Some of us have the best of intentions when it comes to our plans to complete our advance directives or start the advance care planning process with our families. But, our intentions to plan for the medical unknown are often waylaid by our fears or what we perceive to be our loved ones’ fears of discussing such things.

Or perhaps it seems like we’d be planning for the worst rather than hoping for the best–a rationale I’ve often heard used to condemn people who are adamant about advance care planning (myself included). If we are stopped in our tracks by the fear of offending our loved ones, it can be incredibly hard to convince ourselves to move forward with the advance care planning process. That is until you hear a story about how not planning affected someone else’s family. I ran across this most touching news story about one wife’s regrets after the passing of her husband (that remain with her some five years later) and just had to share it. I hope that it will serve as inspiration to all of you out there who have stalled your advance care planning process to kick it back into high gear and ‘have the talk’ with your family today!

“This is a contribution by Nathan Kottkamp, Chair of National Healthcare Decisions Day which was originally published on the NHDD blog. Stay in the loop with Nathan and NHDD on Twitter: Follow @NathanKottkamp Follow @NHDD