Welcome to the Sunday Edition; today is a brief reflection after a weekend of friends and family celebrating life while grieving death. A few thoughts, happy, sad, and hopeful. We will be back tomorrow.

Due to circumstances, I have attended several funerals. Some were tragic and unexpected, others more expected, and after long, prosperous lives, we all hope for. There are questions regarding the cycle of life and death that humans, at this point, all must face.

Assuming you have one to leave, should you leave an inheritance to your adult children? If you raise them to the best of your abilities, and they can take care of themselves, consider that a win, call it a day, no inheritance necessary. If, despite your best efforts, they have not turned out self-sufficient and need things, it’s a loss, and unfortunately, the inheritance probably won’t help.

A standard reply in discussions about money and the end of life is someone will say, “You can’t take it with you!” Again, more questions - who says you can’t take it with you? We’ve all seen the movies where the creepy skeleton guy wants money to ferry you to the other side, and last I checked, no one ever made it back to tell us you didn’t need money, a little currency to grease the following realm wheels, can’t hurt!

Many tears have been shed over the last few months, and beautiful eulogies have been crafted by some incredible people, but as hard as it may be, say those words before you have to write them for the last time. Many self-reflection practices will encourage people to write a personal eulogy, an introspective write-up on their life and what they want to be remembered for. How about writing up the eulogy for a few of the people you might be called upon to write one for in the future? Grandparents, parents, siblings, close friends, and anyone else you could see yourself being asked to write one for. It doesn’t need to be formal or delivered to the person, but the feelings expressed to that person about the essential aspects of their lives and the impact they had on you could be said before the last call.

Humans have been changing and evolving since humans have been human. What hasn’t changed is our ability to communicate with those people we love after they have passed from this life. Write the important thoughts down when you can tell the people you love why they have impacted you. And just be safe; take some cash with you when you go!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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