Preparing for the Final Quest

This book was written with several groups in mind. The first is younger adults with children. There is business to attend to in order to assure their family would survive an unexpected loss with resilience. Older adult children navigating the aging journey with their loved ones will find strategies for creating calm from the chaos which sometimes can occur. And finally, this can be a guide for those who provide care for the aging or dying, keeping comfort, safety and dignity at the forefront of the interventions and care that is offered. Nursing and humanities students will also find useful information in these pages.

There are few milestone passages in our lives – births, graduations, marriage, professional accomplishments. We anticipate and make conscientious plans to honor such passages – but tend to ignore the one we ALL experience - The Final Quest.

By joining the quest to meet death as an ally, you will discover:

• How not engaging with death can create crisis for our loved ones
• The business of life and anticipating needs of your survivors
• The language and assessments used by providers to quantify changes in abilities
• The importance of planning ahead for incidents common to aging
• Advocating for your loved ones
• What changes are natural and expected on the aging journey
• Resources for End of life, hospice and aftercare

The author weaves a narrative story as a case study for each topic. The main character, Rowan, is assigned the quest to make Death an ally once again. Rowan’s journey with mentor Wim is written to both entertain and instruct us on the aging journey. Chapters begin with a segment of Rowan’s Quest, followed by contemporary discussion of the business of life and the common changes experienced along the aging and end-of-life journey. Each chapter closes with a task list to help you develop tools, find resources and embrace your new knowledge to prepare for your own Final Quest.