Susan

Anger is a very strong emotion. If you know how to control it, there can actually be times when it is useful. But most of the time it will injure you and hurt others. You have worked hard to create a life for yourself. Yes, it is not perfect, but it is certainly substantial, has meaning to you, and it has not come without sacrifice and great effort. Certainly, the thought of losing it all is frightening! So beware, the most likely threat to all you have accomplished is your anger.

Her Last Death begins as the phone rings early one morning in the Montana house where Susanna Sonnenberg lives with her husband and two young sons. Her aunt is calling to tell Susanna her mother is in a coma after a car accident. She might not live. Any daughter would rush the thousands of miles to her mother's bedside. But Susanna cannot bring herself to go. Her courageous memoir explains why.

All of us need to have a healthy confrontational conversation at one time or another. Sometimes it's a matter of simply saying no so we don't get overextended, or saying yes to better ways of building intimacy in a good relationship. At other times we may need to confront a difficult person in a relationship, a controller, a manipulator, an irresponsible person, perhaps even someone who is abusive.