These are moving encounters that reflect the joy and sorrow of aging set in the familiar context ...
593141
These are moving encounters that reflect the joy and sorrow of aging set in the familiar context of the golf course and the camaraderie of play. Fran Wills
3082439
Some moving moments between father and sons, mothers and sons, and losing some of those you love, wrapped in a good story.
1729458
So many people write about aging, but here is a book written about aging by someone who is actually aging. Set in an assisted living facility, The Magic Table is inspired by the conversations of a group of people who have led remarkable lives and who meet regularly around a breakfast table. It celebrates life stories in poems and prose, and provides vivid observations on the small day-to-day things that provide a spark in their collective lives. Petrocelli, a former chemist and educator, has led a remarkable life himself. (His memoir, A Peddlers Sons Travel Through the Twentieth Century is very engaging.) Reading The Magic Table is like making a visit to a favorite family member who just loves life. You can almost see the sparkle in his eyes as he relates his tales in thoughtful, funny, honest ways. The book is informed by his playful intelligence, his modesty, and above all his generosity of spirit. It provides a unique window on a world most of us only see small pieces of.
4656816
Home for the Holidays is a trip to memories of our own as we laugh and cry at human interaction
11399
The author has portrayed the arc of a family's life with all its competing emotions -- expectation and disappointment, intimacy and callousness, love and fear. The real people -- especially the author's husband, whose mind has been overrun by dementia -- come through with clear-sightedness and respect for their humanity. I especially appreciated how the author reflects on the impact to the family dynamic and the strangeness of boys become fathers to their father.

While sharing her family's travails, the author reaches out to the care givers who are a key audience for the book, admitting that one eventually becomes distanced from the loved one who is so changed.

The blend of narrative and commentary is perfect. The stories form the core, with just enough information and context to elucidate the events and their significance.
4884142
This collection captures the wrenching daily experiences of an aged mother trapped in the down draft of dementia.. Thankfully, she did not face this without the support of her daughter.

 For those of us who have been down this road, you will find a fellow traveler in Pauletta Hansel. She calls forth the grinding reality and experiences of a daughter caring for a mother who is leaving, piece by piece: "All I can do is not enough."

Hansel brings readers face to face with the love as well as with the "if onlys" and  the suffering, grief, and guilt that are a part of this long goodbye.
302694
Intimate view of another time, culture, and experience.
1663364
This is the story of a lady who makes the move from rural Lincolnshire - like myself - to rural France - like myself. Though the similarities between us end there.
Whereas I came over here as a fresh-faced 22 year-old dragging a couple of suitcases along on a Eurolines coach, Tottie makes the move much later on in life, together with her 90-year old mother, who suffers from vascular dementia, and her brother and his depressed dipsomania. Oh, and we mustn't forget Meic, her epileptic dog. All of them, with a nurse and carer accompanying them for the trip, in a motorhome and an old van.
It's a very touching read that takes us back to Tottie's childhood and around the UK and France, as we learn about her family and her later quest for a new home, somewhere to live her dream and let her mother enjoy one final adventure. Tottie's style is open and honest, raising a smile here and touching a nerve there.
I have to admit I was initially somewhat disappointed not to learn more about their actual life in France. This book is really about the search for their new home and how they make their move, so I guess that means that the adventures they experienced once settled in the Auvergne are yet to come!
An entertaining, very well written tale, and I look forward to the next instalment!
4363455
This is a moving account of grief and the healing power of nature, and of testing one's physical abilities in order to reconnect with life in the aftermath of death.
1563727
After reading Wurdock's collection of short stories, I just felt more human. I didn't plan on reading as much as I did, for as long as I did, but I couldn't help it.

The author's prose have the same consistency of flowing water. I felt like I was being taken on a spiritual and emotional journey downriver, where there was calm water, then mighty rapids, then a steady calm again.

Books like this remind me of how important it is to just take time to reflect upon our lives. We need to appreciate the little things as they float past.

I highly recommend this collection, as it captures the good times in life as well as the beautiful sadness that makes us all human.
93247
The young author brings to life sensitive feelings of aging men and women with an ongoing historical WW II story that drew me in to a complex flow of emotions both sad and truthful.
2868589
This is really three stories, intertwined in a manner that is both moving and entertaining.
The first story involves a man's love for his family  and his desire to provide for and protect his mother as she enters her 90's.  If you have ever been involved with the care of an elderly relative whose memory is slipping but whose determination is not, his pointed, but fond, observations will make you laugh.  The second story is of the growing up of a boy, an only child, loved by his parents, who knows from a very early age that he is "different".  His parents have no words to acknowledge this or to help him and he clearly has struggled with  self acceptance and with the feeling that he has let his parents down in some way.  If there lingers in the back of your mind that homosexuality is a "choice" - read this book and ponder a bit more.  The third story is about small town Midwest - what it was and how it has changed.
All in all it is a very well written memoir written by a man whose honesty, humanity, and humor shine through.
4266656
The authors capture the old times of my life allowing me to relive some great memories.
4256481
Crafted in a series of flashback stories, a life lived is told. Having grown up in a different culture, I thoroughly enjoyed the insights into another culture along with pieces of commonality - seniors' residences, feelings of inadequacy, fear for our children, desire for ourselves.
1234318
touching look at aging friends and mending life's bad choices.  Love comes again a second time,  Using the precious time you have left.
2537136
Entering the Blue Stone is enormously moving and beautifully constructed. It is unflinching in showing the indignities and cruelties that our ways of dealing with old people make almost inevitable, and frank in its picture of family dynamics and the hold they still have even as aging parents lose competence. Yet through its marvellous humour and basic good will it gives some comfort in the midst of regret, frustration, anger, and grief. The message seems to be that we will make mistakes, even important mistakes, in caring for our old people, and will suffer important defeats, but as families we must keep trying, keep talking, and keep appreciating the bright spots.
4902891
I have been working in the geriatric field for four years, and am  currently studying it in college.  I bought this book to read for pleasure,  and to reaffirm why I chose to work with the older generation.  This is a  wonderful book that honors the elderly with heartwarming stories of family,  friends, love and the effect of one life on another.  Many of the stories  reminded me of my own life and relationships with my grandparents.  I would  recommend this book as a gift for people who work with the elderly, such as  a favorite nurse or caregiver. They will truly appreciate it, as will  anyone who has been touched by the life of an elderly person.  I would  recommend this book as a fun book to read and bring back memories of your  past.