I encounter death and dying on a regular basis. There is no preparation for it. No bracing for it. There is no escape from it or denying it.
The best preparation for death is to take whatever bucket list we have and to assign dates to those wishes. Mine consists of seeing Seattle before I die, moving to Boston, becoming an elder care reform advocate, and adopting a child from the foster care system. I would also like to buy a house for my father to move in to when he is no longer able to take care of himself anymore. I do freelance work right now. I have also been told I am going to be moving into my grandparent’s home when they pass on. I did visit my aunt in Boston a few years ago and have been dying to go back ever since. I think I can go to Seattle before I turn forty. It was only $400 to go to Boston a few years back, so I don’t expect a trip to Seattle to be much different.
I would like to have the house before adopting a child. He would have to be older and all of my aging relatives would have to have passed on, seeing as how the attention to both the child and my dad would be stretched and insufficient. I would like to educate myself some more on guardianship reform and its impact on various states. I don’t know how possible it is to talk dad into moving up to Boston with me, but that would make that goal come true sooner than later.
These all look like objectives for the second half of my life. Things like getting my degree, running a 5k, starting a blog, moving to Denver, and recording an album were all things I have managed to achieve in the last 15 years. There are most likely other accomplishments, but those ones in particular stand out the most.