Erma Bombeck had a few good words on this subject. I'll bet if you googled it you'd find it. She said if she had known, she would have had people over, even if her carpets were threadbare, if she had known, she would have used her best lingerie, used her gift perfumes, her mothers quilts. She had cancer at an early age and these were the things she wished she had done. Pretty profound. She was an excellent writer which gave it more impact.