This week, when you're with your family, snuggled on the couch with full bellies, why not take a couple of minutes to ask your parents a few important questions? This is absolutely not an exhaustive list, just a couple of things to think about.
1. Where do they keep their important papers? Do they have a will, a living will, persons designated to make medical or financial decisions?
2. Do they have a plan for distributing valuable or sentimental items?
3. Where do they want to have the funeral? Burial or Cremation? Do they have cemetery plots somewhere? Do they have any specific requests for music or readings or memorial donations?
4. Is there anything else we ought to know?
I know, it's hard, but you can blame it on me, say I brought it up in the first place. Then you'll know some stuff, and in 40 or 50 years, when you need it, you'll already have the info. Just jot it down and stuff it into the "important papers" file at the back of your filing cabinet, and you won't have to think about it again for a long time.
And you'll all feel a little better when it's done.
4 comments:
So weird...I just had this conversation with Mom.
Good idea.
It is also nice to have a list of current medications with correct dosages and a list of allergies.
I also just had this conversation with a friend who's father-in-law died suddenly...
My mom recently brought up that if she's ever incapacitated, in a coma or has dementia or something like that, I have to make sure someone knows to put her special eye drops in twice a day, or else her eyes become excruciatingly painful. I think I know the other things you mentioned, too, but it's a good point to remember to talk about these practical things that we often forget until it is urgent.
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