Here’s to a holiday filled with joy! And good food! And scrumptious pie! Not to mention excellent leftovers.

But I think the best holidays are the ones where loved ones engage in important conversation — happy topics or hard topics — conversations that we remember and carry with us.

A group called “Engage with Grace” believes that Thanksgiving is one of the best times to open an “end of life” discussion. What do you want your loved ones to do when you are nearing the end of life? Morbid! you might say. No no no! you might say. Let’s keep the conversation to football and stuffing recipes.

Well, maybe this conversation is not for everyone to start, and not for every family. But it doesn’t have to be morbid. If everyone at the table is in reasonably good health, it can be dispassionate and intriguing.

I’m just bringing it up for you to consider bringing it up on this holiday weekend. Here is the video that explains it and the full text of the talk at TedMed by the founder of Engage with Grace.

Brian Ahier takes a similar tone “Letting your family know your wishes is an important way of showing your love.”