We were in Clearwater, Fla., last week as the controversy boiled over in the Terri Schiavo case.

We were at the beach, while just blocks away, hundreds of people gathered outside Schiavo’s hospital room supporting her parents’ fight to keep in place the feeding tube that had kept her alive.

The hundreds of college co-eds who were busy playing beach volleyball, flirting and burning their lily-white skin didn’t seem overly concerned about the entire ordeal.

Perhaps they should have been.

Schiavo was only 25 when she suffered a heart attack and a subsequent loss of oxygen that caused the marked brain damage she obviously suffers today.

Schiavo did not have a living will. Why would she? She was 25 years old.

The horrendous spectacle that has ensued as the battle wages on between her parents and her husband, the courts and U.S. Congress has been dreadful.

If these painful images of Schiavo herself and the sorrowful pleas of her heartbroken parents have not convinced people to take a few moments to fill out a living will, then I don’t know what will.

Maine has fairly liberal laws when it comes to end-of-life decisions. It is not always necessary to have a living will if you have expressed your desires to those closest to you. It sure as heck makes what already is a dark time a bit easier, however, on those who have to make that final decision. It also practically assures that your own wishes will be honored even if there is conflict within your family.

Maine case law on this issue is pretty clear. Both cases stemmed from the Lewiston area, one in 1987 and another in 1990. Both cases involved young men, 18 and 24 years old, and both cases involved removal of feeding tubes. Also in both cases, the families of the patients wished for the tube to be removed. It was the Central Maine Medical Center and the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office who fought removal.

In both cases, the family members were able to convince the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that their loved ones had made statements, even if they were general statements, that they would not want to persist in a vegetative state.

In each case, Maine’s court sided with the families. Both men died within days of the feeding tubes being removed.

Dr. Erik Steele, chief medical officer of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems in Bangor, who has certainly been present for a number of end-of-life moments, has watched the Schiavo case with great anguish.

“I think the only thing good that can come of this is that millions of families, including my own, have used it as an opportunity to talk about these issues,” he said this week.

When these moments come, and too often they are unexpected, the family and the doctors are left to determine what the patient’s wishes would be.

It’s a painful place to be.

That’s why Dr. Steele notes that young people, as invulnerable as they think they are, should be among those of us who make our wishes known, both verbally and with a living will.

It’s easy to do. You don’t need a lawyer and you don’t need a notary. All you need is two witnesses to sign the document with you when you designate who you want to make the decisions for you, should that need arise. Then make sure you make a few copies and spread them around to those closest to you and perhaps your doctor. Have a dinner party with neighbors and you can all get it done at the same time and be witnesses for each other. It may seem a bit morbid, but make the most of it.

I have a living will, and it really does bring a peace of mind.

Fairly simple and perfectly legal living will forms can be printed from the State of Maine Web site as well as from the Maine Hospital Association’s Web site. You also can call the MHA or the Maine Medical Association or your local hospital and they will send you one.

Just a few weeks ago, a very dear friend of mine suffered a stroke. I spent that night with his wife of 46 years. The doctor had gently told her that there was no hope and that he had suffered irreparable brain damage.

There were many difficult things she had to do that night, such as call their only son who lives out of state and tell him to head home.

It’s never easy to agree to let someone you love die, but because her husband had made his wishes blatantly clear to her, that was one thing she didn’t have to struggle with on that very long night. She could make that decision without guilt.

That’s truly a gift, and it’s one that we all, young or old, should be willing to give to our families.

Living wills or advance directives, as they are commonly called, can be easily obtained by going to the Maine Hospital Association’s Web site at www.themha.org and looking for advance directives under the resource box. You can also get living wills mailed to you for free from the Maine Medical Association. Call them at 622-3374.