Main description:

Pat Pilkington was co-founder of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre, the first charity to offer a truly holistic approach to cancer care. In this memoir, completed when she knew she was approaching death, Pat tells her story; starting with her childhood, through the early days of the Centre to its growth into Penny Brohn Cancer Care, the globally influential institution it is today. Above all, she shares her own spiritual journey, her deep exploration of faith, love, and what lies at the core of each human life and each human death. She speaks to life, not just to cancer, and shows how the restoration of the human spirit is an essential part of holistic healing. The Golden Thread of the title is the transcendent nature of love that runs though everything, awakening the potential to uplift, inspire, overcome and create anew, even in the face of severe adversity.

Contents:

Foreword by Caroline Myss. Introduction by Penny Brohn Cancer Care 1. Where do we come from? 2. The Early Years. 3. A Developing Spirituality. 4. Tuning into Love 5. Heavy Burdens. 6. The Birth of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre. 7. Spiritual Work with Clients. 8. Love and Fear. 9. Love and Death. 10. Dark Clouds Gather. 11. A Sense of Connection. 12. The Storm Breaks. 13. Preparing for Death. 14. Going Home. 15. The Move to Ham Green House. 16. The Golden Thread. A final word from Pat, August 2013.