A Survivor's

Journal is...

A workbook that
helps you prepare
your family for your
death or disability

Learn more with

these links...

Introduction

Who Should Prepare A Survivor's Journal

Excerpts From The Book

NEW!  Version 2.0...

Now with interactive PDF

forms allowing you to fill in,

save, and print the individual

forms on your computer for ease of use and updating.

Who Should Prepare A SURVIVOR'S JOURNAL

(excerpt from "How to Create a SURVIVOR'S JOURNAL" - v2.0)

Mildred was married to Dee for fifty-three years. Dee was the type of husband who could do anything with his hands. He was a handy-man extraordinaire. He also was good at managing the family finances. Dee completely took care of  paying the monthly bills, balancing the bank accounts, and tracking their investments. In fact, he handled most everything in their marriage, except for cooking, housework and laundry. That was Mildred’s realm.

When Dee died, Mildred was beside herself emotionally. She’d lost her loving companion of a half-century. Adding to the tragedy was the fact that she was completely unprepared for the onslaught of responsibilities she now had to handle without her husband’s input. There was so much about their financial and household affairs that she knew nothing about. In her grief and frustration, she often found herself becoming angry at Dee. How could he die and leave her unprepared like this? Why hadn’t he explained this paperwork to her before? How could she carry this burden alone?

_ _ _ _ _

The death or disability of a spouse or loved one often brings more than emotional grief and suffering. It thrusts survivors into realms of responsibilities they may be ill prepared to handle. Having to manage a multitude of administrative tasks while coping with one’s grief can be overwhelming. But when the survivors are left without instructions or preferential wishes from the deceased or disabled, additional unnecessary pain can be inflicted upon those we leave behind.

Most of us don’t think about the impact our death or disability can have upon our family unless forced to do so by some event or misfortune. We fail to realize the immense role we play and the daily responsibilities we fulfill for our family or others. We seldom stop to think about the unique tasks we do, the abilities we possess, or the knowledge and information that only we have, yet are so vital to our family’s existence. We confidently perform our duties without the slightest thought that someday we may not be there doing what we always do.

Yet, anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one can attest that  when a person dies they often leave a gaping hole by taking with them the knowledge and experience their surviving family needs in order to continue their “normal” life. Although the survivors eventually learn what they need to know, the void caused by a death or disability can seem like an indomitable chasm to those who are overcome with grief.

If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand."
 

— George F. Stivers

                                                             ...continued in the book (purchase)