Linda Harvey
Aging With Intention—Let’s Talk is pleased to host a meeting on the Five Wishes. All SaddleBrooke Ranch residents and their guests are invited to attend on Sunday, April 12, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at La Hacienda Club (La Mesa Room).
The Five Wishes document is important for everyone—including spouses, parents, and single people. Five Wishes is also called an advance directive. It talks about your personal, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as your medical wishes. It lets you choose the person you want to make health care decisions for you if you are not able to make them for yourself. Five Wishes lets you say exactly how you wish to be treated if you get seriously ill. It was written with the help of the nation’s leading experts in end-of-life care. It’s also easy to use. All you have to do is check a box, circle a direction, or write a few sentences.
How Five Wishes Can Help You and Your Family
* It lets you talk with your family, friends, and doctor about how you want to be treated if you become seriously ill.
* Your family members will not have to guess what you want. It protects them if you become seriously ill, because they won’t have to make hard choices without knowing your wishes.
* You can know what your mom, dad, spouse, or friend wants. You can be there for them when they need you most. You will understand what they really want.
How Five Wishes Began
For 12 years, Jim Towey worked closely with Mother Teresa, and, for one year, he lived in a hospice she ran in Washington, D.C. Inspired by this first-hand experience, Mr. Towey sought a way for patients and their families to plan ahead and to cope with serious illness. The result is Five Wishes and the response to it has been overwhelming. It has been featured on CNN and NBC and in the pages of TIME and Money magazines. Newspapers have called Five Wishes the first “living will with a heart and soul.” Today, Five Wishes is available in 32 languages.
Nathan Hughes from Harmony Hospice will bring his experience and expertise to lead the discussion on the Five Wishes. He will answer questions and share insights to help with the completion of the document. Blank copies of the document will be available at the meeting.
Meetings of Aging With Intention are held in La Mesa Room at La Hacienda Club on the second Sunday of the month and are open to SaddleBrooke Ranch residents and their guests. For more information, send an email to linda_harvey@hotmail.com.