Planning a bookclub discussion of “Walking Him Home”?
Here are some questions to get you started. If you have questions you’d like to see added to the list, please use the Contact form to send them to us.
- Do you agree with Alan’s comment that “we treat our pets better than our elders?”
- What do you know about the medical aid in dying regulations where you live?
- How did this book inform or influence your attitude toward end-of-life options for each of us? After reading this book, would you consider choosing medical aid in dying if you are eligible for it? Would you support your spouse in making this choice?
- Washington Post columnist George Will says “Medical aid in dying is for preventing a hideous death, not for truncating an unhappy life.” How is medical aid in dying different from suicide?
- What were some of the qualities that made Alan and Joanne’s relationship so strong?
- Caretaking (spouses, parents, friends, children) is an exhausting, if loving, job. What did Joanne do to help minimize the stress and take care of herself? What would you do?
- In what ways did Joanne grow during this transition? What experiences have forced you to change or learn new skills that have broadened you as a person?
- Would you choose to create an “age-in-place” home as Joanne and Alan did? What options appeal to you as you age or have declining health? What is realistic?
- Alan died in his own bed, in the house Joanne and he built, in the loving company of his family and friends. How would you envision your last day? What is most important to you?
- What decisions have you made that would surprise a younger version of you?