Are You Ready?

Okay, for those of you who can’t handle talk about death, go ahead and shut this down. My Dad hates talking about wills, death, final wishes, and my Mom is very open about it. I have always felt comfortable discussing the topic. Usually, the topic was about my parents. Things are changing and now, and I am hoping to be prepared. No, I’m not prepared to die…in fact I hope to live a long while, but when I do die, I want to have my affairs in order so that my only child will be able to manage things easily and without throwing her hands up in the air, rolling her eyes or cursing my grave!

Now, I have helped a few people along the way get their Power of Attorney, Living Will, and Last Will & Testaments. I bragged about myself using the line, “Preparing people for the end of life, one will at a time.” Even our small business, Happy Houser Tours & Events was prepared to help with funeral planning if someone wanted something a little less traditional (like I would like some day!).

Fortunately, both of my parents have their plans in place. I consider this a great gift to all of us because I know that it is a sad, stressful time and it is comforting knowing that when the time comes, their wishes are in place and we will be able to execute them with ease.

Having an only child, I have been especially mindful of the fact that Katie will have the burden of managing things when I die. After our divorce, I became especially aware that I was on my own and I wanted to make sure that my end-of-life things were in order.

As a couple, Greg and I had discussed things – we had our wills and various powers of attorney. We talked about our wishes for funerals and burials. Once we became divorced, I needed to make sure that my thoughts and wishes were in writing and I discussed them with Katie.

Asking your only child to make a decision to take you off of life support is not an easy discussion. I assured her that she could think about it but if she did decide to be that person, she should remember that these are my wishes and she should have no guilt or regret for doing so. I also reminded her that she had her father and an aunt and uncles who would stand by her and support her in making this decision. Thankfully she agreed.

I also shared with her that if anything would happen to me, all she had to do was go to the black and white hat box in the top of my closet and even if it wasn’t in great order, it would have everything she needed to take care of my “estate!”

Then…I found the book, “I’m Dead, Now What?” This is a workbook for your end-of-life plans. I put it into the black & white hat box a few weeks ago. Then, I decided to change my name back to Marcellino and I had to go through the box. The book on the top jumped out and I realized that this was the time to get it together and really get things in order.

So, I opened it up and completed the first page, “This book belongs to ______________” then I turned the page and all of a sudden I felt overwhelmed. Assets, Insurance, Plans for funeral, Plans for children, Plans for pets, Lists of special items for certain people, Distribution of property, space for Notes to special friends/family, etc…

The book is a great place to list your passwords, account numbers, bank information, and so on.

For me, a proponent of preparing for the end of life, I was shocked at how hard it was for me to really dig in and complete the pages of this book. The first thing I did was go through and mark the pages that I did not need. Plans for pets was a big “not applicable” along with plans for children as my child is raising her own children at this time so I don’t really have to make a plan for her.

I then found myself trying to figure out what would be the easiest to complete. Banking info? Investment info? Assorted documents? List of people to call upon my death? Monthly withdrawals? How to access my cell phone info? AHHHHHHHHH! Honestly, my head was spinning. Was I ready to do this for myself? I thought I was but at that moment, I just stared at the pages.

That was a few days, maybe a couple of weeks ago. Today, as I was working on finishing up some final name change duties, I pulled the book out. I’m determined to get this book completed by the end of the year. I want to start 2023 with my life in order.

I decided to start with financials first. I’m going take the pages in order and do a few pages each week. I will make time to get this book completed. It will take time, it will be hard, but it will be a gift to those who open up my black & white hat box when the time comes.

Now I know some of you may think this is extremely morbid, but I hope you all have your affairs in order or you will consider doing so. I plan to be around for many years to come. It’s nice to know that my affairs will be in order.

In the meantime, I am feeling just fine and I gratefully am not worried about anyone opening the black & white box anytime soon! Take care and I’ll see you next Wednesday!! xoxoxxoxo