LIVING WILL

Living wills became a familiar topic during the Teri Schiavo case a few months (or years?) back. Without going into Teri's history, that case brought out the significance of drawing up a living will (as against a last will). I thought about this a lot on an on-and-off basis and I arrived at the conclusion that I quite agree with the rationale behind living wills. I agreed so much I wrote one myself. But of course, no one else has seen/read it yet, not even my Bebe who, if he's reading my blog, will know about it from this blog for the first time. I must have told a few souls about it but I'm quite sure it did not register with them that much. So that the net effect is that it looks like this is the first official announcement that I have a living will written and stored somewhere in cyberspace. The living will is quite long I think. I used titles and subtitles for each of the things I wish will be done/accomplished for me by way of categorizing them or arranging them in a semblance of order. I did not follow any template nor did I surf the net for any samples to copy. All I did was write freely of the things I wish will be done/accomplished for me.

I am aware that talking/writing about death and the preparations one undertakes before it happens is taboo. Some will say pa nga it might invite Death pa daw earlier than fated. Of course there is this school of thought that one is just being practical and pragmatic. We all will die anyway, so it's better to be prepared. Not only to go to the great beyond in the grandeur you dream of. But more importantly, for the family or loved ones to be spared the innumerable details of a member dying while at the same time coping with the expected grief.

So apart from a living will yet to be seen/read, I have also paid for a memorial plan, the details of which I still have not really read. I know though that it will only be applicable to circumstances in the Philippines and (God forbid!) precludes anything untoward that may happen to me here in the desert kingdom. I don't have a lot yet but I paid for two cemetery lots in the province (as a matter of investment) and Mamay's and Papay's lots are also a viable option.

I know these are but the physical logistics of dying. The more important spiritual aspects I have yet to deal with. But it's nice to have already started on something. Like blogging, preparing for death is a work in progress.