A young married couple is learning to understand not only what they’re feeling but how to express it. The conversation brings a weight that’s both unsettling and profound—how they want to be cared for, what choices they would want each other to make if one of them ever becomes unable to decide. It is imperative to learn the communication skills of an almost unbearable conversation.

Try to imagine what it would feel like to honor each other’s wishes, while gripped with fear of the implications, afraid of the day you might have to make such a decision alone.