Red-Haired Ash Reads

We All Know How this Ends is a book that is all about helping you embrace your life, death, and grief. This was written by an End-of-Life Doula and a funeral director who share their collective knowledge in a way to help you through your mortality and your family and friends’ mortality. They also provide information written by others who have experienced various kinds of grief and loss and what they think people should know (like a parent’s loss of a child or spouse).

This was a very easy to follow book because it is broken down into short essay style sections about various aspects of life, sickness, death, and grief. Each chapter usually includes lists with bullet points on how to deal with the topic, such as How to Support a Grieving Friend. These lists were fantastic because they make learning about death and grief less daunting and also make it easier to share with other people who might need them.

While some of the information provided was a little repetitive, I found it all very useful and informative on how to deal with my own life. I appreciated that the authors interviewed other people and included their testimonials and helpful tips in this book because it provided a wider range of topics and scenarios that anyone could face.

It should be noted though that this book was written in the UK and is based on the funeral industry there, so some things don’t work the same in the USA, and also this was published during the pandemic, which features heavily throughout this book. Some of the guides are centered around the pandemic distancing structure, such as the planning a funeral section, but I still think the information can be applied to non pandemic circumstances.

Overall, this was a super helpful approach to death and dying. I think if you are struggling with death, grief, or the thought of your own end, then read this book because it could help you sort out your life and death.

TW: death; child death; miscarriages; suicide; grief; COVID pandemic;

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