Ugh. Hunting Trip Cut Short.

[nightfighter]

My condolences to friends and family.

While a sudden, unexpected passing is shocking, the finality of death is the same, no matter the road taken. Many here have been experiencing illness and loss of family. My own 89 y.o. mother is in a memory care unit with dementia, yet is physically healthy and takes no meds. Her mother lived to 99, just three days shy of her 100th birthday, yet suffered from dementia as well. So that is half of the stock I come from.
While I am not ready to cash in my chips, I am coming around to believe that a sudden death in my sleep would be much more desirable to months or years of illness, doctors, meds, procedures, nursing homes, financial depletion, and family suffering as they watch the aging process being prolonged.

[Fly Rod]

I agree 99% with nightfighter except with financial depletion providing U set up a trust well in advance .....U should only lose your monthly medicare and any earned income....and those that do not have a trust if house is in husband and wife's name as long as the spouse that is sick, is coherent and can sign the deed over to the other the house should B protected.....for those of U that own a home U should have the Homestead Act the best insurance U could buy for 35 bucks a one time fee....U get it at the registry of deeds....U R not protected from any city,state, federal or nursing home fees or fines but U R protected from other creditors....

[FishermanTim]

My dad passed back in 2001, and he died from inoperable brain cancer. Before he became completely incapacitated he deeded the house to my mom. He passed at home, surrounded by family and was cared for until his last day.
Because of good insurance and planning the only financial burden was the burial cost, which was his life insurance paid for.

Although you cannot plan for every contingency, you should have something in palace to assist with your final expenses.
I have life insurance, disability insurance and a retirement plan.

Now when it comes to your "end of life", some would prefer to pass quickly and quietly (as in your sleep) while others would like to be surrounded by friends and loved ones. I would only hope that my time comes without a long-term degenerative debilitating illness where my dwindling days are a financial and emotional burden to my family. (I was able to take time off from work to spend time with my dad during his final days, and I thought it was a privilege to be able t care for him after all the years he had cared for me.

A person's passing could be seen as a blessing or a travesty, depending on the condition of the person's passing (the person usually has many loved ones).

[Fly Rod]

A friend of mine going deer hunting passed away 2 years ago while walking to his stand, I'm sure it was better then sitting in a chair or bed with someone wiping the drool from ones chin...life can B cruel if a person is sick and bed ridden

[FishermanTim]

The worst part of passing in your sleep is what the person who finds you must go through.

My godfather passed in his sleep and my godmother discovered him in the morning. That really hit her hard.

My cousin passed from liver disease (self-inflicted) in his kitchen, with his wife and son there to see it. It was not a peaceful passing.

We cannot choose how and when we will pass, but if we lived a good life, had good friends and family, and enjoyed life to our fullest then the general feeling will be that "he/she had a good life and was taken too soon"!

How many people talk about deceased friends or relatives positively if that person was a criminal, addict or a POS?
My cousin was a chronic alcoholic who never seriously thought that his drinking was hurting anyone (least himself) until his doctor told him he would need a liver transplant...and he still drank.

Now I'm no saint, but I knew one thing when I was young and stupid, which was that I didn't want anything to control my life but ME.

Hopefully we can all live good lives, be good friends and leave the world a better place when we pass!

Amen.