Not able to find discussion materials.
1. I think most people either aren't interested or don't think a living will important.
2. We all have support groups if we want them and look for them. This includes a variety of end-of-life organizations and serviceds ranging from Hospices to cancer survivors to Thanatopsis.
3. Some people hear what they want to hear and then read worst-case scenarios into them. I think that we die like we live. I have known men who never grew up or recovered from their father wound and their anger -- who never wanted to change or look at options. I have found others who have lived sheltered lives and just don't have much experience and coping mechanisms.
4. I have talked at length with care providers; how we handle the end is very personal, subjective, sometimes seemingly incomprehensible. The way we deal with death, especially of others we love, often says more about those who continue on. There are people, usually family members, who want to keep their love ones alive at any cost; there are some people who hang on and fight against death; and there are others who let go when they are not fatally ill. Trust in God is important, it is a life-long experience that grows as we grow old.
Four examples: i. Men, who often struggle with the health issues of others (we want to "fix" things), can learn so much, for example, by being there for dying wives. One I know, whose wife was felled by cancer near the end took her to a healing ceremony and told her, "Let's go forward and find healing." She replied: "I've already been healed."
ii. I was the last person to speak to my dying father in the hospitsal. I told him "We love you. We'll be back in the morning." He let go just after midnight, on his 50th wedding anniversary.
iii. My mother had a massive stroke. We took her off life-support with only comfort care. She lived on for three days in a coma, with a strong heart. She died after midnight, 10 years and one day after my father died.
iv. My father's oldest sister, a spinster, was surrounded by her nieces and nephews the last four years of her life. She was lucid and had mobility until the end. She refused invasive medical care. She let go at sunrise on a Monday morning, age 94. Her will divided her cash reserve for long-term care among us six. She told us to travel and experience the world. Previously, she had given us her Indian art collection, books, and family momentos. She was the last survivor of our parents' generation. We will celebrate her parents' (our grandparents') 100th wedding anniversary next year. She had cared for both her parents in their final years and they died a year apart. She is buried with them and my dad and mom.
5. Government can help be an enabler by playing a very limited role of assisting other enablers to help the dying. It takes a village to raise a child, I think it takes a village to mourn and affirm those who have died.
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??: I'm still stuck on the Frontage Road of the Information Super Highway and I think I'm headed in the wrong direction -- can't seem to find the on-ramp. | 
