This and That at Thanksgiving

Woke up this morning to a steady snow fall. About an inch of the white stuff on the ground in the front yard already and more on the way. The best part was opening the door for our cat, Whitely. She runs out under a protected entry and then like you see in the cartoons, she applies the brakes. She skidded into the snow and looked at me like what the heck is this. We adopted her this year as a young cat, and we are not sure how young, so this may be her first snow. She took a fearful step and then pulled her paw back, then another step, and suddenly she leaps out and rolls over. Oh, to be a kid again.

Does anyone really want to talk glass now? I had an interesting visit recently which would be right for a discussion on a short week. Moving to New Hampshire we needed new wills. We met with an attorney and everything is really simple--all to the kids--but wait, he said, what if you are involved in a tragic accident and the four of you are all killed. Do you want the state of New Hampshire to decide who gets your assets?

It was an interesting question and one which Elaine and I couldn't immediately answer. IF there are not provisions for what he called a "nuclear accident" then Elaine's Mother would receive half our assets, and a cousin of mine in California would receive the other half. The lawyer asked us to prepare a list of who would receive assets in this case...a school we had attended, our Temple, nieces on Elaine's side of the family?

It is an interesting exercise to go through as we were forced to specifically think about our lives, what impact they have had on society, and what impact we would leave by allocating sums of money to certain people and institutions.

Elaine and I have discussed this, and still do not have a final list. But, this has been a real eye-opener for me to create this list. I'm told that everyone with a will should have this list attached. Think about it this weekend when we are being thankful for what we have. Who do you want to say thank you to?