“GATHERING LAST WISHES” 3 -SESSION COURSE
“Surviving the Business of Dying,” THE COMPANION WORKBOOK
LAST WISHES? Make them come true!
“What’s the point of taking a course for something I can do myself?” I don’t know about you, but I can’t count the number of times I started a book, and it’s still where I left it! OR started a journal, and it’s still on that shelf. This time the book is simple, and the reason is important. Why take the chance of starting but not finishing? Let me tell you from experience. This is a book you will want to finish in the best of ways.
Benefits:
- You will finish the book! I guarantee we will complete the “Surviving the Business of Dying,” The Companion Workbook in our three 75-minute sessions together.
- Learn how to start the conversation about their last wishes with someone who might need to complete their workbook.
- Learn why leaving detailed instructions is the best gift of all!
- Feel yourself change as what might have been a challenge to talk about last wishes morphs into understanding with each session.
- A completed workbook is a tribute to your hope of leaving your family one of the best gifts anyone could give – this is detailed instructions!
HAVE LAST WISHES? MAKE THEM COME TRUE! Write them down! Give them directions!
What kind of directions? Detailed instructions! Here are just a few items to consider:
- Where exactly are the extra keys to the house, the car, etc. Who else has a copy?
- Which branch do you do your banking? Contact? Name & phone.
- Who is your “Social Media Administrator”? (This person will take down your social media platforms or at least follow your instructions.)
- Have you written your social media instructions yet? All explained in the workbook.
- What if the dog/cat gets sick? What’s your vet’s name, phone, and address?
My “Gathering Last Wishes”, a 3-session program, covers these questions and more. We will fill them in! While we all have similar needs, our to-do lists will vary. We’re all so different – religions, ethnicities, traditions – let me know, and we can add it in the next edition.
Participants will receive a FREE digital set of “Surviving the Business of Dying” and The Companion Workbook, upon registration. We will be using the Workbook in each session.
CLASSES ARE ON WEDNESDAY: September 14, September 21 & September 28 from 3pm to 4:30pm.
The program includes all 3 classes in order to complete the workbook.
WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT! REGISTER! Scroll down to click the button and you will be brought to the PURCHASE box for “GATHERING LAST WISHES”.
When my sister passed suddenly, my Mom was against cremation.
As it turns out, my sister was not.
The only way we knew that was from the workbook we filled out before she died.
I was able to turn a potentially disastrous situation into something that mom could deal with. My sister was cremated and laid to rest with the rest of our family just as she wanted.
~Dotty S.
About your Last Wishes facilitator:
Mary Jane Charles, CEO of Last Wishes ‘n Support, is on a mission to ensure that others don’t have to experience what she went through when her husband died suddenly. On a 20-minute car ride, her husband fell asleep and never woke up.
She says…
“I was numb in that moment. We were driving to a business appointment. I was driving as he was very weak this particular day. Upon arrival, I looked over at him. I knew he wasn’t sleeping. He was gone. The hospital experience without a medical directive proved to be equally bizarre. I had only used my phone to video him that morning. He gave his answers to the state directive questions as I asked them. It was a few hours later that I was sharing that video with the ER doctor. He asked, “Do you have his papers?” I said, “No, but I have this video”. He was shocked, never having had this arrangement before. He quickly disappeared (perhaps to ask his hospital administrator if it was acceptable). He returned and said there were to be “no extra measures” taken.
I don’t remember the 35-minute trip home. As I drove, my mind wandered almost aloud. I knew there wasn’t a Will or even notes regarding a funeral. I had nothing to go on business-wise. My son, then 28, was with me as we drove in silence (I think.). He fielded phone calls and then it began.
The funeral was a week later, given church/priest/people availability. Nothing I could control one way or another. I started pulling paperwork together. The “Do Not Have” list grew daily. I did not know any passwords, no bank contacts, no phone passwords, and so forth. Without any Powers of Attorney or signed Will with my name as the executor, I was stuck. He had died “intestate”, that is, he died without a signed Will. This meant the state probate court would handle his unfinished business. There were no shared accounts. The money was deposited in the state holding account for distribution at a later date. It was a nightmare. I had to shop for a probate attorney so that I could be officially named his “Personal Representative” in order to complete all the tasks, given to me by the state.
Once hospital and funeral bills were paid (Court issued permission to do so, 5 months afterward.) and a business understanding (Yes, there was a partner.) had been reached, the estate itself was finally laid to rest. It was eighteen months in total.
In the early weeks, I viewed my dining room. I called it my “war room”. My brain took one look that day and decided my paperwork was the beginning of a book. “Surviving the Business of Dying, Why Final Papers Matter” was named “Finalist” in its genre at the 2019 International Book Fest. Reviews were great, but common questions remained – “Where do I begin?” and “How do I begin?” The “Companion Workbook” was published in the fall of 2019. With its user-friendly format, this workbook provides a platform for wishes to be collected – by section – and in a detailed manner. It is at once a peaceable means to gather personal thoughts as well as a potential primary source (indisputably composed by the person who completes it) for the family after you are gone. Those who wish to write down their wishes now had a single place in which to write them. It becomes your collection of detailed instructions that smooth the way of executing your Will. It’s called a map.”
MJ’s passion lies in supporting those who want to ensure that their loved ones have a real map, filled with the littlest of details, so that the business of dying is easier, moved along without rancor or angst, and ensure that their last wishes really do come true. Her practical process is a tool in planning for your “Final Exit”, A complete workbook becomes one of the best gifts one can bestow upon surviving loved ones.
