New beginnings? This song is played at weddings and other events, but think of it as "the beginnings song" because it could literally be about anything. Moving across the country? Taking a new job? Starting a family? It could be any or all of those. Whichever new beginning is happening in your life, you really should review your estate plan to make sure it goes along with the new things happening. Contact me today. Carpenters – We've Only Just Begun Lyricsfrom album: Close To You (1970)
We've only just begun to live White lace and promises A kiss for luck and we're on our way We've only begun Before the rising sun we fly So many roads to choose We start out walking And learn to run And yes! We've just begun Sharin' horizons that are new to us Watchin' the signs along the way Talkin' it over just the two of us Workin' together day to day, together And when the evening comes we smile So much of life ahead We'll find a place where there's room to grow And yes! We've just begun Sharin' horizons that are new to us Watchin' the signs along the way Talkin' it over just the two of us Workin' together day to day, together, together And when the evening comes we smile So much of life ahead We'll find a place where there's room to grow And yes! We've just begun Songwriters: ROGER S. NICHOLS, PAUL H. WILLIAMS We've Only Just Begun lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Tratore, BMG Rights Management
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Divorced or about to divorce? I know it is a sad sad thing, trust me. Let's chat today about adjusting your estate plan to account for the new realities of your living situation. Neglecting these changes is not a good idea. I don't mind going on the Grand Tour with you, either. If you need to talk about things, I can be there for that too. The Grand Tour
George Jones Produced by Billy Sherrill Album The Grand Tour [Verse 1] Step right up, come on in If you'd like to take the grand tour Of a lonely house that once was home sweet home I have nothing here to sell you Just some things that I will tell you Some things I know will chill you to the bone [Verse 2] Over there sits the chair Where she'd bring the paper to me And sit down on my knee And whisper, "Oh, I love you" But now she's gone forever And this old house will never Be the same Without the love that we once knew [Verse 3] Straight ahead, that's the bed Where we lay in love together And Lord knows we had a good thing going here See her picture on the table Don't it look like she'd be able Just to touch me and say, "Good morning, dear"? [Verse 4] There's her rings, all her things And her clothes are in the closet Like she left them When she tore my world apart As you leave, you'll see the nursery Oh, she left me without mercy Taking nothing but our baby and my heart [Outro] Step right up, come on in Short and sweet again... If you're getting hitched, please check out your estate plan, and see if it needs to be modified to reflect your new life situation. Don't have an estate plan? Give me a call before you get to the Church on Cumberland Road! The Church on Cumberland Road
Shenandoah Produced by Rick Hall & Robert Byrne Album The Road Not Taken [Verse 1] Just about a mile off'a one-oh-nine There's a little church sittin' back in the pines I promised that girl she was gonna be mine I wouldn't be surprised if she was standin' there cryin' [Chorus] Oh, I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow Oh, you got to put your foot down on the floor Yeah we've been rockin' all night, but don't you know You gotta get me to the church on Cumberland Road [Verse 2] Billy's passed out in the back, but I think he's alive Bobby's got his head hangin' over the side Here we are doin' only ninety-five What's the matter with you man I thought you said you could drive [Chorus] Oh, I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow Oh, you got to put your foot down on the floor Yeah we've been rockin' all night, but don't you know You gotta get me to the church on Cumberland Road [Verse 3] Sweeter than the dew on a honeysuckle vine Warmer than noon on the fourth of July Cutest little girl that I ever have known Waitin' at the church on Cumberland Road [Chorus] Oh, I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow Oh, you got to put your foot down on the floor 'Cause we've been rockin' all night, but don't you know You gotta get me to the church on Cumberland Road [Tag] Yeah we've been rockin' all night but don't you know You gotta get me to the church on Cumberland Road Short, sweet, and to the point... YOU NEED AN ESTATE PLAN that consists of a will, powers of attorney, and possibly a trust. If you've got one on the way, or are thinking about adopting, we need to chat. Please call me if you're two of a kind, working on a full house. "Two Of A Kind, Workin' On A Full House"
Yes, she's my lady luck Hey, I'm her wild card man Together we're buildin' up a real hot hand We live out in the country Hey, she's my little queen of the South Yea, we're two of a kind Workin' on a full house She wakes me every mornin' With a smile and a kiss Her strong country lovin' is hard to resist She's my easy lovin' woman I'm her hard-workin' man, no doubt Yea, we're two of a kind Workin' on a full house Yea, a pickup truck is her limousine And her favorite dress is her faded blue jeans She loves me tender when the goin' gets tough Somtimes we fight just so we can make up Lord I need that little woman Like the crops need the rain She's my honeycomb and I'm her sugar cane We really fit together If you know what I'm talkin' about Yea, we're two of a kind Workin' on a full house This time I found a keeper, I made up my mind Lord the perfect combination is her heart and mine The sky's the limit, no hill is too steep We're playin' for fun, but we're playin' for keeps So draw the curtain, honey Turn the lights down low We'll find some country music on the radio I'm yours and you're mine Hey, that's what it's all about Yea, we're two of a kind Workin' on a full house Lordy, mama, we'll be two of a kind Workin' on a full house Writer(s): WARREN HAYNES, DENNIS ROBBINS, BOBBY K BOYD Did you know there are no upper age limits for a person to have their drivers license mandatorily taken away from them in Virginia (and most other states)? There can be elderly folks operating their cars until they turn 113 years old, if they want! Some states require eye/written/other types of testing starting at age 75, but most states have no restrictions that limit a person by maximum age. I do not think people should have to give up their driver's license at a certain age. However, I do support more rigorous testing for elder drivers. Look, we've all been on the road behind an older person who is driving 45 mph in the left lane of the freeway with their blinker on. One cannot deny that reaction times, visual and mental acuity, and physical prowess decline in humans as they age. There are, of course, outliers and exceptions. [This post should not be read as disparaging to older drivers--there are people of all age groups who are bad drivers or who have issues that make them road hazards]. As an elder law attorney, I try to have my finger on the pulse of the community that I serve, and I understand the issues and concerns that they have. Do you need help trying to convince an older relative to give up their car? Or use an alternative mode of transportation? Give me a call. Driving can be a wonderful way to capture a feeling of freedom. It is an embedded part of the American Dream. But it can also be a tremendous burden that people may not be able to handle. "Life Is A Highway"
Love's like a road that you travel on When there's one day here and the next day gone Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand Sometimes you turn your back to the wind There's a world outside every darkened door Where blues won't haunt you anymore Where the brave are free and lovers soar Come ride with me to the distant shore We won't hesitate Break down the garden gate There's not much time left today Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long Through all these cities and all these towns It's in my blood and it's all around I loved you now like I loved you then This is the road and these are the hills From Mozambique to those Memphis nights The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights Knock me down, back up again You're in my blood; I'm not a lonely man There's no load I can't hold Road so rough; this I know I'll be there when the light comes in Just tell 'em we're survivors Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!) If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long There was a distance between you and I A misunderstanding once But now we look it in the eye (oh!) There ain't no load that I can't hold Road so rough, this I know I'll be there when the light comes in Just tell 'em we're survivors Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!) Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!) Life is a highway I wanna ride it all night long If you're going my way I wanna drive it all night long (gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, yeah!) Writer: T. Cochrane Check out this article first, here. Do you know Charlie? He got lost on the subways of Boston one day, and was never found again. Well, his wife did take him lunch on the train once, but even she hasn't seen him since. If you're not from Boston I will fill you in on the joke--Charlie on the MTA was actually a song called the "M.T.A. Song" with the MTA standing for Metropolitan Transit Authority. Now, of course, the MTA has become the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and goes from Maine to Rhode Island, in addition to serving the city center of Boston. Back in the old days, the song was written as sort of a protest ditty, and it became very popular. The Kingston Trio even recorded it! Well, the song was meant to protest the policy of collecting a fare token when a person got on a train AND when they left the train (a doubling of the effective fare). The policy was eventually changed, and the song remained popular amongst transit aficionados. The song retained its popularity so much so that when the MBTA was tasked with finding a nickname for its prepaid transit fare card media, the public voted on the name "The Charlie Card"--and approved it! I remember hearing many a commuter being asked to produce their "Chaalee Cahd" for a fare check by the police. The song lyrics are at the end of this post. I'll just say this before I get there: one of the things that older folks now have issues with is transportation and getting around in this car-centric world of ours. Obviously the song was written about Charlie and his problem with the fares on the MTA. But it could just as easily be used to talk about the horribly confusing state of non-private car-based transportation in our country. If you have an older relative of friend who is having problems with driving their own car, and seek to convert them from a private car driver to a public transit rider, you might need help. Why not call me to talk about it? I'm a lawyer but my first area of expertise was public transportation--helping get it built, helping people use it, utilize it for their needs, and helping people advocate for its expansion. As part of an elderly care plan, maybe we should talk about that person's car usage--not taking away their license but setting some realistic expectations for its usage. And not making someone ride a bus everywhere, but thinking about using other options first--like shared ride services, carpooling, biking, riding light rail or other public transit, or even thinking about ordering groceries on the internet. You might think you can get someone to stop driving their own car by yourself. I would be happy to chat with you about ways that I could help you help that friend of yours not turn out like poor Charlie on the MTA. These are the times that try men's souls
In the course of our nation's history the people of Boston have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened Today a new crisis has arisen The Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as the M.T.A. Is attempting to levy a burdensome tax on the population in the form of a subway fare increase Citizens, hear me out, this could happen to you! Well, let me tell you of the story of a man named Charlie On a tragic and fateful day He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family Went to ride on the MTA Well, did he ever return? No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned (what a pity) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square station And he changed for Jamaica Plain When he got there the conductor told him, "one more nickel" Charlie couldn't get off of that train! But did he ever return? No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned (poor old Charlie) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned Now, all night long Charlie rides through the station Crying, "what will become of me? How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea Or my cousin in Roxbury?" But did he ever return? No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned (shame and scandal) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned Charlie's wife goes down to the Scollay Square station Every day at quarter past two And through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich As the train comes rumbling through! But did he ever return? No he never returned and his fate is still unlearned (he may ride forever) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned Pick it Davey Kinda hurts my figers Now, you citizens of Boston, don't you think it's a scandal How the people have to pay and pay? Fight the fare increase, vote for George O'Brian Get poor Charlie off the MTA! Or else he'll never return No he'll never return and his fate is still unlearned (just like Paul Revere) He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston He's the man who never returned He's the man who never returned He's the man who never returned Et tu, Charlie? Songwriters: Bess Hawes / Jacqueline Steiner The M.T.A. lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group Elder law focused post today. Imagine a natural disaster hits your town. I live in Virginia Beach, and you can imagine the panic this past summer when a hurricane was forecast to hit our area from the south at Category 4, and plow through the Outer Banks and flood the entire eastern part of Virginia under feet of rain. Yes I said feet. Of. Rain. People evacuated over a week before the storm was forecast to hit! The state of Virginia ordered the lowest elevation areas in eastern VA to evacuate mandatorily. Wow. And then, miracle of miracles, the forecasts changed, the storm track changed, and Virginia was spared. North Carolina, however, was not. Widespread flooding happened. Tornadoes. Rain. Storms. Everything. And then the terrible things afterward started coming out in the news. People trapped in their houses. Thousands of dead animals on farms. Etc. The area is still recovering. Then I read this article here about evacuees with disabilities. THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MINUTE. Do you have a plan for yourself, if you are elderly, in the event you have to evacuate your house? You may not have as much time as you think--out in California the wildfire victims had almost no time to evacuate. So what is your plan for a sudden evacuation? If you are younger and have an elderly parent or other relative who you are caring for--do you know what their plan is? Do they need your help coming up with a plan? Are you (and your ability to physically help them or take them in) a feature of their plan? Better to plan ahead and ask today! My firm can assist you in coming up with a plan to take care of your elderly parents (or person with special needs) in the event of an evacuation or other similar situation. Give us a call today. Turn up the music
Let's get out on the floor I like to move it Come and give me some more Watch me getting physical Out of control There's people watching me I never miss a beat Steel the night, kill the lights Feel it under your skin Time is right, keep it tight 'Cause its pulling you in Pump it up you can't stop Cause it feels like an overdose (Feels like an overdose) Evacuate the dance-floor I'm infected by the sound Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ let the music take me underground Evacuate the dance-floor I'm infected by the sound Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ come burn this place right down to the ground My body's aching That's some overload Temperatures rising I'm about to explode Watch me I'm intoxicated Taking the show It`s got me hypnotized Everybody step aside Steel the night, kill the lights Feel it under your skin Time is right, keep it tight 'Cause its pulling you in Pump it up, you can, t stop Cause it feels like an overdose (Feels like an overdose) Evacuate the dance-floor I'm infected by the sound Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ let the music take me underground Evacuate the dance-floor I'm infected by the sound Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ come burn this place right down to the ground Come on and evacuate Feel the club is heating up Move on and accelerate Push it to the top Come on and evacuate Feel the club is heating up Move on and accelerate You don't have to be afraid Now guess who's back on a brand new track? They got everybody in the club going mad So everybody in the back Get your back up on the wall and just shake that thang Go crazy, Yo lady, Yo baby Let me see sou wreck that thang Now drop it down low, low Let me see you take it to the dance-floor, yo Everybody in the club Evacuate the dance-floor Everybody in the club I'm infected by the sound Everybody in the club Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ let the music take me underground Evacuate the dance-floor I'm infected by the sound Stop this beat is killing me Hey little DJ come burn this place right down underground Songwriters: Allan Eshuijs / Manuel Reuter / Yann Peifer Evacuate The Dancefloor lyrics © BMG Rights Management Heard this song the other day. John Fogerty The Old Man Down The Road He take the thunder from the mountain He take the lightning from the sky He bring the strong man to his bended knee He make the young girls mama cry You got to hidey-hide You got to jump and run You got to hidey hidey-hide The old man's down the road He got the voices speakin' riddles He got the eye as black as coal He got a suitcase covered with rattlesnake hide And he stand right in the road You got to hidey-hide You got to jump and run away You got to hidey hidey-hide The old man's down the road He make the river call your lover He make the barking of the hound Put the shadow across the window When the old man comes around You got to hidey-hide You got to jump and run again You got to hidey hidey-hide The old man's down the road The old man is down the road The old man is down the road Songwriters: JOHN C. FOGERTY The Old Man Down The Road lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC This song got me thinking. How well do you know the old man down the road? How well do any of us know our neighbors? There has been a lot of research over the past few decades on the decline of neighborliness in the USA (and other nations), and how it is causing the country to fragment socially.
See here And here And shockingly here I was talking to my friend the other day (same one from yesterday) and he was chatting with me about this very subject. He shared with me a story about his father and mother who live up north. They always had told their son (my friend) to "check on his elderly neighbors" in the event of a hurricane or snowstorm or anything like that. Just to make sure the elderly neighbors were okay, and not injured or marooned in their houses. My friends dad said that during the previous winter, a neighbor of his, a young guy, had come over to the house after a snowstorm and checked on my friends dad and mom! My friends dad thought that was weird, and didn't understand what was going on--but then he realized--HE was the elderly neighbor who was being checked on!!! It was all quite funny. Then it made me realize. This is an elder law issue, and it got me and my wife to thinking about our parents. One set lives in Kentucky. One set lives in Washington. There are, luckily, family around them both. The other day, I get a call from my brother in law asking if I have heard from my mother that day. Nope. Panic ensues. We were all worried about my mom maybe being injured and stuck in the house. No phone calls were answered. My brother in law rushes up to the house. My mom was at the grocery store. She forgot her cell phone. No cause for worry. Well, I know my mom and dad know their neighbors. I know who their neighbors are. BUT I DO NOT KNOW how to contact my parents neighbors. If my parents need to be checked on for some reason, or there is some suspected emergency (and they are not even "elderly"), how do I contact their neighbors? My wife said the same thing about her folks. So, all that to say this: you may live a long way away from your parents or other family member who needs "checking on" someday. Maybe you can get to know their neighbors and get their contact information NOW, so when an emergency arises, you can get them to help you "check on their elderly neighbors". Might be worth some of your time. As a Virginia attorney, I might be able to facilitate these conversations. As an elder law focused attorney, I can definitely help you come up with a care plan for your parents who might be far away from you. Give me a call today. Teach Your Children Crosby, Stills & Nash You who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a good-bye. Teach your children well, Their father's hell did slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picks, the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry, So just look at them and sigh And know they love you. And you, of tender years, Can't know the fears that your elders grew by, And so please help them with your youth, They seek the truth before they can die. Teach your parents well, Their children's hell will slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picks, the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry, So just look at them and sigh and know they love you. Songwriters: Graham Nash Teach Your Children lyrics © Spirit Music Group Well, that is a first for me! Yesterday I spent an hour writing a blog post and it was unfortunately deleted. I guess I was destined to rewrite it, so now I am. What are you teaching your kids about strangers? Are you teaching them "stranger danger" or are you teaching them to blindly trust others (strangers)? Are you simply avoiding talking to them about it, altogether, until they are older? Maybe your kids are older and gone, and you already taught them everything you knew to teach them. I'm not going to judge you for something you might or might not have taught your kids. I'm only bringing it up as a segue to talk about estate planning. By now, you may be wondering what this has to do with estate planning. I'll explain. When I was growing up in the 1980's, there were pictures of missing kids on all the milk cartons. There also seemed, due to constant reporting about it via various news outlets, to be what seemed like millions of kids a year abducted from their families. Kidnapped. It was a crime wave of abductions and people were worried. So schools and parents and various levels of government did everything they could to publicize the "stranger danger" saying and programming. Kids (including me and my sister) were trained that the world was teeming with people waiting to abduct us, that all strangers were bad, and that people should not talk to children they didn't know. I don't want to say there was a wholesale panic--we still lived a pretty normal childhood--but we were trained on how to evade kidnappers, seek help, fight back, etc. Come to find out, this was a nationwide phenomenon. From a Wikipedia page: The notion of "stranger danger" has been criticized for positioning children as passive objects of potential threat which allows adults to justify their means of controlling or isolating children. Gill Valentine argues that producing misleading or exaggerated messages about "stranger danger" results in the notion that public spaces are naturally adult spaces where children must be constantly protected.[18] Exaggerated fears of "stranger danger" have caused many parents to limit children's ability to be physically active, such as by exploring their neighborhood unsupervised; for example, fewer parents allow children to walk to school alone than in the past.[10] This increased tendency to keep children indoors has resulted in an alleged nature deficit disorder in children I dont want to talk about the social effects of the moral panic that was present in the 80's, and the ramifications of these things today. The crazy thing is, there was no spike in the number of kidnappings, crime against kids is very rare, and the moral panic of "stranger danger" was not really necessary. [This is not to say that kidnappings of kids is not a problem. It is, and it is a serious one. But overreaction to a "crime wave" of stranger abductions was not a good thing for society].
In response to this issue, we had a family talk when I was a kid, and we came up with a system where, if someone came to school to pick us up, or a stranger approached us and said something like "your mom or dad is hurt, come with us" that we were not allowed to go with them until they provided us with a password. A "code word" that they knew. It was brilliant, really. My sister and I never had to use it, but God help you if you tried to take me and didn't know the code word! In talking with a friend of mine recently, I discovered he is worried about what to teach his son about "stranger danger". Well, I am too, because I have two young daughters! We both knew the 80's "stranger danger" maxim was not statistically a problem. BUT, since we are dads, we care about our kids. I told him I had a code word. He thought that was a great idea. Then he asked me what our code word was. I exclaimed "NO WAY am I giving you my code word. Classified top secret. And you can call my mom or sister and they wont give it up either!" Keep in mind my sister is almost 40. Hey--we were well trained and I cant compromise this type of sensitive info! All joking aside, we then talked about how, as part of your estate plan (will, trusts, and powers of attorney) that our kids have to be taken care of in the very short term, if both parents were to be killed at the same time. My friend sort of scoffed at this suggestion, then I walked him through these logistics:
Sound familiar? Your daycare should have an emergency contact on file. Who is it? Can they really react in an emergency? And if they show up to the daycare to get your kids, because no one showed up to get them and the daycare called the emergency contact, will your kids know that going with that emergency contact is safe (and what you wanted them to do)? Does the emergency contact have your house keys (so they can get in and get all the kids stuff--think medicines, car seats, clothes)? How is your executor notified? Other than the emergency contact who picked your kids up, who legally can take care of your kids long term? When can they get to the kids? Look, I'm sorry to be morbid or disturbing. But as a parent you MUST think about and plan for these things. Even if the situation is not as bad as presented in the lists above, think about what would happen to your kids if you wound up in the hospital overnight. I know many reading this have family close by or trusted neighbors that would swoop in and take care of the kids in an emergency. Many of us, myself included, really don't. This type of planning is something I want to talk to you about. To me, your estate plan is more than just what happens to your house and car. It needs to incorporate what happens to your minor children too. Because if you do not plan for it, and memorialize your plan, the Commonwealth (or city) will make sure the kids are taken care of through the foster care system and various child protective agencies. Why have your kids go through all that? And if you come up with a good code word, make sure your kids know it and do some practice with them on situations where they need to use it. Good post on skyrocketing spending levels coming for seniors. Not sure I have a good song to go with this. Enjoy the article!
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AuthorJeff Sodoma, MPA, Esq. is a lawyer based in Virginia Beach, Virginia Blog!Hello, there! Welcome to my blog. I will use this blog as a platform for my writing. I will write about topics in the legal world, certainly, as well as everything else under the sun, because I have many interests (and viewpoints). All views expressed in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are mine alone. One of my interests is music--my wife believes that I should go on "Beat Shazam" because I know so many songs--and I will be, from time to time, analyzing song lyrics and how they relate to the legal world.
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