25 April 2003: My Father Dies, Age 51; Heart Attack     However, I did not learn of this until the following Monday. This week has been a whirlwind of ups and downs, with many downs. Lots and lots of things are up in the air. He had no will that I can find, in fact, his files were fairly random so it took a few hours of creating files from his piles to determine this. I realize that financially he could not have done everything he may have wanted at the time and very likely was trying to do this eventually, but probably never expected to die so young. He had no prior history of heart problems.

For you Advogatians who are older, find an estate lawyer and financial planner to help you protect your assets-- because whatever you leave behind without instructions (aka will) will be administered by the State in ways you may not have liked. It isn't expensive to do this, and your family will greatly appreciate not having to grieve and juggle your finances at roughly the same time.

For you Advogatians who are younger, I realize that its somewhat morbid to ask your parents or grandparents about these things and might be uncomfortable doing so but you and your family should consider doing this at least every year because things change-- people die, friendships fade, relations change. And yes, you too also need to find a financial planner to help you protect and grow your assets into the future and as a benefit, doing is sooner rather than later will help you enjoy a better "retirement."

My worst day was last Tuesday, but I still think about him and I have four new reminders of him living in my house now, Mikey, Binkey, Fluffy and Precious; three tuxedo cats and a calico-tabby all with four distinct personalities. The arrangement is temporary as I think they'll eventually move back in with my mother. Otherwise, it has been non-stop phone calls and other reminders about him that have been pretty hard.