The Last Time I Saw You Alive: Lessons from Last Moments with Family and Friends

By Renwick Jones

Do you remember the last time you saw a certain family member or special friend alive? It might not be an experience you want to relive, but it can tell you some important things about yourself and others.

Author Renwick Jones does remember. He first encountered death when his paternal grandfather passed away. It then struck someone much closer to himhis brother, who died of sickle cell anemia. As the years passed, more loved ones died, and Jones also had to fight some serious health challenges of his own.

In this powerful memoir, he explores a wide range of internal battles as well as outside factors that affect everyone, including the role that hospitals play when someone becomes ill, the duties of funeral directors when death strikes, the special perspectives of chaplains, and the functions that cemeteries serve when someone dies.

Though death means absence, it gives you the ability to remember a loved one in any way that gives you the most comfort. Explore what death teaches us in The Last Time I Saw You Alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462057887

Renwick Jones

Renwick Orlando Jones, a native of Gadsden, Alabama, earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Alabama State University and a master’s degree from Auburn University. He formerly worked at several radio and television stations before starting a career in higher education. He is the vice president of alumni affairs at Stillman College, and he lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

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Copyright © 2011 by Renwick Jones.

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ISBN: 978-1-4620-5787-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-5789-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4620-5788-7 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 10/12/2011

Contents

Dedication

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Closing Thoughts

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents Robert and Vivian Jones, who have always been there for me by offering honest advice and their never-ending love and support.

It is also dedicated to the memory of the late Dr. Spencer Thomas, who delivered me on July 24, 1962. Dr. Thomas was our family doctor in Gadsden, Ala. and took care of three generations of my family over almost 50 years. Dr. Thomas was also a close friend and mentor of mine until his death in 2000.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the men and women who taught me from my late kindergarten teacher, Ms. Mary Dobbs, the nuns at St. Martin de Pores and Gadsden High School, to Alabama State University and Auburn University.

I’d like to also extend thanks to Montgomery (Ala.) City Councilman Tracy Larkin who has always been there for me, and Dr. Earl Suttle, who told me to dig a hole in my backyard, bury the negative influences and move on.

Finally, I’d like to thank my friend and former co-worker, Mr. George Blue who played an important role in making this book possible.

For the Sake of Living

We endure a lot, for the sake of living

We sit in offices for long periods of time to be seen by a doctor,

for the sake of living

We are stuck with needles, have our fingers pricked,

just for the sake of living

Teeth are pulled and our eyes endure direct light,

just for the sake of living

We lose our dignity for the sake of living

We allow our doctors to put their fingers in our most private of places

for the sake of living

We urinate in small cups for the sake of living

Our doctors study our waste for the sake of living

Women get their insides scraped for the sake of living

Women often have to have their reproductive parts removed

just for the sake of living

We swallow millions of pills each day and night for the sake of living

We pay huge medical bills just for the sake of living

We try to grapple with health insurance for the sake of living

Forward

We live on a ball rotating in the middle of the ultimate nowhere! We are human beings with many resources around us to make it through life. For those of us lucky enough to make it out of the birth canal, we go through a myriad of experiences as we make this journey through life. We feel hurt and have the ability to hurt others. Our bodies feel great and they sometimes fail us. We become depressed and feel joy. We rejuvenate, work hard and play. We develop great friendships and sometimes lose them. We accumulate riches, and then by circumstances lose them. At times