Brendan Moran, whose wife Angie Parker died at their Rivett home at the end of a short and "out of the blue" battle with cancer, is one of the Canberrans featured in a series of short films funded by the Snow Foundation about living with - and supporting - the dying.
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Also supported by Calvary Hospital and Clare Holland House, Conversations was produced by the organisation LifeCircle, which offers help and resources to people caring for a dying friend or family member.
The series is being launched on Thursday at the Alastair Swayne Theatre at Brindabella Business Park.
Mr Moran said his wife died at the age of 55 on August 31, 2014, only three months after being diagnosed with the rare cancer, leiomyosarcoma.
"She asked two things of me - she really wanted to be at home and that we manage her physical pain," he said.
"With the help of the outreach service at Clare Holland House, we nursed her at home and she died at home, which was fantastic. It was just great to have that family experience with the kids and everyone there around her.
"When you're dying, the last place you want to be is in an emergency ward in a hospital with blinkers going and everything else."
Ms Parker, a science teacher at Lyneham High, had one chemotherapy treatment but decided to stop it when she had a terrible reaction to it.
"When she found out there was nothing to indicate the chemo was going to help, she used the last months of her life focused on being there and being comfortable and connected with people," he said.
Mr Moran said in hindsight, his wife got the best death she could, with their children Ciaran, Anna and Sophie also present.
"One always has 'what ifs' and 'Could I have done this better?' but talking to the kids and the enormous community we had around us, given what it was, it was the best it could be."
Mr Moran said the whole experience had changed his life, made him more sensitive to people who were dying and led to him volunteering one day a week at Clare Holland House, the Canberra hospice.
"I do think we need to have a conversation about dying," he said. "We use other words for it - 'going to sleep', 'passing away' and are so focused on our own fears. I don't think it serves us well."
LifeCircle chair Sally Evans said the organisation existed to help people have more choice and control over dying.
"They tell us they don't know how to start the conversation. So we have completed this body of work, with the support of the Snow Foundation, to help them think about the conversations they might have," she said.
Ms Evans said the films were not about euthanasia.
"We don't have a position on euthanasia, so it has nothing to do with euthanasia or assisted suicide," she said.
"We believe very strongly, that the earlier there is a conversation between the person who is dying and the people who care about them, then that's the conversation that is the most important and the one that is missing today."
*The films are available to view at http://lifecircle.org.au/
