Douglas Germann: South Bend Elder Caring Law

The poetry of your life

dgermann — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:01:35 +0000

The poetry of your life—
where does it reside?
in sons and daughters
wives and husbands
places we’ve lived
jobs we’ve given up
work which grew us
tasks we were called to
perhaps against our wills
scraps of life
we always meant to put in books
scraps of life only now understood
yesterdays and tomorrows
what about todays?

:- Doug.

Your heirs will sing

dgermann — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:01:51 +0000

What would cause the lives of our heirs to sing?

Let us think about our heirs, our children, our grandchildren: What kind of a sense of humor does she have? What are his interests? With what does her imagination soar? What’s his greatest heartbreak? If she had a year off, what would she do? What’s his dream? What does she like to do? How does he rejuvenate?

From this attending to people we can learn what we can do, and what gifts we have—probably beyond money—which can encourage, inspire, boost them. What is the absolute best we can do by our grandchildren? What responsibility do we have to them? How can we respond today?

:- Doug.

In Will: ask blessing

dgermann — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:01:00 +0000

In our Will
from whom dare we ask blessing
to whom give our unfinished task
what unfinished task
would be our blessing?

:- Doug.

What worlds create?

dgermann — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:01:46 +0000

With a Will
  What worlds
    Can we
      Create?
        What ideals
          Now populate?
            What hearts
              Evocate?

:- Doug.

families come together

dgermann — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:22:46 +0000

Good happens
when families
come together

:- Doug.

Your Will is not for ever

dgermann — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:34:32 +0000

Your Will is not for ever
—Re-read every two years
Your love is not said and done
—Repeat often

:- Doug.

You’ve lived through 65 years

dgermann — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:01:56 +0000

Listen! You’ve lived through 65 years. You’ve earned the right to be compassionate.

:- Doug.

Boomers: Your next 20 years

dgermann — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:09:03 +0000

Boomers: Will your next 20 years count for something? How will you be of service?

:- Doug.

What is urgent about eldering?

dgermann — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:42:54 +0000

Just what is urgent about eldering? That you only have a few good years left? Yes, that is part of it. That the world needs what you have, while you have the energy? Yes, that too. That the world is falling apart now, and so needs what you have, now? Yes. That you might not have tomorrow to do the good you have in your heart to do? Yes, for sure.

:- Doug.

Sickness Doctors and Wellness Lawyers

dgermann — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:42:38 +0000

We see our physicians as sickness doctors. What an absolute difficult thing it would be for us to turn that around and think of them as wellness doctors. Our whole society thinks this way, patients and doctors, insurance people and government people. And yet what good we could do if we changed our focus! We could become healthy. Do we get more of what we continually watch?

Where is there a model for this? Dentists! We see our dentist every 6 months, do preventive maintenance, and mine at least is friendly and seems to have time for me. If we have a problem it can be taken care of, and I would bet while it is still small enough to correct easily.

The same is true of Elder Caring lawyers and Estate Planning lawyers: people see these folks while still healthy or relatively healthy, in order to keep the family’s future healthy. Sure, sometimes there are problems, even crises, but that is not the focus of this aspect of the law. These are wellness lawyers.

:- Doug.