Al recently retired as a high school physics teacher at the age of sixty-five. Throughout his working years, he remained single, never had children, and mostly devoted himself to teaching and to such hobbies as learning foreign languages, playing chess, and keeping abreast of developments in the natural sciences and artificial intelligence. Now he and his physician, Dr. Juana Pedemonte, suspect that he is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, a type of progressive dementia. Their suspicion is based on clinical symptoms and the frequent occurrence of this disease in Al's family. While still competent, and in the context of detailed discussions with his physician, Al completes an advance directive. He stipulates that, once he has become so demented as to be “unable to remember most of my life, unable to communicate effectively, and unable to perform most everyday life tasks,” he should not receive life supports (other than nutrition and hydration) if he enters a potentially fatal medical condition. This preference holds, he elaborates, even in the event that Al appears contented while profoundly demented. For he considers any existence in such a mentally compromised state incompatible with how he sees himself; a protracted, deep dementia would seriously diminish his life as a whole, as an incongruous ending can ruin an otherwise good story. He and Dr. Pedemonte agree that this directive aptly expresses Al's self-understanding and values.