Network for Equitable Library Service

"We can all learn to open our hearts to hear what a dying person really needs at the end of his life if we are just able to listen." —Jillian Brasch, O.T.R., The Last Gifts The Last Gifts tells the stories of 17 dying patients, whom Jillian Brasch cared for as an occupational therapist. Brasch shows that providing care to someone who is dying isn't depressing—it is awe-inspiring and fosters a profound sense of love. No other book on the market deals with issues of death and dying from the functional and creative viewpoint of an occupational therapist. According to a recent AARP report, 34 million people offer care to a loved one. With more than 30 years spent as a caregiver, a motivator and a coach, Brasch shares her reflections as an occupational therapist and a hospice worker in this harrowing and heartfelt collection. Mingling her own anecdotes and personal revelations with poetry and prose from those patients she has assisted, Brasch creates a dialogue that shows caregivers how to acknowledge their fears and learn the tools to dispel them, while also providing caregivers with strength and courage. The stories give both guidance and the permission to be creative and vulnerable. A wealth of knowledge learned (and earned) through experience exists between these pages. A manual of the heart for those working with the terminally ill, The Last Gifts shows how to get past the physical unpleasantness to see the blossoming of a soul as it sheds its earthly limitations.