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Standing The Watch: The Greatest Gift by R. J. Brown

Big River Press presents R. J. Brown's newly expanded second edition of her much-loved memoir STANDING THE WATCH: The Greatest Gift.

Standing The Watch at a home death is no walk in the park: it can be frightening, time-consuming, worrying, and often unpleasant yet it's also fertile ground for courage, discipline, spirituality, compassion, humor and love.

"I recently picked up your book [STANDING THE WATCH: The Greatest Gift] at Chinook Rx and just wanted to say that you did a great job of recounting what "final days" can be like. My husband Ron [a Vietnam Veteran] got to die at home, mostly thanks to an extraordinary caregiver who helped keep things together while I was working to maintain decent health benefits. The last thing he wanted to have happen was to die alone at the VA. I am working, mainly with elders, at West End Outreach mental health and will be keeping this book in mind as a resource for people in a similar situation. Thanks for going to the work of writing this book." Carole Rose, Forks, Washington.

"STANDING THE WATCH is a page turner, beautifully written & heart warming. One might wonder how a book about death & dying could be heart warming, but it is. R. J. Brown writes clearly, simply, & movingly, & never fails to hold the reader's interest. I cannot imagine that there is anyone who would not deepen & evolve on reading STANDING THE WATCH." Dr. Alma H. Bond, Psychotherapist & author of 11 books.

"Love it! Love it! What a wonderful tribute & I wasn't at all offended." May Tracer, another who stood The Watch for her father.

"STANDING THE WATCH is very timely with so many families taking on the challenge of a Home Death, and the author's articulate and folksy writing style makes for a very readable and fascinating tale." Ruth Raven, Hospice Nurse, Olympic Peninsula

"I have a genuine affection for STANDING THE WATCH. It addresses a very important topic that Americans evade at every opportunity. Not only is it strikingly vivid, the book ultimately feels very necessary." C. Lynwood Sawyer, author of An Uncertain Currency.

"...[STANDING THE WATCH] was easy to read & when Lincoln began actively dying, I became avid. Your writing really began to touch me. I would often cry (which is unusual for me) & sometimes weep. [One] sentence that really got me was an almost offhand remark toward the end, [it] jumped out at me as a good description of my father-in-law, & then you added “...so what?” [You are] helping people in ways you will never be able to fathom. Your simple little book spoke directly to me." Thank you. Molly R

"I'm not the first to tell you how incredibly loving of you to give your father-in-law the most generous gift. When my Mother's time comes, I will have your book as a back up when I begin to doubt myself." Sincerely, Karen Hoover

The Books of R. J. Brown

Published April 2009.

The Dead Husband
by R. J. Brown

A Sally Sees Cozy Mystery

Cleaning up dead husbands is not in SALLY COLLIER's job description so when she finds one half-buried at the bottom of his garden, her Monday morning schedule gets seriously derailed.

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Published October 2008.

Standing The Watch
by R. J. Brown

When a prominent doctor in a Seattle hospital tells Lincoln Brown he has less than three months left to live; R. J. Brown's life changes. In the 89th year of his life, Lincoln chooses to return to his cabin in the rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula where his beloved Buddy dog awaits and where he can die at home in his bed, the way he was born, in the company of his family.

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