How would you handle your last months as a mother?

When the book, The Household Guide to Dying, arrived I shuttered at the title. Not so much that its a bad title but just the idea seems horrific. The book is a fictional account of a household advice column writer who finds out that she is dying of cancer. Delia the main character has a tight grip on her household and family and the thought of dying becomes almost a job to her as she seems determined to keep her household running even through the terrible end that will inevitably happen. As a mother even the thought of leaving my son is horrifying. I've thought about the possibility more than once and really what terrifies me most is would my son remember me if I left him now? How would things continue without me? I mean I know things and life would go on but I guess what I'm trying to say is everyone wants to feel there family is taken care of even if you leave, that's exactly what Delia wants for her family.

I'm not sure I could face death with the same humor and pure determination that Delia possesses. She goes about the whole process like its a job, laying out plans for her daughters, shopping for her own coffin, even giving her husband advice on remarrying. The whole novel is sort of a journey of acceptance and there are even little bits of humor mixed in. What really strikes you is the way Delia recounts her experiences so calm, so lyrical, even when you feel crying there is something comforting about the tone of the book and the way she describes her situations. The end chapter really struck a cord with me the most. I don't feel bad revealing the obvious as the last chapter is devoted to Delia's last moments and what she thinks and feels really is sort of surprising and really comforting all at once. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm deathly scared of dying and the calmness that Delia has throughout the entire novel is really quite inspiring.

It sounds all glum and gloom but seriously The Household Guide To Dying is a great read and sure you want to scream for it all to stop and for there to be a happy ending after all. You just can't help to fall in love with Delia and admire her straight. Thanks Mother-Talk for letting us know about the book! You can pick up your own copy on Amazon.

I'm giving away my copy of The Household Guide To Dying to one lucky reader!

To enter :

• Leave a comment on this post. Check out The Household Guide To Dying and tell me what would you do for your family if you found out you were dying.
  
• Make sure there is a way for me to contact you - if your email address is not on your profile or you are not a blogger you may leave it in your comment or email it to me directly (angelaandconnor at gmail dot com) We have had to disqualify a lot of potential winners as of late as many people do not have emails available in their profiles or leave anonymous posts without any way to contact you.
• Please US entries only.
• To get extra credit :
  • For an extra entry :
  • Bloggers - Blog about this contest and leave me the link on your comment, or add me to your sidebar and let me know its there.
  • Non Bloggers (or bloggers) subscribe to my mailing list/RSS feed and earn another entry!
  • Let people know about the giveaway on Twitter with a link to the giveaway!
    
  • TWO extra credit per person. Please post your extra credit in a separate post.
  • This contest will end May 15th at midnight!