As Suzanne O’Brien shares in her book Creative Positive Passings: End of Life Doula, Level 1, Caregiver Training, 90 percent of a “Positive Passing” is planning ahead. No matter what the actual disease process, if someone has made their own choices for what they want or what they do not want for end of life care and if the loved ones (caregivers) have the basic skills on how to care for their loved one in this last phase—the overall experience can be better by 90 percent! She continues to share that each and every one of us will be called to assist someone at the end of life. Whether it is a family member, friend, or someone in the community.¹ If you’d like to learn more, we encourage you to read Suzanne’s book, Creative Positive Passings: End of Life Doula, Level 1, Caregiver Training. The information in this book will help you to assist another human being and their family to have the most positive end of life experience possible. Suzanne O'Brien is a nurse with heart, love and passion for helping others make a positive transition.

Since the release of my book “Five Years to Live,” I have met with dozens of families who have received and had to deal with the phone call every dreads; “There has been an accident and your son/daughter is paralyzed.” Now what? What does the family do? Who do they contact? When will they know something? How badly is he/she hurt? How do they get to the hospital? Who can take them to the airport? Where do they stay? How do they cope with the shock, grief, and the major overhaul of their life?

What is unconditional love? Webster’s New World Dictionary defines unconditional as without conditions or reservations; absolute. Most of us will admit we hope to find someone to love and who will love us back without conditions or reservations for the rest of our life. Usually, we are referring to a spouse or a significant life partner. We want the “happily ever after story.” As much as we hope and look for unconditional love, it is very hard to find. Yet the difficulty does not deter us from the quest. The search for unconditional love is so powerful that Valentine’s Day, has become one of the priciest holidays in the US. Those in love or seeking love are set to spend $20.7 billion this year for Valentine’s Day, says the National Retail Federation, beating the 2016 record of $19.7 billion.

When it comes time for your first child to enter the world, you're going to feel unprepared. It's simultaneously one of the most rewarding and difficult experiences of your life, and you want to be as prepared as possible. From sleep deprivation to diaper rash, learning milestones to first laugh, this will be an exciting but challenging time.

Many of us do not fully comprehend Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Asperger Syndrome. Even if we are surrounded by individuals who land on the autistic spectrum or have children with special needs, it is difficult to understand the thought process and perspective that they have on the world. You see, kids with autism have a unique way of thinking. This perspective can make life either incredibly interesting or incredibly difficult for those who have been diagnosed with the disorder. For those of you who are raising children with autism, you know the type of parenting that comes with it, but most of the time, that doesn't mean you're an expert by any means.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin is a lovely and touching novel with ideas that everyone can relate too. In this story, we follow the heartbreaking tale of Suzy as she discovers more about her world––things she never knew. Captured by tragedy and misery, Suzy has to learn again how to enjoy the things around her. The Thing About Jellyfish is an influential book about one person’s journey in finding happiness despite the sadness everywhere.

Whenever I see a book or an article with 'the *** way of...', I immediately have my guard up. There is something about it that seems to indicate that the author seems this is the right way to do things. The world isn't so black and white or "one size fits all."

We have all heard of summer reading, but it always comes to an end way too soon. I am a huge fan of reading, no kidding, my mom used to have to ground me from it. My mom made me read books all the time during the summer, but she didn't let me read fun books. I had to read books like Old Yeller (I Cried), Where The Red Fern Grows ( I cried), and Gone With The Wind (I didn't cry, but have you seen how long that book is?). These books are fun and have good stories in them. Trust me, I still read them.

As an expectant parent, there are a million questions you'll face about pregnancy and how to raise your children. Navigating all of the conflicting information, statistics, and opinions can be overwhelming. With such a vast number of resources, from pregnancy apps to books to videos to articles, how do you know what sources can you trust? Where can you find help?

“Finishing a good book is like saying goodbye to a good friend,” as I’m sure many have said. After placing The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee back on my bookshelf, I stared into space for a while, deeply aware of an emptiness in my stomach. During the past seven days, I have experienced the ups and downs of life exponentially magnified through reading the “biography” of cancer.

This book is dedicated to my beautiful daughter—Isabella Amore-Lauren Yandoli.

“Anything dead coming back to life hurts.”