When the woman who helped shape your world goes home to be with the Lord, how do you keep living while carrying the weight of her absence?
In When Mom Went Home, Olivia Parks-May shares an honest Christian memoir about loving, caring for, and grieving her mother, Lillieth Lambert-Grant.
For years, Olivia walked beside her mother through glaucoma surgeries, diabetes, severe headaches, countless medications, medical appointments, and eventually dementia. As her vibrant, funny, independent, faith-filled Jamaican mother slowly lost the abilities that once defined her, Olivia became more than a daughter. She became an advocate, medication manager, protector, decision-maker, and full-time caregiver.
Then, on Good Friday morning, Olivia entered her mother’s room expecting to begin another day of caregiving and discovered that her mom had gone home to be with the Lord.
She was not prepared for the sadness, darkness, and silence that followed.
Blending personal stories, caregiving experiences, family memories, biblical encouragement, prayers, guided journal entries, and healing activities, When Mom Went Home speaks to the complicated reality of anticipatory grief, caregiver exhaustion, dementia, mother loss, and faith after death.
Inside, readers will find:
• An intimate account of a daughter’s caregiving journey
• Honest reflections about dementia and the long goodbye
• Encouragement for caregivers who feel exhausted, guilty, or unseen
• Christian reflections for navigating grief without abandoning faith
• Guided journal prompts for processing difficult emotions
• Prayers and activities for remembering and honoring a loved one
• Space to reflect on family memories, lessons, legacy, and hope
• Reassurance that joy and grief can exist together
This book does not offer quick fixes or tell grieving readers to “move on.” Instead, it provides a compassionate place to tell the truth, remember the person they love, strengthen their faith, and take the next faithful step forward.
When Mom Went Home is especially meaningful for Christian women, grieving daughters, dementia caregivers, hospice families, and anyone mourning the death of a mother or loved one.
Mom went home. Love remained.