12/02/2024 – Where there’s a Way, there’s a will

This week was about communication: how, to whom and making our wishes clear.

Our first thought for Euro-supertrip was a roaming pack from my UK provider. I have retained my UK mobile number for over twenty years. I have a steal of a deal on this, but I know having 15 dollars to waste every month is a luxury. Getting a UK SIM is super-hard: money laundering prevention, identity verifications. I couldn’t replace my number, were I to give it up. I’m not sure if I will ever be quite ready to do that. It’s so curious: what makes up a sense of self…

However, on advice from Gabriella (niece) and Reed (brother), we purchased e-SIMs for France and Spain from https://www.airalo.com/. They are data only, but Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom – all enable data-only voice or video calls. I also have a large cash balance on Skype, from an account mix up, so I can call landlines at Skype rates if I have to. The maths made great sense. For the US, we are on Alexia’s family plan, so we’re covered. That’s the “how”.

All of you know the ”to whom”. We “soft-launched” the FaceBook page this week. I also committed to a weekly email, for non-FaceBook friends. I am loving the discipline of crafting what I hope is a readable, useful/meaningful piece weekly. Of course, it helps that I’m writing about myself! Thank you for indulging me.

Finally, the “making our wishes known”. We both had wills. Having seen the chaos dying intestate has wrought on others, we were both determined not to do that. Now we are settled in Canada and supertrip looms, it was time to refresh.

Also, neither of us had advance directives.

Carey’s mum was able to make her own medical choices at the end. My mum was not. In characteristic loving practicality, both my parents made “living wills”. That did not remove the difficulty of the situation. My sister sat the deathwatch alone, with a nurse, because of covid restrictions. I said “goodbye” through her mobile screen. But, as they intended, we knew what to do.

We want to make sure no one carries the burden of decision-making for us.

We asked our friend Donna, who works with the Alberta Law Society. She advised online options do not carry malpractice insurance. There is no redress if there is a problem. Nevertheless, we decided to go that route. We feel comfortable. Our wishes are simple.

Perhaps, we expect we will have another shot (doesn’t everyone?).

We hope to have plenty more time to continue tidying ourselves up. Today, everything we own brings us joy. We know to whom many items will go, not today, but definitely while they can still be a gift, not just clutter in a house-clearance. We hope for the wisdom to recognise that time.

This was not the most upbeat post! But, there are some things that make for better, more responsible living.