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Released: August 14, 2011

How Dad’s planning helped us cope with his death

Source: Sharon Epperson, CNBC.com

My father had a plan to tackle nearly every situation. I didn't realize what a truly generous and lasting gift that would be until he was gone. Six weeks ago, my mother called me with the unexpected news. All she could say, "It's not good." She was at a Pittsburgh hospital with my father who had a cardiac arrest while at a meeting. A hospital chaplain took the phone to explain the worst had happened. "Your father has passed," he said. My dad, who was 76, had suffered from health problems over the past few years. Yet he led an active life in recent months, engaged on the boards of several non-profit organizations in retirement. He and my mom, who is 74, had also spent a significant amount of time planning for the inevitable — their deaths. By making some important decisions while living, my father helped to lessen the overwhelming stress of coping with sudden loss.

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