Of Love & Care & Compassion

Dear Life by Rachel Clarke is a powerful and heartbreaking true account of the author’s life as a palliative care doctor.

The book speaks straight to the heart as we witness the love and care given to those facing their final days. They are given dignity and they are given choices, treated as individuals who still have a life to live, albeit a short one. “Living and dying are not binary opposites. The dying… are still very much alive.” The dying are aware of just how precious and just how fragile life is.

In a world where we hurry about, worrying about this and that; we need to pause and ask “would this matter on your deathbed?” What matters at the end is love and family. Have we lived a life of love? “In the end, when death bears down, there is always this, the love of others.”

In our modern world we are shielded from death. “In Britain, less than a century ago, death in the home was so frequent, so commonplace, that family members regarded the witnessed loss of their loved ones as entirely expected – entirely normal.” Today, we shy away from death. It is the last taboo.

The author, as a doctor, confronts death daily. She is compassionate, caring for her patients, helping to give them a good death.

When her own father is diagnosed with terminal cancer, her doctors training goes out of the window, as she resumes the role of ‘daughter.’ “There must be a trial drug out there that can… give me back my dad. The ferocity of this longing not to lose him obliterates… my training and my reason. I do not want him to die.” This quote undid me, as these are my thoughts following my Dad dying just two weeks ago. I never wanted my Dad to die either. I want my Dad back.

Dear Life is not a gloomy read. Despite being about the end of life, Dear Life is full of life and love. Now that the book is ended, I am left with a feeling of love. I want to read more by Rachel Clarke. She has a very personable style, making her books easy to read.

JULIA WILSON