Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived [Paperback]

Maria Housden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Every once in a while a book comes along that can change your life–a book so special, it is destined not just to be read but to be cherished, to be passed from one reader to another as a precious gift. Filled with wisdom and grace, tears and laughter, Hannah’s Gift is one such book. Within these pages Maria Housden shares the transformative lessons in living she received from her three-year-old daughter Hannah, who brought courage, honesty, and joy to her struggle with cancer.

During the last year of her short life, Hannah was fearless in the way she faced death–and irrepressibly joyful in the way she approached living. The little girl who wore her favorite red Mary Janes into the operating room changed the life of everyone who came in contact with her. Now, in a book that preserves Hannah’s indomitable spirit, Maria Housden offers the gift of her daughter’s last year to all of us.

In a lyrically told narrative, both moving and unforgettable, Housden recounts Hannah’s battle with cancer in simple, straightforward language that transcends grief and fear to become a celebration. From Hannah’s story emerge five profound lessons–of truth, joy, faith, compassion, and wonder–that have the power to change our lives.

During her illness Hannah showed how we can truly live in the moment and break free from lives suffocated by too many unlived joys. Even more memorable is the message Hannah delivered after her death to those she loved–a message of hope for anyone faced with the deepest questions of life and death.

Hannah’s Gift nourishes the soul with an ageless wisdom all the more invaluable for having come from someone so young. A remarkable story, remarkably told, it will bring comfort to anyone touched by loss, and renewed faith in the
power of love.

Closing her eyes and extending her arms, Hannah began to dance. Oblivious to everything but the shoes on her feet, she skipped and clicked across the floor, twirling in circles, faster and faster. There was something about her pure joy and the defiant nobility of the red shoes that caught everyone’s attention....

The true measure of a life is not its length but the fullness with which it is lived


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Hannah's Gift addresses a mother's deepest fear: the death of a child. Amazingly, Maria Housden's skillful writing and mature understanding of grief make this a spiritually inspiring story about life. Housden is eager for us to learn all the lessons Hannah offered while she was dying of cancer, such as wearing red shoes that click and sparkle when you walk and never letting a doctor touch you without knowing their first name. For the reader, however, the most compelling character is Housden, a mother who endures the unfathomable. One morning Housden looks at her face in the mirror and realizes, "The grief that once threatened to swallow me up had found a home in my bones. My suffering wasn't something I was going to have to let go of; it became part of what I had to offer, part of who I am." Sure, you're going to cry. But it's the kind of heart-cracking-open cry that comes from an abundance of feelings: sorrow for this wise and gut-honest narrator; tenderness for Will, the loyal older brother that Hannah left behind; and love for this baffling, wonderful life that gives us gifts like Hannah. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived, Maria Housden delivers a lyrical, heartbreaking and heartwarming account of her three-year-old daughter's illness and death. Among the values she learns from her extraordinary child's experience are joy, a Buddha-like stillness, candor and openness. When Hannah's seven-year-old brother asks the author questions about death, Hannah is fascinated and declares that she wants to be a butterfly when her body dies. When their church has a special service to honor and pray for Hannah, she's delighted. Housden, too, offers readers a gift, particularly those seeking to help a loved one through the process of dying and themselves through the grieving process.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553381229
• ISBN-13: 978-0553381221
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hannah's Gift: A Lesson in Both Grief & Joy, April 29, 2002

By 

Janet I. Buck (Medford, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived (Hardcover)

Hannah's Gift belongs right alongside Michael J. Fox's Lucky Man on every bookshelf in the world. Nearly everyone will brush up against cancer at some point in their lives, but most of us are totally unequipped in terms of squeezing the very last drops from an ebbing life. Hannah's Gift does just that. Maria Housden addresses grief without sugarcoating its fabric and its entity. In a hospital scene, she captures the crunch of fear with a poet's quill: "There was no room in that tiny space for anything but two chairs and the truth." Housden also captures the joy, the impulsiveness, the treasure and lesson of a life that teaches us how to address the rest of ours. Hannah's red shoes, the symbol of her rich vision and carefree embracement of a moment, enrich the canvas of ours. I have loaned out this book so often that the binding is broken -- but I firmly believe it is a story that must be shared. Housden is self-effacing in her treatment of her own poignant courage, but you will see it there between the lines you absolutely can't forget.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Superbly Well-done Maria!, March 1, 2002

By 

Kathy Carroll-Shannon (Flagstaff, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived (Hardcover)

It says that I have the opportunity to be the first one to review your book through Amazon.com. Who would have known that the spiritual connection between myself and the author, Maria (Martell) Housdan would guide me to this place to review a book that is so real and so utterly uncannilly true, because I was there, not in the forefront,but as one of Will's teachers who couldn't help to try and be totally present in the life of this family; mother Maria, son Will and daughter Hannah..Sweet Hannah in her red sparkling shoes. For all of you readers out there, as you read this book, you will find that not only is Maria Housden an incredible, inspiring and motivated author, but the story she tells is so painstakingly true, that for all of us mother's, or anyone else that has the priveledge to read this book and find yourselves "living" the story, I am almost speechless to the powerfulness of this truth as to what it might feel like to lose a child, a very old soul like that of Hannah, in the "earthly" realm of existence we call LIFE, and yet go on living and learning and transforming through the stages of grieving. The teachings that this story offers are done so in such a brave and honest way, that it gives me and I hope all of you who read "Hannah's Gift"; deeper clarity about "living joyfully in the present" and establishing a place in our lives where EGO does not rule. Where there is divine spiritual connection, one can find inner peace and harmony despite the challanges put forth to us in daily living! My tears did flow while reading this book,and although I am a very sensitive person, I think that anyone who reads Maria's book will be touched and possibly changed forever..Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts to all of you, especially to you my friends, Maria, Will and Hannah! I miss you all so much, please write me. Congradulations on another step in your journey!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Red Shoes", July 9, 2003

By 

M Lib "ML" (Chardon, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hannah's Gift: Lessons from a Life Fully Lived (Paperback)

One wonders if there has been an increase in the sale of red shoes...in all sizes...following the publication of this book...? Red shoes exemplify Hannah's zest for life. As adults, Hannah's story reawakens our own desire for zestful living, our own need for "red shoes."

Even though my son Jim died at the age of 23 rather than 3, Hannah's joyous spirit reminded me very much of my son as well as of the many children whose parents I've been honored to meet (following the death of their children).

Maria Housden's gentle prose distinguishes this book from many books written by bereaved parents. Hannah's life, rather than her family's grief, is the primary focus of the book. Hannah taught her family great lessons on "how to live life more fully." Hannah's legacy continues as readers learn much about life, death, and grief through Hannah's example.

This book should be on the bookshelves of bereaved parents, nurses, physicians, and all caregivers.