Looking forward and backward

Today's blog post was written by Dr. Bill Kirby. When I was required to take a course on statistical analysis, I was fortunate enough to have Dr. Kirby as my professor. Dr. Kirby encouraged me, and helped me get through that class despite my severe math phobia. We have stayed in touch over the years, and I am proud to have him as a friend. So, here is some wisdom from the Doctor.

Sometime, I heard of one’s digital legacy, meaning the accounts, usernames and passwords that a person creates and collects and leaves behind after death.

When I saw an ad for the book “I’m Dead, Now What?”
I bought the book and it has been laying around for two years.  More of our friends die or become incapicitated and Lynn took notice.  She said we should look through the book and start filling in the information that it calls for.  It is mostly forms of relevant information when a person dies.

I kept saying we would get to it but she showed me a few pages and reminded me that she was the executor of the estate of our deceased daughter and of her mother.  Neither of them had much in the way of property, belongings or funds but it was still a notable responsibility and job.  As I looked at a few of the sections of the book, I realized that much of the information I know immediately but that item after item would be difficult for anyone other than me to find out.  Why not assemble things now?

We are both aware that what we do and how we do it changes all the time.  Won’t much of such a document be out of date quickly?  Some may be, but it is still easier when the person is alive and cognizant.  It does make a person review what he has done, what he is doing and how it all looks from a little perspective.

One of the first items was the birthplace of my father.  My mother mentioned several times that she and her sister were born six years apart.  Through childhood, that much gap made for quite a difference in experiences.  A first grader and 7th grader are very different people.  Assembling the information creates a review of one’s life, memories, achievements and regrets.  My brother-in-law created several records of our family and ancestors that are a big help.  

Much of what I do is online and much of that uses Google’s many services.  Google has a service called Takeout that will accumulate a file of what I have written and performed.  Just setting up a Takeout and arranging all the specifications about what to include and what not to include takes quite a while.  

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