Marisa, a client, contacted me with an urgent tone in her voice. “Should I get funeral insurance? I really want to sort my funeral out, but this is a big stumbling block for me…

This is a photo I took of my parents’ joint funeral. Unbelievably, they both died in the same week, in their sleep, aged 86 and 84. My dad had had a stroke a year previously and hadn’t been doing too well, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected…

“I know I should be doing it, I know it’s a good idea, but I just keep putting it off!” Ever heard that cry coming out of your own mouth, or from someone you know?

Berenice looked horrified. In the group I was running, she was coming to terms with the idea that she really needed to speak to her parents about the fact they were coming towards the end of their lives…

Joan and Stanley went to visit their financial adviser, with the express intent of getting all their financial questions answered. Headed towards their late 70s, and facing a possible further two decades (or maybe more), they were concerned…

Recently, Jane Fonda, aged 85, spoke of one of the essential aspects of ageing gracefully. What could it be, I wondered – staying healthy? Keeping moving? Having younger people around you? Actually, it was none of that.

Simona was despairing “I’ve been left such a mess, I can’t believe it! How do I even begin, when it’s the very last thing I want to do!” She was expressing her horror at the myriad of things she was having to deal with after her mother had died…

One of the top 5 regrets of the dying is “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.” Given that we never know when our life is going to come to an end, it’s a really good idea to not only express our feelings, but by doing that, keep our relationships…

Many years ago, I was visiting a friend’s house, having just heard that her husband was in his last few days. She was not a close friend, but I knew them both as part of the Quaker community…

“What shall I say?” asked Howard, obviously uncomfortable about telling his 7- and 9-year-old that their grandfather had just died. They had only seen him the other day, as usual, and he had seemed his usual cheerful self…