When Dr. Forrest took a temporary position at a geriatric hospital in Atlanta, she trusted her extensive medical training to prepare her for the physical and mental challenges of working with elderly patients suffering with dementia. But she quickly learned it just wasn't enough. Working alongside three unique caregivers, Native American nurses with deeply held spiritual beliefs and an uncompromising respect for all life, Forrest experienced a new way of looking at life and death that valued these special patients as "undiscovered treasures."

Through her patients, like Momma Sissy, a 102 year-old African American woman who still worked a farm in South Carolina and Stephen Z., a retired engineer whose wife of 50 years still spoke of their ongoing love for each other, Forrest came to appreciate the special wisdom that comes from living life. Working especially with Aunt Mel, an independent strong-willed elder and Granny Ada, the matriarch of an Appalachian mountain clan, taught Forrest the importance of loving relationships for long-term mental and physical health.

In the tradition of Raymond Moody and Deepak Chopra...