The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

It sounds depressing, doesn't it. Yet somehow even though you know you are reading about cancer and you know how the book will end, it is inspiring. I felt the same way when I read Elie Wiesel's Night. As the mother of two sons, I loved reading about the bond between mother and son. It seemed to deepen as the book as the book went on, with acknowledged differences and deeper understanding.
Just a few parts I want to note:

     "That's one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we can talk about when we don't want to talk about ourselves."
     Mom went on to tell me, as we sat there, that she really believed your personal life was personal. Secrets, she felt, rarely explained or excused anything in real life, or were even all that interesting. People shared too much, she said, not too little. She thought you should be able to keep your private life private for any reason or for no reason. She even felt that way about politicians - so long as they weren't hypocrites - and worried we'd never find enough good and interesting people to run for office if we pried into every corner of their past. p.58

And I'm also talking about kindness, not just about being nice. You can be gruff or abrupt and still be kind. Kindness has much more to do with what you do than how you do it. p. 110

And yet how many more chances would I have to thank her for what she'd done for me and taught me and given me?
     What I suddenly understood was that a thank-you note isn't the price you pay for receiving a gift, as so many children think it is, a kind of minimum tribute or toll, but an opportunity to count your blessings. And gratitude isn't what you give in exchange for something; it's what you feel when you are blessed - blessed to have a family and friends who care about you, and want to see you happy. Hence the joy from thanking. p.211

     It's almost taken for granted now that people - children especially - should be encouraged to create, and one obvious benefits to mankind brought about by the Internet is that it has opened up worlds of creativity. Mom certainly appreciated that. But she also was content not to make things but just enjoy them.
     "Everyone doesn't have to do everything," she told me. "People forget you can also express yourself  by what you choose to admire and support. I've had so much pleasure from beautiful and challenging things created by other people, things I could never make or do. I wouldn't trade that for anything." p.293