Ellen Goodman and "The Conversation Project"

It might be the most difficult conversation you'll ever have. But it'll definitely be the most important.

My clients know me as a devoted "Death With Dignity" advocate. I believe in peoples' right to die in the manner they - not their doctors - wish!

So does Ellen Goodman.

Ellen Goodman is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer for The New York Times. She's a keen observer of modern American culture. When she talks, people listen. And now she's talking about "The Conversation Project."

It's the conversation you and your family have probably been avoiding...the conversation about how you (or your parent) would like to die. Whether you'd like to be kept alive by artificial means. What measures you'd like taken - or not taken. Whether you'd rather die at home or on hospice than in a hospital.

The Conversation Project started in 2010, when Goodman, who had recently lost her mother, found herself in a conversation with friends about loved ones' "good" and "bad" deaths. Goodman - like so many of her friends - had never had "the conversation" with her mother. And when her mother had gotten sick and, eventually, unable to communicate her wishes, Goodman had no idea what to do.

The sense of loss she felt at her mother's passing was amplified by the fact that she hadn't asked her mother, in advance, what she wanted. She realized that millions of other people were carrying the same burden. So she started The Conversation Project (www.theconversationproject.org).

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we've been having these conversations with our clients for a long time - 34 years, to be exact. And during that time, we've helped thousands of South Florida seniors - and their families - define what, to them, would be a "good" death. And we've helped them, as well, map out their financial futures, with comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, long-term care planning, asset-protection plans, and assistance with Medicaid or the VA.

It's not an easy subject. But we can help. And we're just a phone call away.