The meeting was well attended – despite our being short several key persons (and they know who they are). It was another high-value get-together. We were pleased to welcome Howard Bishansky and Konara Bandara as guests. 

 

The meeting was themed, in that we had two sobering and challenging presentations scheduled — not necessarily cheerful in nature. So, as the meeting Chair, I stipulated that the round-the-table sharing to kick off the meeting had to be positive in nature. Already, that caused several people to change their plans. (That’s a good thing.) Notably, Sarah shared with us her experience watching a movie at Colossus in Vaughan titled Project Hail Mary. Her advice to us, abbreviated, was: “Go see it!” (Okay, so you’ve been told. Go see it!) 

 

Al Brown was pleased to tell us about his new car, a Mercedes-Benz 300. (That’s a luxury vehicle, by the way.) Needless to say, we’re positively jealous. Mr. Brown preempted Samir’s presentation scheduled  for later by announcing that he would be side-stepping any question of how to go about estate planning: His strategy will be to spend all his money right now, while he’s alive; every penny of it! (Great thinking, Al! Why worry about drafting up a will?) 

 

Chris Ristic isn’t even a teacher, but nonetheless he gave us some homework: Over the next month, ahead of his presentation at the end of April meeting, we’ve been told to read a seminal novel by Leo Tolstoy titled “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” It’s a fairly short story, so don’t worry, you can do it. Educate yourself — enlighten yourself — read a classic! You can download a PDF for free, of course, and this is the best one I found. Read it. You’ll be able to engage with Chris intelligently at the meeting.

 

Following this, Phil Nayman gave us a very moving, and informative, presentation on the topic of Alzheimer’s Disease. His father has been a victim of this disease for quite a few years now, and so Philip has had to spend a lot of time and energy in helping his father to cope with it. We admire him for this, and everyone should be lucky enough to have such a son. But in addition to his sometimes heart-breaking stories, he had a lot of information to share with us. Below is attached a copy of his highly informative presentation. There are links on the last slide for sources of further information. Since Canada (and the entire world) has a rapidly aging population, this is a topic that will increasingly be front and centre in the public discourse. Let’s inform ourselves now, and, more to the point, let’s prepare ourselves in our minds and our hearts for the possibility that Alzheimer’s may someday touch us in our own lives. There is a “Walk for Alzheimer’s” planned for May 30th, at Downsview Park. I’ve already signed up to participate in it, and I invite you to do the same.

 

After the social break, Kim Watson stepped up to pose an important question: “What advice would you want to give to your 20-year old self?” (Let’s face it; when you were a mere 20 years old, you were foolish. Now you’re wiser, though; theoretically, at least.) There were lots of interesting responses to this question. Ilana told us, “Trust yourself.” Chris Ristic said that “You must decide what you want.” Patricia Abergel noted that she would tell her 20-year old self that she should be prepared to navigate through a succession of different lives as she passed through the decades. (So true!)  Al would tell his younger self to “Make a plan.” Wise words. Samir would like to urge younger Samir to “Enjoy every season of your life.” 

 

To round out the meeting, Samir told us about the importance of planning for our own eventual demise. (Sorry: NEWS FLASH! — one day, we will die. Yes, that includes YOU!)  For sure, it’s the conversation that no one likes to have, but nonetheless it’s a crucially important one. Samir started by sharing with us a number of personal stories about clients of his who either did or did not make appropriate plans for their own demise. Those stories made his message seem personal and immediate. I’m not going to try to summarize the entirety of his presentation; suffice it to share the information he prepared for us in the attachments below. I urge you to take a look at those documents. (Would you like to learn more? Good idea! Why not join his ‘Dollars and Sense’ special interest group?)