If you live in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State, and are interested in starting a conversation with family members about what’s important to you when you think about the end of life (which comes to all of us, though we know not when), please join us on Sunday, October 9, 2016, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Federal Way, Washington, at 2 PM for a free two-hour workshop.  Ann Hagensen, RN, FABC, (Virginia Mason Medical Center) will be presenting materials based in part on The Conversation Project. She will be joined by Karen Freeman Worstell (transformational grief coach and founder of NarrowBridge Solutions), Pastor Lori Cornell (of Calvary Lutheran Church), and myself.

This is a topic of vital interest to me, and not just because I have metastatic cancer.  I have extensive experience exercising durable power of attorney and navigating communications between family members over estate and end-of-life choices. I know friends who had serious accidents or died unexpectedly without having these conversations with their loved ones, and as a result their family members were completely unprepared for the decisions they faced. Because this is so important to me, I serve as an advocate on regional and statewide initiatives to identify and honor patient goals of care and end-of-life wishes.

I hope you’ll join us!