LOVE

A shout out to Julian Gray and Frank Petrich, certified elder law attorneys, who write a column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.   In the Dec. 24, 2017 issue their focus was on the 12 days of Christmas and a playful but serious view of planning ahead.

The main theme of the column was love and caring.  When you love someone, whether s/he’s a partner, friend, spouse, or child you need to talk about plans in the event you become incapacitated.   Where are the important papers?  Do I want lifesaving medical intervention even if the outcome puts me in a less than desirable state?  Do I want to be an organ donor?  Who do I want to be responsible for making medical decisions if I can’t make them for myself?   Where do I want to be buried?  Do I want to be cremated?   Who are the beneficiaries of my insurance, my dwelling, my financial portfolio?  Endless questions.  And these questions need to be answered both for the questioner and for the respondent. 

A good way to start off a holiday conversation may be, “now that we are all together, I want to take a few minutes and tell you why I have begun planning and I want to hear your thoughts about what steps you have taken for your future plans.”  It’s all about love and responsibility and yes, it can be about money, too, when you want to learn all the ways to protect your money for your loved ones.

I promised my blogging community that in December I would begin reviewing photos and identifying people in pictures because my kids would not know the names.   Yes, I did start.  And quickly I realized I will need a long time to complete my project.  So I am working on it.  My plan is to scan the photos and then identify the event and people and make photo books for each of my kids.  The original goal was to complete the project by year’s end.  Not going to happen.  New goal- May, 2018!

So check out the Elder Law column in the December 24, 2017 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (post-gazette.com) and search for The Conversation Project (https://theconversationproject.org/)  about how to start The Conversation.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. 

Onward to 2018….