Chambliss Law Firm Monthly Editorial

Mom Always Knew Best
by Amy Boulware, Elder Care Planning Manager, (LAP MSW)

“Amy, I really need to talk to you about something important.” My mom said this to me weeks after we found out that her cancer, which she battled for over five years, had returned. My mom and I were very close and talked every day about important and unimportant things, but this request seemed to have a different weight to it. My mom was a valiant fighter and had been aggressively treating her cancer. I was there night and day, holding her head when she couldn’t pick it up, feeding her, bathing her, going to doctors’ appointments, and being her all-around cheerleader. I wondered what she could possibly want to talk to me about that we hadn’t already discussed. I set aside an afternoon to have this conversation.

As we sat next to each other on the couch, she pulled my hand into hers, squeezing it tightly. She said, “What I am about to ask you is going to be hard, but I need your help.” My mind was racing a million miles a minute… what could she be thinking about? She knew I would do anything in the world for her. So, why was she acting so strangely? She took a deep breath and said to me, “I don’t want your dad to be my power of attorney for health care anymore.”