I Have No Intention of Saying Good-Bye: Parents Share Their Stories of Hope and Healing After a Child's Death

Rating:
Summary: Keeping memories alive
Review: A very personal and touching book about those who have experienced the tragedy of letting go of a loved one, but "have no intention of saying goodbye." It is a powerful reminder that a life that has prematurely been taken away, still has many memories of joys and blessings that always need to be remembered. It is a book worth reading by those who are trying to deal with their own personal loss, as much as well-intending family and friends who want to comfort and keep this special person alive in their memories.

Rating:
Summary: Review of I Have No Intention Of Saying Goodbye by Sandy Fo
Review: After my four year old son died in May of 2001 I almost immediately began reading books on healing after the loss of a child. I found this book with it's insights of so many parents to be of great comfort to me. Knowing that I was not alone in this sea of uncertainty was so helpful. I would highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Review of I Have No Intention Of Saying Goodbye by Sandy Fo
Review: After my four year old son died in May of 2001 I almost immediately began reading books on healing after the loss of a child. I found this book with it's insights of so many parents to be of great comfort to me. Knowing that I was not alone in this sea of uncertainty was so helpful. I would highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Keeping memories alive
Review: Nothing in life prepares one for losing a child. But for those of us who have lost a child, there is much to learn from the shattered worlds of the parents who have come before us. I Have No Intention of Saying Good-bye, by Sandy Fox, opens a window into the post-death lives of twenty-four parents who have lost a child or multiple children. Parents whose children have died often feel very alone. If you are such a parent, this book will help you see how much you have in common with other parents, and will give you a glimpse into how you might develop a meaningful future out of today's darkness.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling Stories from Compelling People
Review: The death of a loved one is a harsh blow. Whether it comes suddenly, in an accident or natural disaster, or after a long battle with illness, the survivors are left with an emptiness that defies description. And when the loved one is a child--no matter how old--that emptiness, says author Sandy Fox, never goes away.

Ms. Fox's 27-year-old daughter Marcy was killed in an automobile accident just when life had begun to fully open before her. The driver that caused her death has never been found.

"When your child dies, you change," Ms. Fox writes in Chapter 5: "Private Thoughts on Healing." "The person you were before is gone. The life you had before is no longer possible."

"The heartache that comes when the natural order of things is changed, when your child dies before you," adds her ex-husband Jess, Marcy's father, "is unfathomable."

In I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SAYING GOOD-BYE Ms. Fox has compiled the stories of 24 other families devastated by the loss of one or more children, revealing the similarity of the pain they suffer and the many and varied ways they dealt with it. It is an enlightening study of grief and redemption, of anger and epiphany.

This is not the first book to address the issues of mourning or the death of children. What catches the reader's attention, though, is the simplicity and honest with which Ms. Fox and those she interviewed reveal their deepest and, sometimes, darkest pain. The result is an enlightening and emotional journey that leaves one both aching for these people and applauding their strength and courage.

Whether you've lost a child yourself or know someone who has, Ms. Fox offers insights into the many ways people deal--or don't--with that loss. For those fortunate enough not to have suffered this particular pain, her book will provide education in how to respond when someone else has that comes from the one source that can't be refuted. I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SAYING GOOD-BYE should be on the reference shelves of any professional who confronts the grief-stricken.