Hello, Hello, HELLO Everybuddy, So Glad to See You Again here on my Livfully.org/wordpressblog site! I need to fill you in on some Big News, some of it sad and and of course the whole world in a flux right now due to the overturning of Roe Vs Wade and of course the ongoing atrocities Russia is inflicting on Ukraine.
Where to be begin to catch up?! I hope to carry dozens of posts over from Livfully.org here to back them up and share in one place. They are in chronological order on that original blog which I happened to figure out was almost shut down since my old credit card was linked to the renewal.
They said they sent me a notice 90 days ago and monthly but I have a ton of email and have been Uber Busy, not driving a car but keeping track of others such that I missed those. Someone could make a ton of money and help many a person by offering ‘back up reminder services’ with phone calls and other people who are contacted about such Important Matters whether for business, social or other life matters such as medical and even ‘end of life’ EOL issues.
But for now, I am Exhaling a huge sigh of thanks and relief that I still have my first blog, Livfully.org which I’d love to put parts of in a book (ebook works) or otherwise keep track of. Til then, it’s trying to be on this jazzier more sustainable forum with wordpress. But even here, I signed up to be an affiliate with a great company, and you can check my link to that on LivfullyWebsites.com.
I have a wordpress access that I need to learn all about. It’s come highly recommended to me and just seeing the intro video can get your foot tapping and of course your fingers tapping on the keyboard to learn more. By the way, It Really Helps to Know How to Type Well. I zoom right along with a ton of clickety clacks (on an older computer at present and I hope to upgrade soon since I can do that…same with my iphone that’s linked to the cloud via Apple…and Yet some say ‘don’t jump down that rabbit hole too soon and beward the ‘spyware’ of whatever we might call it that makes our lives ‘so much easier..the microphone hears you and the camera may see you when you have your device on or near.
Just sharing some basics for those who may not have considered that. Also some other important info that’s come across my desk and duties…beware using the debit or credit card that is linked to one’s bank since a PIN (four number code one sets and hopefully remembers or needs to reset but even then those systems may not require too much really secret info but more like the last four of a number which household employees or even others from a business may be able to obtain.
If a person can grab the card, one’s bank account could be emptied rather quickly. The big “A-ha!” is that without a PIN required, anyone’s debit card linked to the bank account could be used to make purchases and basically drain the account. I am planning to find my credit card that is Not Linked to my bank account for funds directly and use that to track purchases and so forth.
I have a very low cost quiet life, so we’re talking a few hundred dollars a month but there’s a bit more than that in the bank now that I got paid for work from a year ago. Okay so back to the basics and also noting I have to pay 15% on the earnings since I did not have A Signed Contract for caring for someone who finally got a Power of Attorney who was supposed to do that. I
had too much good faith we’d do the right thing not only by me but help that person have the best use of their assets before heading to a nursing home…and that Did Not Pan Out. I was able to provide needed care and support. That whole experience will be a few more posts, but a few months can be a make or break situation for someone if a main caregiver can no longer be in the picture for whatever reason.
If the person is like family and dies, that can be a major stress and emergency and almost guarantee someone a direct trip to a nursing home. Their personal funds and equity of their home will have to cover things until under a certain limit, then a federal or state program may kick in.
But all of that is really important to learn in advance if possible to comprehend the process and have advocates for each person, whoever may be in need of care and support due to physical or mental stress or injury or decline. Okay so this blog is not about giving financial or legal advice as I am not a professional but rather just a ‘heads up to get educated.’
See what CTSeniorLaw.com or org shares on their comprehensive website and realize each state is different. What I wanted to share about catching you up on my life is that a very wonderful older person who I spoke with on the phone regularly for over a year through COVID who lived two hours away and I couldn’t visit, died of natural causes just under 90 years of age (I count our time of growth before being born, so I’ll give him the 90 years.)
His family thankfully let me know due to a text I’d sent when not hearing from him. I have to be grateful as is much of the world for his contributions to teaching for 50 years at the university level on the Ottoman Empire during the 1500s in the Middle East. I’m sure we can all name loved ones from each decade of life who have crossed over and hopefully we can trust they are shining through with their love (if that’s a possibility and I think science will shed light on that likelihood more and more.)
Meanwhile I’ll wrap up this post as I continue to help others and write to the local Lakeville Journal in CT to help us process what it’s like to be human in these modern times, with all the options and viewpoints filling the airwaves and the space between our ears as well as our hearts.
The gardens and growing efforts to make sense of what we need and can strive for in our modern time with all the tech and social bells and whistles is at the forefront of our society’s door. Can we open it and explore ways to create our visions of decency and support for all before the winds or storms of life, politics, nature or even relationships and pressures pick up even more? I was fortunate to see many of my family at a weeklong set of gatherings in my area of the northwest corner of CT.
Some came from afar and some are now travelling or continuing work abroad and far apart..but we’re never that far apart as we remember each other at holidays, birthdays, graduations, weddings and other special occasions, funerals and times of support when pregnancies and new people join the family… Some of everything has been woven into our large family matrix with a lot of learning and loving and some wrangling with life’s big questions along the way.
The passing of my teen son Kaelan Alexander Palmer Paton who drowned trying to save friends (who did survive with more rescue efforts thankfully) happened in mid-June 2009, so 13 years ago. This summer also marks the 100th year since my parents Mary and Dale Srs were born in 1922. My Mom was born in Ct and my Dad in NM so it’s a coast-to-coast family story with many adventures and mainly a lot of success for the times we were in. They both died by 2007, so two years before our son. I like to think Kaelan is enjoying the company of all four of his grandparents, including Grandpa Sandy who died 40 days after Kaelan and Grandma Caroline Paton who passed in 2019. Kaelan’s service is on youtube.com with a lot of singing and uplifting sharing.
Please take time to see the love and support hundreds wove together in a time that pained our small communities and many who learned of the loss of our son yet the grateful miracle of three lives that were able to continue. Those three young men are now approaching 30 and all are doing well as is the rope rescuer Skip Kosciusko who we are forever grateful to for his heroic efforts and friendship. All fire medical and rescue workers are much appreciated and donations go a long way to keep services going in many parts of the country.
I am donating $25 to our Falls Village Volunteer Fire Dept. in CT adding to $175 our small Kellogg School raised as part of a school health and civic event this year. Thanks for supporting your local efforts or sending something to our own that is right near the Housatonic Valley Regional High School which serves the towns of Falls Village, North Canaan and Cornwall, Salisbury, Sharon and Kent. I have song about the area on Livfully.org as well. The Lakeville Journal coverage of these towns for over 125 years is online too, so a great resource for archives. See what The Salisbury Association offers as well as the historical societies to piece together an important area’s contribution to American history, just two hours from NYC!
Feel free to message me on my public FB page, Catherine Palmer Paton and network to create meaningful caregiving response teams in this area or have support to think of ways to do more in your own. I also welcome donations and will post a paypal link and more or send it in a message! Thanks so much for all everyone is doing and for support you offer others on many levels! It Really Makes a Difference and the World Go Round in a Good Way!
Thanks if you see some of what I’ve shared about that and keep an extra watch on teens and young adults as well as oneself for safe, sensible ways to enjoy summer and each season of the year and life! Best to all and I’ll be posting again soon!
–Catherine Palmer Paton, Falls Village CT and the tri-corner MA/NY CT area and of course here on line so everywhere!