Wants, Wishes, and Wills: A Medical and Legal Guide to Protecting Yourself and Your Family in Sickness and in Health

Introduction

We don’t plan to get sick. We certainly don’t plan to die. But everyone, healthy or sick, will face illness and the end of life, whether we want to discuss the subject or not.

We experience disease, death, and dying every day. It’s often the lead story on the local news. It’s the newspaper account of a horrific accident or the killing of a local serviceman overseas. It’s the obituary of an entertainment legend. We whisper quietly about our neighbor, friend, or colleague with cancer. We’re often consumed by the tragedies of others.

But many of us can’t talk about, acknowledge, or plan for our own infirmity and mortality.

We can laugh and make light of the subjects, however. We jokingly say, “Just kill me” when facing a long meeting or ...