In this heartfelt memoir about her mother Hilda's final years, Joyce Rupp shares the lessons her mother taught her, especially to “fly while you still have wings.” As a poor farmer's wife and the mother of eight living on rented land in Maryhill, Iowa, Hilda lived a life of hard labor and constant responsibility—from milking cows and raising chickens to keeping the farm's financial ledger. Rupp shows how the difficulties of her mother's early years and family life, including the loss of a twenty-three-year-old son, forged a resilience that guided her through the illnesses and losses she faced in later years. This affectionate profile of their relationship is, at the same time, an honest self-examination, as Rupp shares the ways she sometimes failed to listen to, accept, and understand her mother in her final years.

Rupp begins each chapter with a meditative poem that captures the essence of each stage in the journey. Her unfailing candor and profound faith illumine this story of a mother and daughter with a universal spirit of hope, reconciliation, and peace.

Building on the success of May I Walk You Home? (50,000 copies sold since 1999), this collection of stories picks up where the first book left off, helping readers navigate the bewildering landscape of grief once a loved one has died. Coauthors Joyce Hutchison and Joyce Rupp reflect on their own stories of loss, as well as those of others, and offer meditations to assist readers through some of the more difficult issues that come with the loss of a loved one, including remarriage and feelings of relief or regret.

Reissued on its tenth anniversary, May I Walk You Home? remains an invaluable resource for professional caregivers and loved ones assisting those on their final journey home. Accompanied by the experience and empathy of hospice educator Joyce Hutchison and the wisdom and inspiration of best-selling author Joyce Rupp, readers will discover the courage necessary to embrace the struggles and rewards of this final companionship.