One year has passed since 29-year-old terminal brain cancer patient Brittany Maynard ended her life peacefully at her home, a choice that ignited a firestorm of controversy in a country divided on the right to die. On October 6, 2014, Brittany and the nonprofit Compassion & Choices launched an emotional video campaign in which Brittany explained her decision to end her life and defended others’ right to do the same. On November 1, with her husband, family, and friends at her side, Maynard drank lethal medication.Brittany and her husband, Dan Diaz, had moved from Northern California to Oregon, one of only five states that authorized aid in dying at the time. But last month, due in no small part to the national conversation that Maynard sparked (and the fervent advocacy of her widower), California joined that list when Governor Jerry Brown signed the End Of Life Option Act into law . “In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death,” wrote Brown , who, like many of the bill’s opponents, identifies with the Catholic tradition . “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”Dan, who left his job in the consumer packaging industry in July to advocate full-time for aid in dying as a contractor for Compassion & Choices, describes the “relief and gratitude” he felt when the governor signed the bill. “What Compassion & Choices has attempted to do for the last 15 or 20 years, I like to think that Brittany took care of within nine months,” he says. We spoke with Dan about his life after Brittany’s death, the battle to pass the End Of Life Option Act, and how proud he is of the wife whose absence he feels every day. ( Click here to read our interview with Brittany last year, just before her death.)