Before I Go

A compassionate, practical guide to end-of-life matters, empowering us to clarify and share our wishes and continue to live life to the fullest.

Before I Go addresses the emotional, spiritual, and practical aspects of end-of-life planning to help you prepare well for your death. It enables the reader to make well-informed decisions about their end-of-life care and facilitates conversations with family and friends about this difficult topic. The book includes guiding questions, exercises, and recording tools, as well as worksheets available for download and supportive online courses.

Many people say “I wish I had known what they wanted” when their loved one has died. Too often, a person’s wishes for end-of-life care, and for after they have gone, have not been recorded. With this valuable guide, you can now begin to do this for yourself, so your relatives will be able to honour your wishes more easily, saving them unnecessary stress and upset at a potentially intense time.

Jane Duncan Rogers guides you with equanimity, care, and humour through subjects such as how to have a conversation about dying, the impact of grief on relatives responsible for estate matters, DIY funerals and what that entails. She states clearly what you need to have in place to ensure the best end of life possible, helps you identify your values and beliefs in this area, and demonstrates which actions you then need to take, and when.

With a full resource pack of essential information available to you, including guiding questions, exercises, and recording tools, as well as downloadable worksheets and supportive online courses, decision-making will be much easier. You will find relief and peace of mind knowing you have taken care of outstanding matters.

You will also be giving a great gift to your loved ones. When they have this information in advance, you spare them many difficult decisions and administrative hassle at a time when they will be grieving and not in a fit state to cope. It can bring great comfort to those left behind to know they are indeed carrying out your wishes. It also provides an opportunity for you to record your achievements and history, giving them a legacy they would otherwise not have.

You can update your wishes at any time, meaning you’ll have a sense of control over your life and its ending. You can feel confident that if anything happens to you suddenly, you and your family will be as well-prepared as possible to deal with it. With your end-of-life wishes clearly defined, you gain the freedom to continue living your life to the full, knowing the difficult decisions have been handled.