Learning

I think you acquire wisdom by living. That is why our Guru's are old !

I love to learn. When my children were young my first husband went to school and I went to class with him,  once in a while. Denver Community College was great, the instructors were good and the adult students were interesting. One Comparative Religion Class taught me about people I had never met before. There were people from all over the world in that class. It was great living in a big city like Denver.

Later, when I owned my company, I took at least one seminar a year.
Sometimes the whole staff would go. It does us all good to hear that we can succeed. I felt I was growing in my sales and marketing  career and would hear something different in the seminar presentation.

One of the best things I heard was to not be afraid to fail. Failing means you are trying. That idea may not be right now, maybe at another time. Or not, it does not mater, just get on with it. At least you had a thought !

I think of my self as a smart self sufficient women. The people in my life are there by choice.

Recently I was reminded that as smart as you may think you are, there are still things to learn. And as wonderful and complete as you think your life is, there are some ragged edges out there that you have put away in a box and not dealt with.

My second husband Gary and I had a wild and crazy life for 10 years or so. Then we sobered up and had 15 years of wild and crazy life !

He taught me to 4 wheel drive and I thought I had gone to heaven !!!
I love to drive, but the power and torque of a 4 wheeler is really something. When you learn what that truck will do, whoa baby !
We went 4 wheeling. We owned O'l Ugly Truck a 4 wheeler that would take you anywhere you had guts enough to drive. We played in the sand. I spun a tire off the rim. We climbed rock faces. We started out in tents, breaking camp every morning. On our last trips some of our friends had large motorhomes and we had a camper on a truck pulling O'L Ugly.

We bought a house. At 40 it was a reason to get married. The market was good so we refinanced a few times. Bought some toys, enjoyed life, took trips. Gary got sick and died. I took care of getting the wills, the durable power of attorney for health care and living will,
got every thing signed, notarized and filed with every one. I had done this when I had my Mother living with us before she died, so I knew what to expect.
The wills were fairly straight forward but the power of attorney that the VA had was really extensive. I was glad that Gary was well and in his right mind when we went through that. It basically said I do not want anything done. We each had a lawyer so every thing was filed with both offices, all Dr.s etc. Gary died in 2010.

Well, My Lawyer died two years ago. No problem right, Gary's Lawyer and good friend is still around and I can still call on him.  No, he died this January. OK, no big deal I will get another Lawyer if I need one ... my old CPA is a tax attorney I can ask him for a referral.  Problem solved. Now I find out if I die tomorrow all my assets will end up in probate because my will is not valid. It leaves everything to Gary ! My living will thing is just that, a thing. My kids are not on every thing. Smart women, huh.

So, smart women is meeting with a smart women, who went to school and became a lawyer and works for one of the big firms in town and specializes in estate planning. Yes I have one. See, at least I can still learn !