The Angel Letters: Lessons That Dying Can Teach Us about Living

By Norman J. Fried

Working in the children's cancer unit of a New York hospital for fifteen years, Norman Fried has been psychotherapist and counselor to both physically ill children and their worried families and friends. He has been part of scenes of bitterness and pain-and has observed how these sad moments have taught all concerned about life's important lessons. Sitting at the bedsides of children with life-threatening cancer, he has been sadly fortunate to hear their messages of hope and love, which have taught him how to help those they were leaving behind. The Angel Letters is his extraordinary book based on his experiences. It is intended for the living but is composed in the form of letters addressed to a dozen different children whose last days and months he shared intimately. From each experience he draws a lesson-in love, family, courage, belonging, etc.-that can help parents and family learn to suffer through the tragedy of their sick or lost child, drawing strength from their understanding of what has happened and from an appreciation for their child's perspective. "No story ends in death," Dr. Fried writes, "not in this book, and not in life. What happens after death is ours to ponder and struggle with. Some questions remain unanswered. But how a family lives after a death, how we as mourners can carry on-these are the questions I wrestle with here." In The Angel Letters he proves to be an inspiring companion for this difficult journey.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 156663718X
• ISBN13: 9781566637183
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
• Length: 142 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Heartfelt book.

This book is such a heartfelt book. I had to read it in short bursts, because it so sad. It also is a very spiritual book as well.

The Angel Letters: Lessons That Dying can Teach us About Living

My little girl is dying and I was lead, I feel divinely, to read The Angel Letters. Where I once felt misunderstood, alone, and hopeless, I now feel empathy, support, and promise. Dr. Fried was able to talk to my mother's heart in a way that no one had, nor could. And he provided me with a perspective on dealing with watching my child die that has helped me to learn to walk this journey with her. This is an incredible book with many moving quotes by a man who does astounding work. And I would like to point out that the content of the book and the spirituality within the pages of this book are such that it would be a benefit for ANYONE to read, not just families unfortunate enough to be facing what we are. Our family, as is true for many others I am sure, will be forever grateful for his work.

Amazing

I found this book after my son died just over a month ago. Though he died suddenly in an accident and this book is about kids who had cancer and died after being sick for a while, it was such a help to me. It has inpired me to write my own "angel letter" to my son to work through my grief.

A top choice for public lending libraries.

THE ANGEL LETTERS - LESSONS THAT DYING CAN TEACH US ABOUT LIVING comes from a psychotherapist and counselor who works at a pediatric oncology unit in New York: he's had plenty of first-hand observations of the living and dying in the course of his fifteen years of duty and THE ANGEL LETTERS, based on his experiences, uses the form of letters addressed to nine different children whose last days and months he shared. Any interested in belief, acceptance, and working through illness will find THE ANGEL LETTERS an inspiration, making it a top choice for public lending libraries. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

I loved this book!

I was privlidged enough to read this book already, and must say it is brilliantly written and very heart felt. The author while talking about a very scary and upsetting subject allows the reader to focus not on death, but on life. It forever memorializes people whose lives were cut too short, and the lessons they had to teach the world.