Paul Malley: My last few weeks at Five Wishes

July 9, 2026

Gratitude is the feeling that rises above all others as I write to share that my tenure at Aging with Dignity and Five Wishes will come to a close at the end of this month. Twenty-eight years ago, I walked into Aging with Dignity as a new employee. Jim Towey took a chance on a young guy and hired me to help with the national introduction of Five Wishes in the summer of 1998.

What began as a Florida pilot project quickly became the most widely used advance directive in America. Today, with more than 44 million copies of Five Wishes in distribution and documents available in 33 languages, I look back with deep appreciation for all the people who made it possible for our small nonprofit organization to touch the lives of millions.

My gratitude begins with Jim Towey, who founded Aging with Dignity and created Five Wishes. It extends to the members of our Board of Directors, our staff, the journalists who told our story, the medical professionals who incorporated Five Wishes into their clinical workflows, the faith leaders used Five Wishes to help people prepare spiritually for the end of life, the community advocates who have carried the message forward, and the individuals and families who shared their personal experiences. I will be forever grateful for the irreplaceable role each of you has played in expanding the reach and impact of this work.

Whether we worked together for decades or shared a brief conversation after a conference presentation, you are part of the remarkable Five Wishes story. And that story will continue to be written for years to come.

Over nearly three decades, one observation has remained constant across time and across the nation: we all want to take good care of the people we love. Five Wishes continues to make such a profound impact because it supports this basic and deeply human instinct. It can be easy to get lost in the complexity of advance care planning, electronic health records, clinical treatment decisions, legal designations of authority, and countless other details. But at its heart, this work is about calling forth the best in each of us. It is about connecting the dots, so we know how to care for the people we love. It is about honoring the human dignity of each person.

While it is hard to imagine not being part of this daily work, I leave with tremendous confidence in the future of Five Wishes. The team at Aging with Dignity and Five Wishes is prepared to carry the mission forward and grow the organization’s impact in new and meaningful ways, with your continued support. Stay connected with them, ask questions, share your experiences, and continue spreading the word.

As my family and I prepare for a new opportunity that will soon take us to America’s heartland and focus on the intersection of faith and public policy, I am grateful that I will continue to devote my efforts to helping people take good care of one another. I also look forward to staying in close contact with many of you. You can reach me here at Five Wishes through the end of July, and after that I will not be hard to find.

Above all, I thank God for the many blessings that continue to flow through the good work of Aging with Dignity and Five Wishes. With God’s grace and the dedication of each of you, I am confident that wonderful things will continue to happen.

Take good care,
Paul Malley
President, Five Wishes