Meet the Mama Surfers: A Story of Support
About this time last year, a smart, capable woman named Karen had recently celebrated both her 55th birthday and getting her third and final child off to college. With her kids launched, she was determined not to let the next decade slip by unnoticed. She made a list, calling it '65 B4 65,' or 65 adventures, activities, and accomplishments she would like to complete in the next decade. Ambitious right?
Before she started on her ‘65 B4 65,’ Karen wanted to get her comprehensive end-of-life preparation done. And while not all 65 activities on her list are dangerous per se, she had noticed that her family had grown just a wee bit too dependent on her for life’s administrative documents and details, and that continuing to enable that was not in everyone’s best future interests. (Sound familiar?) Moreover, in many aspects of her life, Karen actualizes the lessons of preparedness from the well-known “I can sleep when the wind blows” parable.
Instinctively and experientially, Karen knows that when tackling a big, difficult, necessary task like end-of-life preparation, it is advantageous (and more fun/less painful) to do it with others. Enter Julie, Krista, Heather, Pam, Janine, Stacy, Raychel, Cecile, Anne, Geneva, Amy, Gloria, Kim, and Wendy. With Karen, these 15 friends have been meeting, reading books together, and supporting each other through life’s changes, such as parenting adult children and keeping the marriage alive when the nest is empty. They call themselves the Mama Surfers. Karen asked them if they would be interested in each doing end-of-life preparation project as a group. To her surprise, they all said, “Yes.”
Smartly, they decided that the autumn and the holiday season might be the worst time to start such a project. So, they agreed to start in January when the holidays were over, kids were back in school, and the air of resolution and fresh start, along with short days and not much else to do, was upon them. This also gave those who needed some time to shop for and select an estate attorney time to do that. Remember my August blog post, when we celebrated 😉National Make-a-Will Month, and I encouraged you to reconnect with or find an estate attorney? It was because I knew I would soon be sharing this story with you.
Is your curiosity about the Mama Surfers piqued? Are you wondering:
What happened?
Did the whole thing degenerate into avoidance, procrastination, and wine drinking?
Were they each able to get it done?
If so, what helped? What hindered?
Is a project partner or group really the answer to finally getting your own end-of-life prep done?
Well, stay tuned for my next blog post, it’s quite a story…