7/18/20 Two Five Wishes Packets, given awayToday, Joanna's birthday celebration continued as Marc and Gianna had us over for a delicious vegetarian dinner. It was all capped off by my new favorite dessert: Gianna's homemade chocolate chip cookie ice-cream sandwich cake. I can't begin to describe it, but I've already placed my order for my birthday.
It's great fun to hang out with our best friends, but there's no denying that the dynamics are all changed by kids. We've got our own Colorado Critter now, and Marc & Gianna's sons are three and six years old. Just sharing a meal is different when there are children involved, and, of course, the way we conduct the rest of our lives is forever altered, too.
Just about every year, Joanna's dad (whose own life was certainly redirected by the births of his two lovely daughters) sends us a couple of Five Wishes packets. If you're not familiar with these, they are do-it-yourself living wills that outline your wishes should you become seriously ill. Basically, should we pull the plug or not.
As morbid as it may sound, these kinds of decisions -- and there are a million of them -- go from the realm of jokes to moral responsibilities once you have kids.
That's why I so appreciate not only Meyrick's gentle nudging of us to create living wills (a sign of good parenting), but his persistence. At this point, I've collected six packets, and we still haven't completed them. At five dollars a pop, Meyrick's investment is starting to add up.
Tonight, however, I draw a line in the sand, and publicly declare that Joanna and I will complete our packets by the end of the week.
Since we need only two, I took two of the extra ones over to dinner tonight for our friends, and Marc did a read through of some of the decisions. For the record, Marc wants his head kept alive for as long as possible. The rest of us were doubtful of its value, but he was pretty insistent.
Living head or no, I am determined to be the best darn husband and father I can, so I'm going to take care of this bit of responsible parenting within a few days. Hold me to it.
And, Dear Readers, even after Joanna and I complete our Five Wishes packets, I'll still have two left over to downsize. Let me know if you want them -- I'm ready to pass this spirit of adult responsibility along!
Editor's Note, 8/8/10: We did get our living wills completed about a week after I posted this entry. However, it took until the first week of August to get witnesses to sign the forms, making them official. Appropriately enough, Marc & Gianna served as our witnesses.
Dibs!
ReplyDeleteWe too have been lax about formalizing our final decisions, although it has certainly been well discussed. JDV and I know each other's minds about the matter, but just in case we are both incapacitated it makes sense that everyone else should know as well.
(And, I'm good for the postage to get them back east.)
What a great concept. I took a look at the web site and I think it's something that my husband and I should do, particularly crossing national boundaries as we do. We'll follow up when we visit NY this month.
ReplyDeleteHumanitarian content: A+
ReplyDeleteEntertainment value: A
Spellcheck: C
Adherence to blog intent: In the final days of this noble task, there has been a noticeable increase in the handing off of passively acquired items. This seems to "compromise" the high moral ground of the downsizing raison d'etre. I expect July 30 to be a whopper worthy of the year-long commitment, but with the current trend, the penultimate act will be emptying your pocket of change to a Denver homeless person and calling it a downsize.
Curmudgeons following blog: 1
CRM: They're on the way (and despite gemni's protests, I'm even counting it as a downsize).
ReplyDeleteG in Berlin: Glad the blog gave you some food for thought.
Gemni: I edited the blog again and only found two errors, so I'm not sure why I got marked so low in the spellcheck category. Please remember I'm doing this with no formal editor (you can have the job for the coffee table edition), and often late at night after a hard day of work. And, in further defense of myself, I think it's notable that I continue to get rid of things (that, honestly, I otherwise would NOT be taking the time or energy to downsize right now) despite the fact that we are living in a spartan apartment pared down to the absolute essentials. Be careful how hard you push me or you'll wake up one morning to find that your grandson has been shipped off in the name of giving me a downsizing whopper!
2+ desert/dessert, doubted of.
ReplyDeleteI am properly chastised for not appreciating the difficulty of the challenge assumed by an overworked husband/father leading a spartan existence. And we have no fear that any of the "precious" in your life that draw breath will be downsized.
Interesting, I'll have to look in to this. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEditing changes have been made, Gemni. Hopefully it now meets all of our high standards.
ReplyDeleteT~
Always glad to point out some good ideas.
Guess I'm too late to have you send me one of the packets. We too have put off this important matter. Kudos to you and Jo for getting it done!
ReplyDelete