Tonawanda, NY (PRWEB) June 05, 2013
Even academic training in death, dying, spirituality and cultural values doesnt prepare a father for the death of his daughter at age 21. In this new book, a professor emeritus shares his private journey with grief and his struggle for meaning and health. He examines U.S. cultural expectations of grief and the feelings tied up with the death of a loved one. Author Charles Schmidtke spent years speaking to other parents in grief assistance sessions and with pals and family members, sooner or later coming to the realization that unhealthy attitudes and approaches to grieving exist in American society. Specialist care providers also re-enforce unfavorable attitudes, he believes.

Riding the Subway with Heidi: A Fathers Journey of Grieving provides a new point of view on the grieving method, exposing cultural myths that hinder grieving and offering techniques to integrate the approach into day-to-day life. The author shares individual information of Heidis diagnosis in August 2000 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the roller coaster of therapies she received and her death in February 2003 following a relapse. A remembrance service a couple of years later for any individual in western New York mourning for a child inspired the books title: Schmidtke felt like he was forever riding a subway and not controlling the contours of the journey. Even though he could move from auto to automobile or switch to an additional line, he couldnt get away.

Attitude will define the subway ride how 1 journeys on the subway is what matters, he writes. Individuals can affirm their loved ones life and seek healing, or try to compartmentalize the grief in a futile try to move on, or lament the journey and location blame, generating the subway ride miserable for everybody. Schmidtke admits he has struggled in between the emotional influence of Heidis death and intellectual reasoning to make sense of it all. He and his family members treasure the moments they had with the spirited Heidi, as well as indicators theyve observed after her passing and the inspirational words she wrote to her family and other cancer sufferers. This new exploration of death and its effects will resonate with anybody who has encountered the death of a loved a single.

Author Charles Schmidtke is professor emeritus after serving as an administrator and teaching at a private, Jesuit college in Buffalo, getting led courses in philosophy, English, anthropology, psychology, sociology, communication and gerontology. The grandfather of eight serves as a conference deacon preaching and major worship in parishes all through western New York by means of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and operates with parishes in transition. 
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For further data, please check out http://www.charlieschmidtke.com.

Riding the Subway with Heidi: A Fathers Journey of Grieving
Charles Schmidtke
Dog Ear Publishing 
ISBN: 978-1-4575-1622-1