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How Families Can Find Lost Money After a Loved One Dies

Dear Savvy Senior, After my mom passed away, we discovered a few small accounts and an old insurance policy we didn’t know she still had. It made me wonder how often families uncover forgotten or unclaimed money like this after a parent dies. Is it common, and where should I start looking? – Searching Sarah Dear Sarah, It’s actually quite common. After a parent or spouse dies, families often come across small, forgotten accounts, uncashed checks or old insurance policies that slipped through the cracks over the years. In many cases, paperwork was misplaced, accounts were ...

Are You On the Calendar?

Anyone who has followed my columns over the years, knows that I come from a large family. Twelve children, two parents and assorted dogs, cats, rabbits and snakes were part of the household when I was growing up. As the family grew with added sons- and daughters-in-law, my mother would add their names to various calendars she kept. She also had a notebook-style address book in which she kept not only names and phone numbers, but also the all-important birthdates. That included the birthdates for her bridge partners and fellow choir members, too. I recall a church calendar hanging in ...

Riding the Rails

There was a time when Wheeling was known for its railroads. Trains of all sizes and models made their way through the Friendly City’s streets. The once busy B&O Rail Station was a hub for visitors coming and going to and from Wheeling. During and after World War II, the station saw the return of its military troops who served their country. My own father recalled the day he came home on a train that deposited him in the city that he loved. His love for trains stayed with him all his life. He would be pleased to know that his great-grandson Deacon shares that passion through real and ...

Shedding Light on Daylight Saving Time

Sitting on the front porch one steamy evening, I was enjoying the flight of the hummingbirds that were visiting my feeders just before nightfall. They seemed to get very active, almost in a frenzy, as they fed on the sugar water concoction I prepared for them. Don’t get me wrong, even as the daylight begins to disappear, the temperature outside is quite warm and humid even for mid-July. Yet I wanted to hold onto the last light of the day. I miss this terribly when fall comes and chases us indoors with darkness at 4 p.m. There has been much talk and discussion about our federal ...

How to Make Sure Your End-of-Life Wishes Are Followed

Dear Savvy Senior, I had a living will/advance directive prepared about 10 years ago documenting my end-of-life medical wishes, but I’ve read that these documents are often ignored. What can you tell me about this? – Troubled Tina Dear Tina, Yes, unfortunately, that can happen. Living wills aren’t always followed in practice, most often because the document isn’t available when it’s needed or never reaches the right people in time. They can also fall short because they aren’t medical orders, and the language may be too vague to guide doctors in an emergency. That ...

Sink or Swim

I cannot remember a time in my life that I didn’t enjoy swimming. While we didn’t have a pool in our backyard, a few neighbors did. If we behaved ourselves, we would be invited to enjoy a dip in one of those pools.  I also cannot remember a time when I did not know how to swim. I had the advantage of three older siblings who were willing to keep me and my younger siblings afloat while we learned the crawl, the breaststroke and backstroke.  Even better was the fact that our parents enrolled us in the summer day camp held at Oglebay Park. It was there that my true love of the ...