Solano Real Estate Scene: Family death leads to writer’s block

I failed to write a column for three weeks in a row because of writer’s block, procrastination and a lack of positive energy. Procrastination is something that can hurt a family financially because when you are older, time is not your friend – it is the enemy. My 88-year-old dad passed away mercifully and peacefully last week after 20 months in a terrific skilled nursing facility in Petaluma. They took great care of our dad. He went in after a pretty bad fall. My mom and my brothers and sisters all hoped he would be out after a few months of physical therapy but he never really improved and over the past six months his health significantly declined. He was a great father and lived a great life. He produced seven kids, 20 grandkids and six great-grandkids. It wasn’t his death that was painful and sad, it was that final several months just waiting for the death. I am blaming my dad for my writer’s block. What I learned from this experience is how important it is to prepare for old age and all that comes with it because before you know it, you can be dead and in heaven. If you own real estate, just about everyone should have a will and a living trust. If you have elderly parents or grandparents, don’t be afraid to help them get advice from local experts on elder law, health insurance and their real estate before it is too late. My kid brother is a CPA and my little sister is a registered nurse and we still made mistakes over the past 10 years with estate planning for my mom, who will now have to live on only 50 percent of Dad’s city pension and her residence – one of those three-meals-a-day independent living homes in Rohnert Park – isn’t cheap. Have a plan, folks, and see a local certified financial planner and a local elder law attorney before it is too late. If you have all your ducks in a row and you are a senior, then do not be shy or afraid to lecture your grown children on getting their ducks in a row for their retirement and eventual death because it happens to all of us.