We’re all going to die. That’s not alarmist or pessimistic—just a fact. One day, life ends. Death is part of being human, but not something most people want to discuss. We avoid thinking about our own mortality, often putting off important final decisions until it’s too late.
You Only Die Once takes a surprisingly lighthearted approach to this serious topic, demystifying end-of-life arrangements with poignant and humorous personal stories. With longtime counselor Margie Jenkins’s gentle guidance, you’ll travel the “planning paths” you’ve avoided for so long.
Jenkins helps you prepare your will and estate, decide where your cherished possessions go, and determine whether you need an advanced care directive. Should you wish it, you’ll even discover how to preplan your own funeral or memorial service.
Along the way, Jenkins offers hope for survivors and practical tips on how to handle a loved one’s death or sudden medical crisis. Most importantly, perhaps, you’ll come to realize that by making choices now, you transform death into the culmination of a life well-lived—rather than an unplanned and unexpected event.
After all, we only die once. Why not make sure you do it right?

You Only Die Once: Preparing for the End of Life with Grace and Gusto

Jenkins, Margie

Parenting & Relationships

Patio Press

One day life ends, and though you don’t know when you’ll die, you can prepare yourself and your loved ones by creating a personalized end-of-life plan and do it right—and with the help of this lighthearted workbook, you might even enjoy the process!!
Written by ninety-two-year-old author and psychotherapist Margie Jenkins, who shares her own poignant and entertaining stories throughout, this guide assists you in personalizing your plan by providing checklists, easy-to-fill-out forms, and questions to consider.
By exploring your options now regarding medical procedures, burial details, and the like, you can make wiser decisions without the complications of frenzied emotional stress. Additionally, this planner inspires you to reflect on your memories and accomplishments, writing them down both for posterity’s sake and to motivate you to use whatever time you have left to keep pursuing a full and joyous life.
A companion to Jenkins’s You Only Die Once, this invaluable workbook helps you experience your life as a gift and goes on to bless your loved ones when your end finally arrives.

My Personal Planner: For Use with the Book, You Only Die Once

Self-Help

Death & Grief

Death is something readers usually don't like to think about. That is understandable, but,as Margie Jenkins points out that kind of denial misses out on life's last adventure. Margie uses candor and common sense in an engaging tone to ease readers into the consideration of a difficult topic. They will learn how to prepare for death - well before they die. And then they will reap the benefits of a healthy view of death: the freedom to live boldly, with little anxiety or guilt, and absolutely no fear of the future. Death is something that demands respect, but that doesn't mean we have to miss out on its humorous moments.
 As practical asit is profound, You Only Die Once teaches that good preparation for death is the foundation for a bold and rewarding life.

Integrity Publishers

Margie Jenkins shares her Kentucky childhood and meeting Jenks in Latin class in high school when they were 15. Almost at once, she recognized him as the man she would marry. After an eight year off-and-on-again courtship, they married and spent the next 70 years of their lives together. While she was a stay-at-home mom raising 4 kids, Jenks built a successful career with Conoco. When the kids left for college, Margie applied for graduate school at the University of Houston and earned her master's degree in social work at age 54. As a psychotherapist, Margie worked as a marriage and family therapist at Houston's Interface Counseling Center and the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. At age 60 she opened a private practice and counseled clients from age 9 to 90. A few years later, she became a newspaper columnist, writing the column Sixty-Something addressing topics of interest to older adults. Many of her clients were facing death and dying issues, which led Margie to write two of the most respected and widely read books on end-of-life planning--You Only Die Once and My Personal Planner.Her books inspired demand across the USA for Margie and Jenks to conduct seminars on end-of-life topics--at churches, universities, retirement centers, hospices, social work conferences, Financial Planning Groups, and even for an FBI group. At age 90 Margie created and became the presenter of the You Only Die Once Study Course. At 92, she founded a publishing company (Patio Press), which-at 96--she still manages.After Jenks died in 2016, Margie began writing I Don't Remember Getting Old, the moving and delightful book you are about to enjoy.

I Don't Remember Getting Old

Biographies & Memoirs

Memoirs

Independently published

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jenkins, Margie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jenkins, Margie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jenkins, Margie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

You Only Die Once: Preparing for the End of Life with Grace and Gusto

My Personal Planner: For Use with the Book, You Only Die Once

You Only Die Once: Preparing for the End of Life with Grace and Gusto

I Don't Remember Getting Old