Publisher: Semper Distinguit Publications 2016; 97 pages

Monica Hannan, an anchor on KFYR-TV News, writes about death, giving examples and of how people react to what comes to us all. Her observations are made against the background of her strong Catholic faith as well as sacraments of the Catholic Church relating to death.

While writing of the stories of the experiences of families dealing with the impending death of loved ones, she weaves in a story of her father’s death and the disposition of his remains and how she handled it within her Catholic faith.

This is a warm and engaging book, and many of the people in it are ones I have known for quite some time, so their stories and observations are more personal to me. Most of these stories are of impending deaths, in which the families have time to gather, consider and plan over a period of a few days, months or even years.

When death is instantaneous, you have no time to prepare. It simply hits you hard, and there is nothing you can do about it. I agree with a contributor of Hannan’s who essentially says we should live every day to the fullest as if it were to be our last day. We need to show love for the people in our lives every day, and not just on their last days.

Her stories are of families facing the death of loved ones, of near death experiences and of how the one about to die seems to have made peace and granted themselves release from this life. She writes about cremation, which is ever more common, and the need for some to see the body one last time. The first embalmed and prepared body I saw was within a year or two after high school when one of the guys in our class, who was always laughing and smiling, drowned. When I saw his body, I knew instantly that God exists because what I saw was a lifeless lump of clay. Without his God-given life and soul, he no longer existed. He was free of this life and into the next.

Through Hannan’s examples, her journey with her father and the reflections of priests, doctors and the families of those who have crossed over to what lies ahead, you can understand how Hannan can write of the "Gift of Death" as a message of hope and comfort. My World War II Navy devoted Catholic friend and my Sigma Chi Fraternity brother Al Kosir is fond of saying, “Death is a part of life, and it might be the best part.”

At 97 pages, this book is a quick read. It’s interesting and it makes you think. This is a good book to read about a subject common to all of us. Do yourself and your family a favor — prepare and properly execute a living will and a health care directive. You never know when they will be needed.