A Mother's Final Gift

A Mother’s Final Gift is the story of one courageous woman – Louise Viola Swanson Wollenberg – and of her tremendous love of life and family, and her faith and resolve. But it is also the story of her equally courageous family who, in the process of rising to the occasion and carrying out Louise’s long-held final wishes, not only overcame so many stigmas about the process of death but, at the same time, rediscovered what it means to celebrate life itself. This book not only touches the heart in a very powerful, poignant, and joyful way, but reading it was life-changing for me. In writing this book, Joyce and Barry Vissell, and their children, mentor us through an experience that many of us were afraid to even think about it. Louise looked at death as her greatest adventure. So should we all. The title of this book is indeed A Mother’s Final Gift but, in truth, this story is an exceptional gift to every person who will read it.

A Mother’s Final Gift is the story of one courageous woman – Louise Viola Swanson Wollenberg – and of her tremendous love of life and family, and her faith and resolve. But it is also the story of her equally courageous family who, in the process of rising to the occasion and carrying out Louise’s long-held final wishes, not only overcame so many stigmas about the process of death but, at the same time, rediscovered what it means to celebrate life itself. This book not only touches the heart in a very powerful, poignant, and joyful way, but reading it was life-changing for me. In writing this book, Joyce and Barry Vissell, and their children, mentor us through an experience that many of us were afraid to even think about it. Louise looked at death as her greatest adventure. So should we all. The title of this book is indeed A Mother’s Final Gift but, in truth, this story is an exceptional gift to every person who will read it.

Joyce and Barry Vissell are best known as relationship experts who have helped many thousands of people through their books, workshops and counseling practice since 1975. They have found that the power of love can heal even the most troubled relationships. They are two people deeply in love for 48 years, who have raised three children and “walk their talk.” As a result of the interest in their books, The Shared Heart, Models of Love, Risk To Be Healed, Light in the Mirror, and Meant To Be, they have been conducting talks and workshops on relationship and personal growth world-wide. They are the founders and directors of the Shared Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to changing the world one heart at a time. Joyce and Barry live at their home and center with their three golden retrievers and one cat in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Central California. Go to SharedHeart.org to sign up for their free heartletter, to read past articles on many aspects of personal growth and relationship, to see their event or workshop schedule, or to contact Barry or Joyce.