As most of you know, I do a great deal of public speaking and am often asked to speak at facilities, in-services, civic groups and organizations. I generally talk about something in elder law that is current and relevant to my audiences' lives. Occasionally, my usual "shpiel" is not appropriate for the audience and I find myself in front of frail seniors who are too old and infirm to benefit from "elder law" advice. 

 

The first time this happened I was at a nursing facility in front of approximately 6 residents. I was not sure how to handle this. What should I talk about? What can I offer these people? For the first few moments I was speechless, which most of you know, is unusual!

 

I always tell my staff that our clients are full of the best stories and that if we don't ask or  don't listen, the stories will die with them. That's when an idea came to me. I started to ask the residents for their stories and wrote them down. Despite their lack of capacity, enough long term memory was intact for me to capture several stories and for them to share with each other. I wrote them down and gave them to the social worker. I then sent her a format for an "ethical" or "legacy" will which she could use as an exercise in the future. I have repeated this many times over with great reception and encourage all my clients to execute an "ethical/legacy" will.

 

Preparing a legacy is a gift for one's family. Part of that legacy is making sure that one's end of life care decisions are discussed and documented. There should never be another Terri Schiavo. 

 

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