Author Tony Trott

Sometimes life throws you curveballs. Curveballs, or any other type of breaking ball, may, arguably, be more difficult to hit than a four-seam fastball right in the center of the strike zone, but you may, again arguably, be more likely to get a very solid hit if you can make contact. When applied to life, you never know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. As individuals with disabilities, we have dealt with this more times than we wish. Additionally, like many people, health issues have impacted our loved ones in ways that we have never expected.

One thing that our society does not do well is talking about death. It is viewed oftentimes as a dirty word. Not to be morbid, but our view is to be prepared to take the burden off our loved ones. It is hard enough to deal with loss, but when you are making decisions that are difficult and involve wondering what someone you love would want, it’s worse. We prioritized doing as much as possible to make it easier. In recent years, we worked with an attorney to draft wills and advanced medical directives. Heck, we even bought cemetery plots. We’re not planning to check in any time soon, but it is nice to have things like that squared away and not leave a bunch of challenging tasks for our loved ones to deal with under difficult circumstances.

I know that many people avoid this task for a variety of reasons. No time, no desire, or no money. In the case of the ‘no time’ excuse, realize that this is something that you can fit into your schedule. It doesn’t take hours, just time to think through challenging issues and talk to your loved ones as you figure out what is best. Once you have made initial decisions, an attorney can guide you and after one appointment and some follow-up, everything will be complete. For the ‘no desire’ excuse, while not a favorite activity, avoidance is not in your best interest. Remember that you are doing this for your loved ones, and it will make their lives much easier. Keeping that outward perspective makes it less of a focus on your own death. For those that don’t have the ability to afford an attorney, there are many resources online that you can use to prepare template documents. Even the simplest of end-of-life document is better than nothing. When everything is complete, you can lock it in a box and forget about it. Believe it or not, it is a relief.

One’s mortality is not an easy topic to grapple with but handling it when you are healthy and well can make you feel a lot better about things and more prepared for the future. Trust me, you will sleep better at night once this task is complete.