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Savvy Seniors Blog > Death, Dying and How to Plan for It

Death, Dying and How to Plan for It

posted on 9:59 AM, June 29, 2010

We know it’s inevitable and that the “Staying Alive” pill is still a long way from human trials.  Just kidding, we’re still at the freezing stage until they come up with something better, which means we are all going to die someday.  Sorry, this is not meant to be a downer, just a wake-up call.

Some call it the “Senior-Senior Years” or the “Third Trimester of Life”.  I prefer to call it the “Final Chapters” or more specifically “Finding Your Best Last Resort” which is what this blog is really about.  Making a plan for the best life we can live in our final years.

The real question here is why aren’t we planning for the last part of our lives and why do we find it so hard to even talk about?  Assuming you won’t go early through an accident or terminal illness, what about the time between retiring and dying?   That could easily be 30 + years the way things are looking.  Birth, when it’s good is joyful.  Death, even when it’s considered a good death, is sad for those left behind. 

Dying is extremely emotional.  I can start crying right now just by thinking of my deceased parents, or pets for that matter.  If I don’t talk about it I won’t cry, so don’t talk about it thank you very much because it’s embarrassing when I cry like that.  Especially in public or at work.  People stare and get all concerned.  Pesky emotions... They can be so messy and unpredictable.  Sniff.

Wait a minute!  Those are other people’s deaths, not mine.  I’m not sad about mine because it hasn’t happened yet.  So I can talk about it, right?  I can even plan for it.  I’m 65 this year and maybe it’s time I did more than avoid the fact that my looming death is getting closer.  I don’t like it, but hey, I can have a hand in making it a good death, especially all those years and months that come just before my soul cuts the bow line and sails away on a Celestial Cruise on the Sea of Tranquility to the Great Beyond, leaving all you mortals to cry over me for a while.  Not too long please.  Life goes on after all and I might just be coming back as someone or something else.    

We certainly plan for everything else, like getting educated, finding a career, a mate, having babies, raising them and making plans for them, even planning our retirements… but then it just kind of STOPS there.  Writing a Will doesn’t count, although that’s a good thing that everyone should do.  Dying without a Will is a mean thing to do to those you leave behind.  There’s a lot of work to cleaning up after a human leaves this world and your Will is there to instruct your loved ones how you would like them to do that. Think of it as your earthly footprint or residue  (all your stuff, money, property that has to be dealt with).  So yes, a Will is good but only after you’re already dead.   Ooops.  There’s that word again.

Comments

Re: Death, Dying and How to Plan for It
by Lynda
posted on 9:37 AM, July 2, 2010
Cool blog! Glad you are opening this subject in a lighthearted way. It's way overdue and I've been wanting to talk to my parents about this too. I look forward to more. L
Re: Death, Dying and How to Plan for It
by Loran
posted on 4:11 AM, January 3, 2012
Boom shakalaka boom boom, preolbm solved.
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