We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Mother's book is message of hope
FREE Catholic Classes
By Matt Abbott
Op/Ed
Catholic Online
Pamela Yates has been through quite a lot in the last 12 years. The New York native, raised by a Roman Catholic father and a Jewish mother, lost her 27-year-old son, Sean Reynolds, to cancer in 1994.
Reynolds' death was preceded by seizures, which, according to two former hospice nurses, could have been prevented.
"I believe in the higher concept of hospice care, but the hospice industry in this country is broken," said Yates (via e-mail). "The families of hospice patients have no standing under the law. When the patient dies, there is no incentive or pressure to keep the hospice system doing good works."
(Yates is a friend of Ron Panzer, founder and president of Hospice Patients Alliance.)
She has written a book about the experience -- "The Gift of More: Lessons on Faith and Love From a Life Cut Short," whose website is www.thegiftofmore.com.
The book, which comedian Jay Leno has called "[a] truly inspiring story that really helps to put your priorities in order," "chronicles a year in the life of her family and its emotional transformation from fearfulness and uncertainty, to acceptance and faith, and ultimately to the profoundly comforting belief in the transcendence of the human soul."
It "documents how her family negotiated the minefields of the medical system, explored alternative medicines, encountered the paranormal, investigated the medical use of marijuana, dealt with the harsh realities of hospice care, and discovered a wealth of meaning previously hidden to them...."
Yates experienced mystical phenomena while praying to the Virgin Mary: "...she awoke to find mysterious, elaborate markings on her right foot [which] acted as a catalyst for the spiritual growth of both her family and Sean, 'the ultimate agnostic.' And in due course it led her, in the wake of her loss, to find encouragement and hope."
Getting "The Gift of More" published was not an easy task for Yates.
"As a first time author, I could not find an agent who would take a chance on me," she said. "Also, I got the most wonderful rejection letters you can imagine. Agents would read the manuscript and say things like, 'I hope this is the one that got away.'
"'Powerful, honest, inspirational, evocative' are the words they used. I think because of all those good things, they were afraid to tackle it. It was so strange. I also believed that by trying to report the journey without malice, the message would be more readily received.
"The book has many levels and everyone seems to find something in it they can take away and use. It has been a wonderful, inspirational experience for me, too. I tried to write Gift as a reporter, with as little gratuitous emotion as I could. It is not an indictment of anything -- just the honest reporting about what happened to all of us during that final year.
"The interesting thing is that many doctors and nurses have called to tell me to make sure health care professionals read Gift. They say even with all their training, they never get the real-world information contained in my book.
"Honestly, if it were not for the mystical experience I had during that last year, I wouldn't have had the courage and belief that I must write [my book] for others."
___________________
(Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic journalist and commentator. He is a columnist for and/or contributor to Catholic Online, TheConservativeVoice.com, RenewAmerica.us, MichNews.com, Opeds.com and Speroforum.com. He is also an occasional contributor to "The Wanderer" Catholic newspaper. He can be reached at mattcabbott@hotmail.com)
Contact
Matt Abbott
https://www.catholic.org
IL, US
Matt Abbott - Author,
mattcabbott@hotmail.com
Keywords
Catholic, Abbott
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol