Full Description
A compassionate, practical guide to end-of-life matters, empowering us to clarify and share our wishes and continue to live life to the fullest.
Many people say "I wish I had known what they wanted" when their loved one has died. Too often, a person's wishes for end-of-life care, and for after they have gone, have not been recorded. With this valuable guide, you can now begin to do this for yourself, so your relatives will be able to honor your wishes more easily, saving them unnecessary stress and upset at a potentially intense time.
Before I Go addresses the emotional, spiritual, and practical aspects of end-of-life planning to help you make well-informed decisions about your end-of-life care and prepare well for your death. Jane Duncan Rogers guides you with equanimity, care, and humor through subjects such as how to have a conversation about dying, the impact of grief on relatives responsible for estate matters, DIY funerals and what that entails. She states clearly what you need to have in place to ensure the best end of life possible, helps you identify your values and beliefs in this area, and demonstrates which actions you then need to take, and when. With a full resource pack of essential information available to you, including guiding questions, exercises, and recording tools, as well as downloadable worksheets and supportive online courses, decision-making will be much easier and you will find relief and peace of mind knowing you have taken care of outstanding matters.
You will also be giving a great gift to your loved ones. When they have this information in advance, you spare them many difficult decisions and administrative hassle at a time when they will be grieving and not in a fit state to cope. It can bring great comfort to those left behind to know they are indeed carrying out your wishes. It also provides an opportunity for you to record your achievements and history, giving them a legacy they would otherwise not have.
Contents
How to Use This Guide
Introduction
SECTION ONE - Preparation
1 Why Now?
2 The Elephant in the Room
3 Why Bother?
4 Talking about Death
5 Grief and Bereavement
6 Ageing without Children
7 What Is a Body?
8 Attunement
SECTION TWO - Taking Action Introduction
9 Looking after the Legals and Financials
Wills
Power of Attorney
Advance Directives
Financial Affairs
10 Practical Household Matters
Your House or Home
Vehicles
Decluttering Your Home
11 Family, Friends, and Personal Information
Personal Information
Leave a Living Legacy
Secrets
12 Last Days' Wishes
People You Want around You
Location
Saying Goodbye
Pets
13 For Small Business Owners
Grief at Work
The Financial Impact of Your End of Life
Types of Business
Planning in Advance
14 Obstacles to Taking Action
OBSTACLE 1: Fear of Making a Commitment
OBSTACLE 2: Fear of Getting It Wrong
OBSTACLE 3: Fear of Offending People
OBSTACLE 4: Not Knowing What You Want
OBSTACLE 5: Procrastinating
OBSTACLE 6: Needing to Declutter but Being Overwhelmed By Stuff
OBSTACLE 7: Practical Lack of Support
OBSTACLE 8: Thinking You Are a Body Only
15 After Death
Embalming
Organ Donation
Disposal of Bodies
Funerals
Celebrants
Eulogy
Obituary
16 Your Digital Life - Passwords, Privacy, and Pragmatism
Passwords Social Media Accounts
17 Keeping It All Up to Date
When to Make Amendments
Conclusion
Resources
Endnotes
Index
Acknowledgements
About the Author
