Signs of life

Brookes initially intended to follow a methodical plan in order to gain insight into the mystery of our final days. He would volunteer at a local hospice to learn all he could about this growing movement - one that promotes a new level of emotional and physical care for the dying and that has become a powerful alternative to the often dehumanizing experience of death in a hospital or nursing home. He would also interview patients and experts in hospice care in hopes of limning the difficult decisions imminent death brings to the surface.

But Brookes's plans changed shape dramatically when, shortly after he'd begun research for his book, his mother called to share her diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer. What began as an investigative analysis evolved to embrace the author's intimate account of meeting - and accepting - his mother's death on its own terms.

Signs of Life, then, blends insightful reportage of a revolutionary program for helping the dying and a son's frank account of coping with the fears, concerns, and love he holds for his dying mother and his growing appreciation of mortality. Brookes discovered that the hospice experience imbued his mother's dying with profound meaning; her death and the process of grieving enabled him and his family to grow closer together even as they have come to recognize the levels of distance among them.