About 3 or so years ago, my mother had a heart attack and was on life support for about a month before she died. My father had died 25 years prior, so me and my sisters were her health care proxy. I let my sisters make all the decisions, since I was always the scapegoat in the family and was not going to let that happen, especially with this. In any event, that got me to thinking .... what if I had a heart attack and RAH had to make medical decisions for me? Do I want a drunk making life and death decisions for ME??? Nope. So, I drew up a health care proxy, naming my ex-DIL (who I am still very close with) as my proxy to make all my healthcare decisions. I have three kids, and I didn't want it put on them because they all feel differently about things, and my daughter is an addict, but I refuse to let a drunk make those decisions either. Further, I stated to exDIL that I did not want RAH up at the hospital, drunk as a skunk, if I were ever in that position. I know she is a strong enough woman to carry my wishes thru. Even tho RAH is in recovery now, I still have her as my proxy because I don't know how long he will stay in recovery, or if God forbid something bad happened to me, he would use that as an excuse to relapse. Now that I have custody of my two granddaughters, I have it written that, in the event of some medical crisis happening to me, that my best friend of over 30 years care for them until I am well enough to do so. She is also willing to go to court if need be, if anyone should give her a hard time about it. Life is short, things happen, you need to be prepared. There are alternatives.