God, give us each our own death,
the dying that proceeds from each of our lives:
The way that we loved, the meanings we made,
our need. For we are only the rind and the leaf.
The great death, that each of us carries inside,
is the fruit. Everything enfolds it.
—Rilke, Book of Hours, Love Poems to God
Bequeath your values not just your possessions to those you love. Ethical wills are a caring way to let your loved ones know what is important to you and to personalize the end-of-life planning process
As a professional writer I can assist you in creating your ethical will. The tradition of passing on beliefs, blessings and advice to the next generation can be traced back to biblical times. The patriarch of a family usually wrote the earliest of these documents. At that time the practice was used to impart ones wisdom, to offer blessings, burial instructions and to make predictions about the future. For those approaching death a written legacy of values can provide a sense of peace and completion. Karen Cheney writes in the AARP magazine, "Today with families spreading out and oral storytelling a near-extinct art, the need to write such wills has become more urgent, even among the healthy." Sharing an ethical will with your loved ones while you are still alive can also be a good way to open up communication and the heart while passing on your history and your values.
Working with a series of questions to get you started I can provide you with an outline so that you can write your own ethical will or I can write the document for you. Wills are printed on archival paper or can be created digitally. For more information please contact me using the contact page on this web site or call 510.232.6752.