Somewhere In Between: The Hokey Pokey, Chocolate Cake and The Shared Death Experience

by Lizzy Miles

Somewhere In Between: The Hokey Pokey, Chocolate Cake and The Shared Death Experience contains lighthearted true life stories from the author’s firsthand experience at the bedsides of family and friends who were dying. The primary story, “Aunt Jerry and Our Shared Death Experience” delves into the “in between” time when someone is in the process of dying. While interning as a hospice social worker, Lizzy received a dreaded phone call. Her aunt with end-stage Alzheimer’s Disease had suffered two seizures and a heart attack and was in the hospital. The next twelve days were a period of intense personal and spiritual growth as Lizzy experienced her dying aunt’s point of view in the ultimate form of empathy, known as a “Shared Death Experience.” This story is the most extensively documented Shared Death Experience to date, and details what it was like for Lizzy to receive psychic messages from spirits and her aunt, feel her aunt’s physical pain and see parts of her aunt’s life review. Throughout the story, Lizzy explores what it was like to have psychic abilities for the first time and the conflicts that arose when her family did not believe her. In other stories, Lizzy talks about doing the Hokey Pokey at the bedside and how she answers funny questions from patients such as, “Does Jesus like chocolate?” For such a serious topic as death and dying, Lizzy works hard to show the reader that there can be light and laughter even at the end of life.

ebook

First published August 9, 2011

About the author

Lizzy has been to more funerals than weddings in her life. She stopped counting her losses and started counting her "angels" when she reached double digits. Inspired by her personal hospice experiences, Lizzy switched careers and became a passionate advocate for hospice and end-of-life issues. Lizzy has presented at national and international grief conferences, and is best known for bringing the Death Cafe concept to the United States.

While Lizzy has changed her career identity a few times, she has always held true to her enthusiasm for written and oral storytelling. She has two graduate degrees but still can't spell well. She has been published in a wide variety of formats including but not limited to: award-winning Hallmark cards, academic journal articles, and retail training manuals. Her books reflect her wide variety of interests and include a series of Kindle shorts about the Downside of Dream Jobs, a book of happy hospice stories, and a book about Smoking.

Lizzy lives in Central Ohio with her husband and two cats