Death and dying: Rosie Adamson-Clark says it’s time we all faced our mortality

‘I am not afraid of dying. It is the leaving behind of those I love that is my grief.’

‘After a stunned reaction, initial disbelief that this had happened to me, reality hit. It made me feel there was no point to anything.’ | Photo: Dmitri Leiciu from PxHere

A friend emailed me two days ago to say she was placing her will in an accessible place, alongside her last wishes, documents relating to her house, plus other financial information. I said how sensible this was. She replied that, though she was seventy-five, many of her friends and family had thought she shouldn’t speak of such things. I was saddened at this attitude. But I was not surprised. People generally have a reticence to speak of death, dying, and life-limiting illness. How often do people still die without having made a will these days I wondered? All too often, it seems.

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