This is not about waking up to go to work, attending an appointment or anything like that it is about realising after spending the last week with my elderly Father, who is gravely ill and hasn’t really come to terms with preparing for his passing.

As stressful as this week may have been for everyone, especially for myself having to drive down from Coffs Harbour to Sydney in the pouring rain knowing that my Father had been given only a few days to live.

Then after nearly a week later being advised that he can be released from hospital to a nursing home with palliative care facilities.

Watching the relieved look on my Dad’s face knowing that he could actually live a bit longer and be near his wife, my stepmother of 40 years, also helped with relieving some of the angst that I had been feeling for the past week.

All that has occurred during this week has become my personal ‘wake up call’ to commence my own planning stages for my passing when I return back home to Coffs. From preparing a contingency plan in case I am incapacitated and not able to make an informed decision about my future health to what I want my passing to be like; a celebration of my life or allowing everyone to be sad and mourn indefinitely. The former ‘celebration of life’ is my chosen plan.

Not coming to terms with your final days and not planning your passing arrangements isn’t being realistic.

I don’t want to leave any of these details to my daughters; apart from ensuring my wishes are fulfilled.

Imagine the shock horror feeling I experienced recently whilst being interviewed live on the radio when all of a sudden my throat just froze due to lack of fluids combined with having to cope with a very nervous radio interviewer, as this was her first live interview.

The interviewer, wanting to ensure her first live interview was a success just about drove me to drink, but not water!

Weeks before the actual day of the interview I was starting to feel the torturous effects of her constant phone calls. She started to become a nuisance by her going over and over the proposed questions, were they sufficient, are the questions being repeated etc.

I said to her “just relax and let the questions flow, I will answer them to the best of my ability after all this is a great opportunity to promote the writers’ group”. Myself being the President of the writer’s group I wanted a good outcome too!

My biggest mistake on the morning of the interview, I didn’t make sure my throat was lubricated with any water before the interview. And the interviewer was so nervous she raced through the questions, instead of it being a 30-minute relaxed type of interview, she managed to ask all the questions and my comments were all over and done within 12 minutes.

Listening to the interview now on my iPhone’s recorder, I can hear how much my voice was under pressure due to lack of water.

Lesson learned, drink water before a live interview.