Father’s Day: Organizing information for those you love – Harris N. Hershey Rosen

by Harris N. “Hershey” Rosen, contributing writer

Age brings us many rewards but there are some hard facts we need to face—one of them is how we make our final wishes known. It is critically important we organize our personal information, family finances and the like so that our loved ones are not burdened with hardships that could have been avoided. And that is why this conversation is especially helpful.

Sunday is Father’s Day – and as father’s do we all want to do the best for our family. Sometimes it’s setting memories of good times like a day of golf, or going to an athletic game together. Sometimes it’s the “little things” with huge impact, the things you don’t get much “credit” for, but make an impact that is immeasurable – like helping with a down payment for a home, or paying their school debts down, or simply telling them how much you care and love them. Knowing that they will have the tools to carry on is one way of expressing that love – one you will update over the years, keep current, and keep valuable.

As your family, if you are a dad, will tell you they love you, today – you can smile to yourself, knowing that you’re on your way to making a plan to take care of them.

_____

I wrote my book, originally with the title, My Family Record Book, because when you are done with the advice and guides I talk about, it will help you organize one of your own. Today, Why? Because I Love You brings a sense of urgency to the message – it’s subtitle is: What you’ll need to know when I die. If it sounds dramatic, it’s meant to be. It’s meant to get your attention while things are healthy and fine – because when they aren’t you won’t even remember your own name or much less detailed, critical information. And, as I hear from people, it takes one scare for you to have wished you went through the process.

One story: a single mom had emergency surgery, and her adult daughters needed access to her cell phone. Without the code to even sign on, no such access was available. They would try five codes of their guessing at a time – finally the phone was locked. When mom woke up it was only a series of emergency calls to the cell provider that it was unlocked – but it was a few days before anesthesia wear-off and pain meds allowed mom to remember the code – one our fingers have memorized even more than our brains. Think about that. If they knew where your Family Record Book was, that info would have been readily accessible. You don’t need to have a fatal tragedy to need to do this – for the love of those who love you.

A few years ago I began speaking on this topic, realizing people had a lot of questions and it was good to be in public. Of course with the pandemic, that has been shelved for now. So, I’ve left you a radio interview I did and hope you will find it interesting.

If you care about leaving your loved ones with the information they need to make your passing – or your extended absence – a little easier, you will want to be sure to listen to this show. The subject may be a hard one but the message is critical!

Click on the blue link below the photo of The Feisty Side of Fifty podcast:

_____

Harris “Hershey” Rosen, is the author of WHY? Because I Love You, a book that says it like it is – “What you need to know when I die”. His book details methods to organize your important personal and family information for those who are left behind.

A graduate of Harvard, Hershey Rosen has focused on controlling chaos since 1954. He was a Financial Control Officer in the U.S. Army, where he received a Letter of Commendation for improvement to its worldwide accounting system. Next, on to satisfying everyone’s sweet tooth, he ran a candy company for 40 years, developing a system for locating ANY item housed in five factories, covering 600,000 square feet.

Following “retirement,” Hershey went on to become a mediator and settled over 200 disputes for the state of Rhode Island and The Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island. He was also asked to team-teach management courses at the University of Rhode Island, where he enthusiastically challenged the text book with real-life experiences, to the delight and edification of the students.

Always passionate about assisting others, Hershey has been a director or trustee of numerous boards and organizations. He has written Creating A Guide So Your Loved Ones Can Go On Living! to help others protect their spouses (and families) from the intense stress that will occur if one does not share financial information and knowledge critical to a functioning home. He then wrote My Family Record Book, expanding on the information in his first book, and finally, in 2020, WHY? Because I Love You was published.

Hershey, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, can now relax (ha!) with his beloved wife, Myrna, and enjoy visits with their combined five children and ten grandchildren.

“WHY? Because I Love You” – available here: https://amzn.to/32iXJqq