Raised in New England, educated in the northeast, midwest, Japan, Hawaii, and a long time resident of the Islands. After serving as a high school and college teacher and administrator, Joel later became an employee benefits specialist and insurance company marketing vice president.

Since 1990, he's provided consulting services (employee benefits, group insurance, human resource issues, and education) to individuals, schools and corporate clients. The focus of his community service is on organizations representing people with disabilities and their families and, recently, in gathering people interested in discussing end-of-life issues. The article below is about his daughter Alissa, who died at the age of 32. You're welcome to contact Joel directly.

Our most influential teachers might be people we never meet, never sit in their class. We know them through books, oral history, stories. Yet, the same mystery of teacher-student relationship exists—as the saying goes, "when you're ready, a teacher appears." The function of good teachers is to help us see things in new ways.

Robb Miller has been the Executive Director of Compassion & Choices of Washington—an affiliate of Compassion & Choices—since 2000. He was also one of the leaders of the coalition that passed Initiative 1000, the Washington Death with Dignity Act, with nearly 60% of the vote in 2008.

When the Washington Department of Health issued its third annual report on the Washington State Death with Dignity Act in early May, there was little interest from the media and no good news for opponents of patient autonomy at the end-of-life.

The lack of interest from the media tells us there was nothing sensational and no controversies to report. On the other hand, less media coverage means less awareness about the law.

Only 16 more people received prescriptions for life-ending medication as compared to 2010, and only 10 more died after receiving prescriptions. Of the 94 individuals who died, 70 self-administered medication, and 19 didn't—32% of patients who acquired prescriptions in 2011 elected not to take the medication. This is bad news for opponents who claimed that people who use the law would be anxious to die and would take the medication prematurely. The report indicates just the opposite.

Dick Walters is the president of Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont. The article below is his reflection on the 2011-2012 legislative session which came to a close on Saturday, May 5th.

The majority of Vermonters support the Death with Dignity bill. They can be proud of the progress made in the 2011-2012 legislative session toward enactment of this civil right. The issue has gained real momentum in the state capital.

The Death with Dignity bill would give terminally ill patients with fewer than six months to live the option—the choice—to request medication that they would self-administer as a way to control the timing and manner of their death.

The recent death of Vermont Republican Congressman Richard Mallary demonstrated the real need for the bill. Congressman Mallary was a well-respected leader in our state, and for years he called for passage of this bill—even appearing at a press conference at the beginning of this biennium. Unfortunately, the bill was not passed before his terminal illness overcame him. The revelation that he took his own life without the benefit of the peaceful approach allowed by the bill reminded all of us why we are fighting for this change.

The progress made and momentum for passage is clear.

I'm a firm believer in the power and impact patients make when they tell their stories. I often go back and read the words Susannah Fox shared during her Peer-to-peer message during the Summit + Medicine 2.0 at Stanford:

We are all on this adventure together, whether you are a researcher, a clinician, a patient, or an entrepreneur. You want to build value and contribute to better health. Your best chance is to band together with other people, stay humble, ask for—and offer—help. That's what patients and caregivers are doing. And everyone can learn from their example.

This week I've spent a great deal of time learning more and more as I've watched Lucien Engelen's TED talk.

This article is reprinted with permission from Snofly's post on HubPages. Snofly also started a blog before her brother passed and occasionally still blogs as the mood strikes at Grumpy Butterfly.

In 2009, the Death with Dignity Law became effective in Washington State. I voted for it. In theory, death with dignity sounds like a good idea.

In 2011, I actually lived through it. When faced with the reality of going through this with someone you love it can be a shock. It can make you ask yourself, "what in the world was I thinking?"