New Book 'The Journey Home" Tells the Story of Cancer, Catholic Faith and Life-Changing Miracles

March 5, 2010

As reported on Catholic Online.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (March 5, 2010) — David D. Hanneman was not going to win his fight with lung cancer, but his story is anything but a tragedy. A new book gives a highly personal look at his final months, and the miraculous parting message he left for his family.

"The Journey Home: My Father’s Story of Cancer, Faith and Life-Changing Miracles," was written by Hanneman’s son, Joseph M. Hanneman. A story that started with sadness and a deadly cancer diagnosis ended with faith-affirming lessons from a life well-lived.

“This is the story of how Dad lived with his lung cancer. But it is much more,” Hanneman wrote in the foreword to the book. “Through his illness and the miracles we experienced, I came to see that Dad’s was not just a journey. It was a journey home. Home to God.”

Hanneman writes how he got to know his father well for the first time during the elder Hanneman’s three years of illness. Each step on the journey came to convince the author that there was more going on than anyone seemed to realize. His father’s most enduring life lesson came during his final hour. Hanneman’s minute-by-minute description of this holy hour will make a deep impression on anyone who reads the story. “It left an indelible imprint on my soul,” Hanneman wrote.

Monsignor Duane Moellenberndt, the Wisconsin Catholic priest who ministered to David Hanneman during his final months, called The Journey Home “one of the most moving and inspiring works I have ever read. It is a beautiful story.” Noted Catholic author and filmmaker Stephen K. Ray said the story “should be told to the world.”

The Journey Home also describes the crucial role a hospice center near Madison, Wis., played in the family’s miraculous experiences. The HospiceCare Inc. residence took such great care of this dying man that his family could focus on spending quality time and preparing for goodbye.

“And so we talked. Mom, Amy, Marghi, David and I — recounting stories, saying ‘thank-you’ and expressing love. Over and over. These bedside conversations turned out to be one of the true blessings of the hospice experience for our family. Nothing was left unsaid,” Hanneman wrote.

The Journey Home is 160 pages and includes a section of photographs called “A Journey in Pictures.” The book is published by S+One, an imprint of Wisconsin-based Strategis One LLC. It can be purchased on the publisher’s Web site, www.journeyhomestory.com, or at Amazon.com.


Editor’s Note: High-resolution images of the book cover are available at www.journeyhomestory.com.