By Greg Schmidt, hospice chaplain I can hear a few birds talking to one another outside my office window. A Grackle is squawking that no one has dropped a sandwich…
The Problems With Do-It-Yourself Online Wills
By Marguerite C. Lorenz for Next Avenue As a professional trustee and executor, I have seen hundreds of estate-planning documents, including some from do-it-yourself online services. I appreciate that using…
Married? Widow? Whatever
By Jill Smolowe for Next Avenue I was sitting in the office of a new doctor, which is to say, I was filling out a lot of paperwork. There were…
What Good is Pressure?
By Greg Schmidt, hospice chaplain In nature, we discover life is FILLED with pressure-filled and time-filled mysteries. For instance, tectonic shifts in platelets near the earth’s crust cause earthquakes. A…
How to Find the Right Words for Someone in Hospice
By Kevyn Burger for Next Avenue After spending 15 years researching the best ways to support people whose lives end in hospice, professor Elizabeth Bergman has advice for friends, neighbors,…
Heart & Soul Hospice to host Advance Directives Day in Farmington
Do your loved ones know your end of life wishes? Have you ever wondered how to ensure that your last wishes are met? Having written statement, or advance directive, of…
Following the Paperwork Trail of a Lifetime
By Jenny Klion for Next Avenue There is an enormous stack of paperwork that follows me wherever I go. Even now as I’m settling into a new apartment, I’m staring…
Leaving a Legacy No Matter How Much Money You Have
By Richard Eisenberg for Next Avenue Leaving a legacy — sounds like something only wealthy people can do, right? Like making a giant bequest to a university or passing on…
Living Life With the End in Mind
By Grace Birnstengel for Next Avenue (Part of the Living to the End of Life, a special report for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Cathy Wurzer made a dying man…
How to Choose Hospice Care
By Liz Seegert for Next Avenue (Editor’s note: This story is part of a special report for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) Making the decision to transition your loved one…