Wed 14 Jun 2006
Creating living wills is a responsibility that rests on many of our shoulders. We tend to shrug this responsibility off without a second thought but this is not really fair to those who are closest to us. However, the decisions are not very easy to make. Many people, including myself, are at a loss when it comes to living wills because the issues are so complex and so controversial.
This is of particular concern to me because I have a new family. My daughter is only one year old and my husband and I have only been married for three years. There is no wonder that living wills have not come into our thoughts until recently. When you don’t have children you tend not to think about such issues.
My husband has a very different grasp on the afterlife. He has very strong convictions and hold tight to them. Faith is prominent in him and he is decided on the issue. For this reason, I chose to let him decide our living wills. This only makes sense to me because I have no particular conviction.
However, his faith in the afterlife has not helped him to be able to make a decision about our living wills. The problem with this particular issue is the state in which the body is in while such legal matters come into play. Now we have to consider how we define life rather than our faith in the afterlife.
This is far more complex because there is no way of knowing what is in the cards. What if we opt for an order of Do Not Resuscitate and find ourselves panicked behind comas when the living wills are carried out. This is a bleak outlook on the issue. That may be why we haven’t completed our living wills as of yet. We will be meeting our family attorney to talk about the various issues in making a living will. Who better to consult then someone who is experienced in this. This doesn’t slove all our problem but at the very least we do not need to worry about whether we are making any mistake that will void the will.
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