There are certain things we just don't want to think about. Like the fact that most of us will grow old, plenty of us will get sick, and all of us will eventually die.
And now that I've succeeded in thoroughly brightening your day, here's the point: While the aging/illness/going down the back side of the hill part of life can be an intimidating prospect, with some open communication and good planning, it doesn't have to be so overwhelming.
The emotions are complicated, but the main question is pretty simple: What do you want? What kind of health care? What are your financial plans? What are your desires for your life?
Writing this story, Protecting Our Parents, for Northern Virginia Magazine was educational for me. Like many of you, my Baby Boomer parents are ... well, they're not getting younger, despite the fact that they're both strong and in good health, knock wood, and the fact that my mother looks better than a lot of you 40-somethings out there. Seriously.
And that's the time to have the conversations discussed in this article. So I hope this article, and its accompanying sidebars, is enlightening, informative, and genuinely helpful to some families.
