End of life is terrifying... Especially the idea of facing it alone, with all your friends and family long gone (or, worse yet, having been abandoned), is heartbreaking.
Buddhism helps us learn healthy detachment. This can be detachment from things, people and even ourselves; the healthy part being the balance that still allows us to appreciate and love them, even knowing one day we must lose them. Pushing those things away to protect ourselves from the pain of loss is unhealthy. Remember the middle way.
In The Book of Joy the Dalai Lama states that he approaches meditation as a preparation to die well. I don’t know if that’s what you meant by “prepare for it every day” but what you said reminded me of all this.