Hard Choices

I am in a reflective mood. July is full of memories of those I have lost.

I will share their last days with a warning. If you don’t want to read hard and sad stuff, perhaps you may want to skip this next paragraph.

My brother was born on July 4th, my husband the 14th, and my mom the 28th. July 30th would have been my 35th wedding anniversary. I remember the last day for each of them and their journey to heaven was different. My parents had to turn off the machines as my brother was declared brain dead. My father had cancer and finally had the peace he needed to stop fighting, so passed after his last morphine shot (he had been taking morphine for months at that point). My mom’s body started failing from congestive heart failure, and hospice made her comfortable until the end. My husband stopped eating and drinking and peacefully passed as his brain died.

I write about their last day not to make you sad, but to tell you that you need to put in writing what you want at the end of life. I was fortunate that we knew what each of them wanted. Does your family know?

The most important legal document is your Health Care Power of Attorney (AKA: Advance Health Care Directive or Living Will). This is the document where you put in writing what you would want at your end of life and who you would want to make the decisions.

The document is fairly simple, but if you want to understand end-of-life decisions, such as…