When Autumn Comes: Creating Compassionate Care for the Dying (Paperback)

by Mary Jo Bennett (Author)
Key Phrases: hospice manager, spiritual care coordinator, hospice team, Becky Sue, Relevant Terms, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
When Autumn Comes will help you appreciate and respond to the important needs and delicate issues of our final passage through life. With wisdom and sensitivity, it gives practical keys for creating a holistic, comforting environment for those nearing the end of life so they can face death with peace and dignity.

The author shares her intimate relationship with death in the loss of her lover and close friends and in her many years of experience at the bedside of the dying as a hospice volunteer. Her moving journey through grief, tears and companionship shows how we can find greater compassion and understanding in caring both for the dying and for ourselves in our time of loss.

“When Autumn Comes shows us that, with compassionate care, the end of life can be a time of personal growth and healing for the dying and their loved ones.”

Dannion Brinkley, chairman and founder of Compassion in Action and author Saved by the Light

“Borrowing from her years of experience as a hospice volunteer, Mary Jo Bennett offers both practical advice and thoughtful reflection on the art of caring for the terminally ill. When Autumn Comes is invaluable to hospice volunteers and other caregivers, who are struggling with the nitty-gritty details of care and the deeper questions that often arise through such loving work.”

James Hallenbeck, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Palliative Care Perspectives

About the Author
Ms. Bennett received her hospice volunteer training in 1994 and is committed to promoting awareness and understanding about hospice and issues pertaining to death and dying. Raised in New York City, she graduated Cum Laude from Syracuse University and now resides in Montana with her husband and two young children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (April 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059531662X
• ISBN-13: 978-0595316625
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #746,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hospice Care, February 17, 2005

By	Cheryl Macdonald (Bozeman, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When Autumn Comes provides valuable insight into the profoundly compassionate work of a hospice volunteer. Bennett's heartfelt stories of companionship with the dying will touch and inspire all who open their hearts to her message. A well-written and moving book.
Cheryl MacDonald, Compassionate Care Facilitator for Faith Community

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autumn Came, March 2, 2005

By	M.A. (Montana) - See all my reviews

I found "When Autumn Comes" to be very inspiring as well as comforting reading at the time my father was passing on. I think more than anything it helped me to recognize my own agenda vs. my father's real needs and state of mind. This book helped me to not be so afraid of death and instead to support my father and actually encourage him in this process by my mindful presence. I will never forget this rich experience of being at his side until the moment when he took his final breath. It was an honor, a joy and a privilege and I am so grateful to have had this guidebook for support to enhance my spiritual understanding of the death process.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Book, February 23, 2005

By	Doris W. Davis (Culver City, California) - See all my reviews

The stories Ms. Bennett tells in When Autumn Comes have the power to penetrate deeply into relationship spaces most of us are unwilling to go without a guide. She has learned the sacred art of listening, and challenges me to ask this burning question everywhere I go these days, "How can I help?"