“I wouldn’t be caught dead in that!” This is such a common phrase, even if we just think it to ourselves, rather than say it out loud. Usually, it’s an invitation, if mentioned at all, to discuss what it is about someone else’s choice of clothes that is provoking…

Over 12 years ago, after a year of dealing with stomach cancer, my husband passed away. As any widow knows, this is an utterly devastating thing to happen, even if you are towards the end of your life, you know it is the ‘natural’ conclusion…

It was a plaintive voice. From someone who knows they are dying, but whose family can’t accept the fact. Perhaps that’s your situation – when you are 60+, because we have lived more years than we are probably going to live, it does happen that people…

“Who do I leave my belongings to?” is one of the most common questions amongst those who are childless, who are estranged from their children for some reason, or whose children live on the other side of the world. Bethany, aged 70, has never had children…

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.