Leave them your words. Not just your things.
The things people hold onto after you're gone are rarely things. They're your words — what you wanted them to know, what you were proud of, what you hoped for them. This is a quiet, guided way to write them down. Nine questions become a letter. It takes about twenty minutes, it stays on your device, and it's yours to keep and to give.
The conversation is the gift. The letter is what's left of it.
This is modeled on a practice studied in palliative care for two decades: a person near the end is asked a short set of questions, and their answers become a permanent document for the people they love.
It helps the person
In the initial single-arm dignity therapy study (n = 100, no comparison group), 91% reported satisfaction and 76% a heightened sense of dignity. In the 2011 randomized trial (n = 441), primary distress scores did not differ between groups, while participants rated dignity therapy significantly higher on helpfulness, quality of life, and family benefit.
It helps the family most of all
The letter is what families return to. In study after study, relatives said the document helped them grieve — and would keep helping, for years.
It works best early
It asks for memory and reflection, so it's best done while there's energy for it — long before a crisis. The best time is usually earlier than people think.
Inspired by the Dignity Psychotherapy question protocol (Chochinov et al., J Clin Oncol 2005; Lancet Oncol 2011) and the systematic review by Martínez et al., Palliative Medicine (2017). This page is a private writing tool, not clinician-delivered therapy — see the gentle note below and our Legacy Work training module for the full evidence table.
Answer what you can. Leave the rest.
There are no wrong answers, and you never have to finish in one sitting. Your draft saves automatically on this device as you type. Say things plainly, in your own voice — that's exactly what your family will want to hear.
If you're reading this, I wanted you to have my words — not guessed at, but written down by me, while I could. Here they are.
You don't have to do this alone.
This letter is yours — a private keepsake you write for your family. It is not medical advice, not a legal document, and not a substitute for the real, evidence-based therapy it's modeled on, which is done with a trained person at your side.
These questions can stir deep feelings. That's normal, and it's part of why the work matters — but you never have to carry it by yourself. An end-of-life doula can sit with you through any question, and co-op.care can connect you with a real person to do this work alongside you.
If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, please reach a person now: call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US). You matter, today.
A letter is one room. Here's the house around it.
Each of these meets you from a different direction — your Care Wishes, the person at the bedside, the family file, and care at home. Behind them is one cooperative, designed so the people who give the care own it.
Say what matters — CareGoals
A legacy letter says who you were. A Care Wishes document says who speaks for you and what matters most in your own words — to bring to your family and your state's form.
caregoals.com →Keep the family file — ComfortCard
Your ComfortCard Family File keeps your Care Wishes, your papers, your appointment After Notes, and where this letter is stored — on your own device, with no account.
comfortcard.org/family →Care at home — co-op.care
When the plan becomes practice, worker-owned caregivers honor it — at home, on your terms. Neighbors, not vendors.
co-op.care →Sit with a doula
An end-of-life doula can go through these questions with you one at a time, in person — and help you find the words when they're hard to reach.
Find a doula →Keep it, and get help finishing
Your letter is saved only on this device and is never sent anywhere. When it is ready, use Print or save as PDF or Download as .txt under the letter. Prefer a single blank page instead of nine prompts? Try the After Note.