Guest speaker Suzanne Soto-Davies, publisher of Silver and Gold Magazine for Boomers Plus, has also developed a WISH (What If Something Happens) workbook.

Suzanne, who was born in Peru and came to Canada when she was 15, said that her grandparents gave her the idea for the magazine which is published and distributed in southwestern Ontario four times a year although, like many things, it has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The magazine is currently available only online at www.silvergoldmagazine.ca.

Suzanne related her personal story that led to the development of the WISH workbook. Her mother, who was living in Haliburton, suffered an aneurism and had to be flown by medical helicopter to hospital in Toronto on Christmas Eve. Her father was legally blind and forced to stay at home, so it was up to other family members to provide doctors with information about Suzanne’s mother’s medical history.

Her mother was given only a two-per cent chance of survival when she arrived at the hospital and Suzanne said that without access to medical information back in Haliburton the family struggled to remember details the hospital and doctors required.

Her mother did start to improve but the recovery period stretched over a year as she slowly regained memory and had to relearn how to do many things and regain much of the weight she had lost.

It was during this period that Suzanne said that she had to learn about her parents’ financial dealings to be able to pay bills and how to access bank accounts. She said that something as basic as her mother’s favourite sleeping position helped aid her comfort while in hospital.

Suzanne said the WISH workbook allows you to list medications, any supplements taken, day-today banking, insurance policies, pensions and even information about your will. She also emphasized the need to complete the paperwork to have someone you trust given Power of Attorney.

The WISH workbook can be ordered online at www.wishworkbook.ca . There is also a link to provincial websites to download Power of Attorney forms.

See Suzanne’s presentation on YouTube click here…