Hello. Welcome to the "Q&A" column. As a way of introduction, this column topic will deal with the need to have information on death and dying issues. Historically the United States has had a kind of schizophrenic attitude towards death and dying. We are fascinated with it, yet we want to keep it at a distance.

Before World War II more people died at home, therefore death was seen by the living. People had experience in dealing with the death of someone. While this was true for adults children have always been shielded from the "horrors of death". Today many adults have never seen a dead person, much less had to be responsible for a deceased person.

Yet, with 6,000 deaths a day people need to know what to do. This column will try to give you answers to your questions on what to do. In the United States people generally don’t want to discuss their own impending death so no plans are made for the future. It is usually after a death that the people responsible for the deceased need to get information and make decisions, often while under great mental stress.

This column (as well as other web sites) will become a resource for you. You may use it as a resource in making plans for what you want done after your own death, or as a resource for you because you are responsible for a deceased person. And if you know of someone who is going to be responsible for a deceased person they may be grateful if you were able to pass this information to them.

This column, indeed the whole web site, will give you information in an easy-to-read style, laced with humor and human interest stories, so this topic of death and dying won’t be quite so hard for you to accept. Keep your questions coming and we look forward to giving you some of the answers to this most touchy of topics, death and dying.