in 1984, when Sharon Brown's mother Betty became terminally ill with bone cancer, Sharon and her husband (writer Andreas Schroeder) brought Betty home to live her last weeks with them and their two young daughters. With the help of her family, trusted professionals and close-knit community of friends, Brown helped her mother die with dignity, surrounded by the strength of love. Her unflinching story, taken from the journals she kept during the intense last year of her mother's life, is by turns tragic and hilarious, harrowing and tender. It is must reading for anyone who has or ever will care for a cherished loved one who is dying, and for any front-line palliative care worker.