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244 reviews for:
What to Do When I'm Gone: A Mother's Wisdom to Her Daughter
Hallie Bateman, Suzy Hopkins
4.17 AVERAGE
244 reviews for:
What to Do When I'm Gone: A Mother's Wisdom to Her Daughter
Hallie Bateman, Suzy Hopkins
4.17 AVERAGE
What To Do When I’m Gone is a book I took 15 minutes to read and 2 years to prepare for. Hallie Bateman’s mother Suzy Hopkins writes down bits of advice on how to deal with her death when it should happen, which Hallie has illustrated beautifully.
It talks about things to do for the next month, the next year and to keep in mind through her life. Suzy shares recipes (which I intend to try soon), practical things to do to take care of yourself and more meaningful advice for making decisions in life.
The death of a loved one is inevitable but it hits you hard regardless of whether you’ve seen it coming or not. This book makes me wish I’d dealt with losing my grandmother more gracefully and that I was a little kinder to myself. I joined a new studio the day right after she died. The long hours kept me busy, and the pain relatively bearable. You can’t ignore your grief and hope it goes away while you’re busy building styrofoam models. The longer you ignore it, the harder it smacks you. For me it was a year and a half of nightmares and almost no sleep. How can you go back to your life when someone that important to you has passed away? Do you change you sheets and get a new haircut and meet you friends and go to the movies? You do.
One of my favourite lines that Suzy says is - What we carry of other people, even when they’re alive, is simply our perception of them, an idea. That means I’m here as long as you remember me. And since I’m here, I suggest you get busy living, seeking out happiness, moving forward.
Yes, their passing away creates an enormous void in your life, that alcohol, bad eating habits, copious amounts of hair colour and partying cannot fill. But you have to move on. Little by little. You take a walk more often. Spend more time with animals, paint more, clean your room, think of them fondly, ask for help and take it when offered. Whatever adds a speck of joy in your life. In a few years, the void becomes more tolerable. You can coexist. And most of the time, that’s enough.
It talks about things to do for the next month, the next year and to keep in mind through her life. Suzy shares recipes (which I intend to try soon), practical things to do to take care of yourself and more meaningful advice for making decisions in life.
The death of a loved one is inevitable but it hits you hard regardless of whether you’ve seen it coming or not. This book makes me wish I’d dealt with losing my grandmother more gracefully and that I was a little kinder to myself. I joined a new studio the day right after she died. The long hours kept me busy, and the pain relatively bearable. You can’t ignore your grief and hope it goes away while you’re busy building styrofoam models. The longer you ignore it, the harder it smacks you. For me it was a year and a half of nightmares and almost no sleep. How can you go back to your life when someone that important to you has passed away? Do you change you sheets and get a new haircut and meet you friends and go to the movies? You do.
One of my favourite lines that Suzy says is - What we carry of other people, even when they’re alive, is simply our perception of them, an idea. That means I’m here as long as you remember me. And since I’m here, I suggest you get busy living, seeking out happiness, moving forward.
Yes, their passing away creates an enormous void in your life, that alcohol, bad eating habits, copious amounts of hair colour and partying cannot fill. But you have to move on. Little by little. You take a walk more often. Spend more time with animals, paint more, clean your room, think of them fondly, ask for help and take it when offered. Whatever adds a speck of joy in your life. In a few years, the void becomes more tolerable. You can coexist. And most of the time, that’s enough.
A nice read about life and death. It's funny, sweet and thought-provoking. Definitely recommend reading it. The art too is distinct with bold use of strong colors and big strokes, which I found really loved.
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
What a beautiful read.. Makes me feel a little sad but also hopeful.
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
This is amazing. As someone who has already lost a parent, I love the way this book was set up.
What a beautiful tribute to the relationship between mother and child. It will make you laugh and cry (mostly cry). I absolutely loved it. Reading it made me think I should leave something like this for my kiddos (just in case).
I've always been terrified at the idea of my mother dying, and this has only increased since my grandmother passed two years ago. This book made me laugh and made me cry a little; mostly, it made me feel like maybe I'll someday be functional in a world without my mom. I read it in one night, and immediately passed it on to my mother to read. She laughed and cried, and once she gave it back, I read it again. The illustrations are fantastic, the advice strikes just the right note, and this is one of the few library books I've taken out that I feel like I must own. I want to give a copy to every mother-daughter pair in my life, honestly.