Remember that it is a great strength to face into the full range of emotions that come from dealing with aging parents and others who are somehow in our care.  It is also true that dealing with these stressful feelings helps us prepare to receive help when we are older ourselves.

Feelings of wanting the suffering of the loved one to be over, that you very much want them to have a feeling of peace as they die, and that you want your own suffering to be over as well – all of these feelings come up as we deal with end-of-life issues.

I think it is very unfortunate that our congress people and government does not stand up for these end-of-life issues and realize that in order to bring integrity and dignity to a person’s dying process, we need to help by counseling people in these issues.

If we are fortunate enough to have friends, family and professionals around us who understand these issues, it helps enormously.  However, I think about all the people in all the rehab centers and nursing homes that do not have such, and as a society, I believe it is unconscionable that we are not addressing these issues for them.  As the baby boomers come into this rapidly growing category of people, we must serve them whether or not they have the money to do so.