Family's roll-top desk offers a good reminder

In my home office is an oak roll-top desk that likely dates back to the 1930s. My dad rescued it in the early ’50s (another story), used it until 1996 when it was my turn to be its custodian. Now it is time to pass it along to our son sometime late this Spring.

But before he takes the desk to his home, I need to do some serious down-sizing of the “stuff” both in its drawers and all over the surface. (I’m more of a piler than a filer!) I suspect much of the paper on top will find its way to the recycle bin. Drawers-content may be salvageable, maybe not.

Either way, preparing the antique desk for its new home is simply another step toward our goal of down-sizing the stuff we own. Sooner or later, we will not need the larger house we currently live in, and we believe in preparing for that undetermined time — even as we procrastinate some!

Part of that preparation may have been jump-started for you at last week’s Geezer Forum, where Foster Cline showed his digital version of getting personal and estate documents in order. Another resource I want you to be aware of is a similar tool to Foster’s, but strictly in paper form.

In 2009, a long-time resident of our community, Mary Snedden, published a helpful book called “Life’s Stuff: A Workbook to Compile Information for Life’s Emergencies.” Mary wrote it partly in response to her husband’s health crisis. But it is a very helpful tool in non-emergent times also.

The workbook is a very orderly presentation of most, if not all, documents that we need to prepare as we get ready to pass along any “worldly possessions” we might have. But Mary recognizes that most of us let ourselves be procrastinators when it comes to such matters.

In her introduction, she quotes a wise estate-planning attorney: “All too often people leave their children a will but no road map.” The image is appropriate for too many of us.

Part of my work in Elder Advocates over the last 4+ years has been to urge people to plan ahead, develop a road map in fact. That is why many of the Geezer Forums we’ve had keep circling back to different ways of planning ahead.

Next Tuesday is part of that effort. Our March 28 Geezer Forum’s the guest speaker will be Julia Kerns, owner of Gypsy Girl Estate Sales in Sagle. She will share information about how estate sales work most effectively.

But Julia will discuss estate sales within the broader context of “The Art of Downsizing.” I think part of our common procrastination pattern related to end-of-life matters has to do with a feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed by whatever lies before us.

Normally we aren’t ready to even entertain the notion that our lives will end at some unknown time. (Anybody own that feeling besides me?) But that mystery can be compounded by thinking our stuff can’t possibly get organized “in time”, so let’s put that task off.

Maybe attending the March 28 Geezer Forum at Columbia Bank’s Community Room, 2:30-4 p.m., might offer you some insight how to reduce your own feeling of being overwhelmed. Just maybe ...

Paul R. Graves, M.Div, is lead geezer-in-training for Elder Advocates, a consulting ministry on aging issues. Reach Paul at 208-610-4971 or elderadvocates@nctv.com\