One of the more important books that I have read talks about the different segments of one's life.1 The concept of life stage has been useful for treating a variety of people at different times of their lives. When puberty or the calendar ushers in adolescence, a new life stage begins. When schooling ends, when someone is hired to work, when the employed man or woman retires, or when a marriage takes place, a new life stage may begin. When a married couple has a child, a new stage of life often starts, and when the last child leaves home, a married couple may begin a new life stage. Similarly, when serious illness (eg, cancer) brings restrictions, a new life stage can be said to follow. Once defined, I have found it useful to ask the patient to describe how he or she wants to spend this stage. A Veterans Administration colleague recently gave me an article2 to read that calls attention to the “homelessness” that typically results when an older person is admitted to a nursing home. It seems to me that one approach to the institutionalized elderly man or woman at the end of life is to define the problem as the onset of a new life stage and encourage the individual to plan for this time. I have been working on a palliative care team at a local Veterans Affairs hospital now for nearly 2 years. As part of that work, I treat patients who have been admitted to our nursing home unit. Although every case is different, and the problems presented may vary, I utilize the concept of a new life stage with practically every veteran that I treat. The loss of a home is one of many events that challenge the older person's need to have some control over his or her life. The event forces the individual at the end of life to make a plan for this period. In a manner similar to those individuals who are admitted to hospice, some patients who learn to call our nursing home unit their home outlive their commitment. When they leave the place where they expected their life to end, a new life stage can also be said to begin.