Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, April 30, 2022

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 30, 2022 

SPECIALIZED MOVING SERVICES THAT HELP SENIORS DOWNSIZE 
AND RELOCATE 

Dear Savvy Senior:
Can you recommend any businesses or services that specialize in helping seniors downsize and relocate? I need 
to find some help moving my mother from her four-bedroom home – where she’s lived for nearly 50 years – to 
an apartment near me. Overwhelmed Daughter 

Dear Overwhelmed: 

The process of downsizing and moving to a new home 
is a big job for anyone, but it can be especially overwhelming 
for seniors who are moving from a longtime 
residence filled with decade’s worth of stuff and 
a lifetime of memories. Fortunately, there’s a specialized 
service available today that can help make your 
mom’s move a lot easier for her, and for you. 


Senior Move Manager 

To help your mom get packed up and moved into her new home, you should consider hiring a “senior 
move manager.” These are trained organizers (they are not moving companies) who assist older people 
with the challenges of relocating and can minimize the stress of this major transition by doing most of 
the work for you. 

A senior move manager can help your mom pare down her belongings, decide what to take and what to 
dispose of, recommend charities for donations and help sell her unwanted items. They can even create a 
customized floor plan of her new home so your mom can visualize where her belongings will fit. 

Senior move managers can also get estimates from moving companies, oversee the movers, arrange the 
move date, supervise the packing and unpacking and help set up her new home, have the house cleaned 
and just about anything you need related to her move. 

If you want to do some of the work yourself, you can pick and choose only the services you want. For 
example, you may only want a move manager’s help with downsizing and selling excess furniture and 
unwanted belongings but plan on doing the actual packing and moving yourself. 

The cost of working with a senior move manager will vary depending on where you live, the services 
you want and size of the move, but you can expect to pay somewhere between $60 and $125 per hour or 
more, not including the cost of movers. 

How to Find One 

To locate a senior move manager in your area, visit the National Association of Senior Move Managers 
website at NASMM.org or call 877-606-2766. The NASMM is a trade association with an accreditation 
program that requires its members to abide by a strict code of ethics that ensures integrity. They currently 
have around 1,000 members across the U.S. 

You can also search at Caring Transitions (CaringTransitions.com), which is the largest senior relocation 
and transition services franchised company in the U.S. They currently have nearly 200 franchises 
throughout the country. 

But, before you hire one, be sure you ask for references from previous clients and check them, and check 
with the Better Business Bureau too. Also find out how many moves they have actually managed and get 
a written list of services and fees. And make sure they’re insured and bonded. 

If you can’t find a senior move manager in your area, another option is to hire a certified professional 
organizer who specializes in downsizing and relocating. To find one, check the National Association of 
Productivity and Organizing Professionals, which has a searchable database on its website at NAPO.net. 

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.
org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. 


FAMILY MATTERS

 By Marc Garlett 

HOW NAMING GUARDIANS FOR YOUR KIDS IN 
YOUR WILL CAN LEAVE THEM AT RISK 

If you are a mom or dad with children under the age of 18 at home, your 
number-one estate planning priority should be selecting and legally documenting 
both long and short-term guardians for your kids. Guardians are 
the people legally named to care for your children in the event something 
happens to you. 

A Far Too Common Problem 

If you’ve only named guardians for your children in your will (the standard way most estate planners 
do it), your children could be vulnerable to being taken out of your home and placed in the care of 
strangers. This might be temporary, while the authorities figure out what to do, or they could even 
end up being raised to adulthood by someone you’d never choose. 

While it’s rare for something to happen to both parents of a minor child, it does occur, and the consequences 
are simply too severe to not take the few simple steps to select and legally name guardians 
the right way. Regardless of whether you own any other assets or wealth, it’s vital to complete this 
process immediately, so you know the ones you care about most—your kids—will always be in the 
care of people you’ve chosen, no matter what. 

What’s So Complicated About Naming Guardians?

Naming and legally documenting guardians for your kids might seem like a straightforward process, 
but it entails several complexities most people simply do not think about. Even lawyers with decades 
of experience typically make at least one of six mistakes when naming long-term legal guardians. 

If you named legal guardians for your kids in your will—whether on your own using a do-it-yourself 
(DIY) online document service or with the help of another lawyer—consider each of the following 
scenarios to see if you have a blind spot in your estate plan that would leave your kids at risk: 

Did you name back-up candidates in case your first choice of guardian is unable to serve? If so, 
how many back-ups did you name? 

If you named a married couple to serve and one of them is unavailable due to injury, death, or 
divorce, what happens then? Would it still be okay if only one of them can serve as your child’s guardian? 
And does it matter which one it is? 

What would happen if you became incapacitated by illness or injury and are unable to care for 
your kids? You might assume the guardians named in your will would automatically get custody, but 
did you know that a will only goes into effect upon your death and does nothing to protect your kids in 
the event of your incapacity? Have you created a guardianship plan that goes into effect if you become 
incapacitated? 

Do the guardians you named live far from your home? If so, how long would it take them to 
make it to your house to pick up your kids: a few hours, a few days, or even a few weeks? Who would 
care for your kids until those guardians arrive? Did you know that without legally binding arrangements 
for the immediate care of your children, may be placed in foster care until those named guardians 
arrive? 

Would your care providers know where to find your will and other legal documents if you didn’t 
make it home? If not, what would the authorities do while they tried to figure out who should care for 
your kids? 

If you named a family who live nearby as guardians, what happens if they are out of town or 
otherwise can’t get to your kids right away? 

Assuming the guardians you named can immediately get to your home to pick up your kids, do 
they know where your will is located? How will they prove they are the people you wanted named as 
your children’s legal guardians if they can’t find your estate planning documents? 

The Kids Protection Plan® 

These are just a few of the potential complications that can arise when naming legal guardians for 
your kids, whether in your will or as a stand-alone measure. And if just one of these contingencies 
were to occur, your children would needlessly suffer emotionally, even if just for a short period of 
time. 

If the idea of this is as frightening to you as it was to me when I discovered it, you should consider 
implementing a Kids Protection Plan® which provides parents of minor children with a wide array of 
legal planning tools—including legal documents to name short- and long-term guardians, instructions 
for those guardians, medical powers of attorney for your minor children, an ID card for your 
wallet, and much more—to make sure there is never a question about who will take care of your kids 
if you are in an accident or suffer some other life-threatening incident. 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …APRIL Birthdays* 

Howard Rubin, Anita Hardy, Hattie Harris, Wendy Senou, Mary Harley, Bette 

White, Doris Behrens, Freda Bernard, Beth Copti, Terri Cummings, Marilyn 

Diaz, Virginia Elliott, Elma Flores, Betty Jo Gregg, Barbara Lampman, Betty 

Mackie, Elizabeth Rassmusen, Maria Reyes, Marian DeMars, Anne Schryver, 

Chrisine Bachwansky, Colleen McKernan, Sandy Swanson, Hank Landsberg, 

Ken Anhalt, Shannon Vandevelde

* To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required 
THE HART PARK HOUSE SENIOR CENTER IS OPEN!!!! 
SIERRA MADRE SENIOR CLUB Every Saturday from 11:30am-3:30 pm in the 
Hart Park House Senior Center. Join us as we celebrate birthdays, holidays and pay 
BINGO. Must be 50+ to join. For more information call Mark at 626-355-3951. 

DOMINOES TRAIN GAME Wednesday, 4/6 & 4/20 11:00 am— 12:30 pm Hart 
Park House The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from their hand 
onto one or more trains, emanating from a central hub or “station”. Call Lawren with 
questions that you may have. 

PAINT PALS 

Tuesday, 4/12 & 4/26,, 10:30 am—Hart Park House If you enjoy painting, sketching, 
water color, or making some other form of artistic creation please join our new 
program, PAINT PALS!!! Bring a project that you are working on to the HPH and 
enjoy some quality art time with other artists looking to paint with a new pal. 

TEA AND TALK SENIOR BOOK CLUB Tuesday, 4/6 & 4/20— 9:00 am Staff has 
launched a new book club series, Tea and Talk, which meets twice a month to discuss 
the fun, suspense, intrigue, love and so much more that each selection will have in 
store! 

FIBER FRIENDS Tuesday, 4/5 & 4/19 —10:00 am If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, 
embroidery, needlepoint, bunka, huck, tatting or cross stitch then we have a 
group for you! Bring your current project, a nonalcoholic beverage, then sit and chat 
with likeminded fiber friends. We meet in the Hart Park House 

BINGO Tuesday 4/12 and 4/16 1:00 pm- 2:00 pm Come on down to enjoy this 
time with friends. We are trying a new spin on BINGO fun so please bring your good 
luck charms and BINGO markers! 

TAX ASSISTANCE WEDNESDAYS 1:00 -2:00PM LAST DAY APRIL 6TH Don 
Brunner is available for income tax consultation. Please call 626-355-5278 x 704 

CHAIR YOGA Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 am Please join us for some 
gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxation with Paul. Classes are 
ongoing and held in the Memorial Park Covered Pavilion or the Hart Park House.. 

HULA AND POLYNESIAN DANCE Every Friday, 10-10:45 am Bring a lei, your 
flower skirt or just your desire to dance! Hula in the Park is back and waiting for you 
to join in on all the fun! Memorial Park Pavilion. 

SENIOR CINEMA WEDNESDAY, 4/13 1:00 PM EASTER PARADE PG 1H 43M 

Don Hewes and Nadine Hale are a dancing team, but she decides to start a career on her own. 
So he takes the next dancer he meets, Hannah Brown, as a new partner. After a while, this new 
team is so successful that Florenz Ziegfeld is interested in them, but due to the fact that Nadine 
Hale also dances (and stars) in the Ziegfeld Follies, Don says no. Despite the fact that he is in 
love with Hannah, he keeps the relation with her strictly business. So Hannah is of the opinion 
that he is still in love with Nadine, and her suspicion grows when he dances with Nadine in a 
Night Club Floor Show. 

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

MAYBE WE SHOULD GO BACK TO SMOKE 
SIGNAL COMMUNICATIONS. 


I must admit that commu


nication is an essential part 

of my life today. The longer 
I live, the more sophisticated those communications 
become, and it’s challenging to me. 

Recently, I was working on my latest book using 
my latest computer and its programs. As 
I was working, I remembered that I did not 
always use a computer for writing. I used one 
of those archaic machines called the "typewriter." 
Does anybody today know what a 
typewriter is? 

I still remember my first typewriter. My 
mother got it for me for Christmas one year 
and I couldn't have been happier with any 
Christmas gift than that one. 

I hammered out many articles and even poems. 
I wished I had copies of those, but I'm 
glad I lost them. I'm sure those were the worst 
poems ever hammered out on a typewriter. 

I got an electric typewriter after graduating 
from high school and thought I had died and 
gone to heaven. I've never been able to type 
faster than on that electric typewriter. 

The problem I've had with those typewriters 
was, if I made a mistake, I had to throw 
out that page and start all over again,. Yes, I 
had carbon copies, but I still had to start all 
over again. How frustrating that was in many 
regards. 

While I was writing my first book, I thought 
maybe I should up grade to a computer. I had 
to think long and hard about that because I 
loved my typewriter. Eventually, I succumbed 
to the times and bought a computer. 

Those first computers did not have any internal 
hard drives and everything had to be 
done on a 5.5-inch floppy disk. When I got 
my computer and learned how to use it, I was 
ecstatic. I didn't mind putting in the floppy 
disk and taking it out and replacing it with 
another floppy disk. That seemed to be easy 
work at the time. I never had to throw away a 
sheet of paper and start over again. 

Over the years, I kept climbing the ladder of 
technology and got the latest computer technology 
and was quite happy with it. 

Now I can sit in front of my computer screen 
and dictate what I'm writing. There's a keyboard 
there, and I only use it when I have an 
emergency. But now, I can talk everything 
into my computer, which has become a great 
experience for me. 

When I first used this dictating program, The 
Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage was in the 
other room listening. Finally, she said, "Who 
are you talking to? There's no phone in your 
room." 

It took a while to explain to her that I was talking 
to my computer while writing an article. 
She never heard of that before, and I never 
did either. Finally, I was able to convince her 
that it was the computer I was talking to. Who 
else would listen to me? 

Things have developed over the years that 
are beyond my imagination. In our home, we 
have the latest media service, TV, telephone, 
and Internet service. 

I never knew how much I appreciated all of 
this service until one day this week. 

I had just finished my latest book manuscript 
and was ready to email it to my publisher. My 
deadline was crunching down, and I used 
every minute to work on the book. I finally 
finished it, got to my deadline, and was now 
ready to email it. 

Nothing is more satisfying than getting the 
project done and sending it to the publisher. 
As I set it up to email it, I suddenly realized 
that everything was down. So I could not 
send my manuscript out. 

Just a half-hour before this, everything was 
closed: the TV, cell phone, and the Internet. 
So there is no way I could get this out on time. 

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage called 
the company and finally got through and was 
told it would be up and running by 7 p.m. 

I can’t explain how frustrated I was. I checked 
my temper, and it was boiling over with heat. 
Probably there was some steam coming out of 
my ears. I wanted to give them a piece of my 
mind, but there was no way I could get it to 
them. Everything was down. 

It was then that I realized how important all 
of this modern technology is. I didn't know 
that I had built my life on technology, but, it 
seems like I have done just that. 

Technology is wonderful when it works. 
When it doesn't work, it is the most annoying 
thing in the world. 

I began thinking about the days when communication 
was done with smoke signals. I'm 
not sure how that worked, but they were able 
to convey their message across the country 
with smoke signals from one mountain to the 
next. But it got through, which was all that 
matters. 

Maybe we should go back to the good old 
smoke signal communication days. 

I had a few moments to think about this. 
When thinking about communication a certain 
verse of Scripture came to my mind. 

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned 
with salt, that ye may know how ye 
ought to answer every man” (Colossians 4:6). 

Sometimes it’s very important to think before 
you speak and I have discovered if I do think, 
I sometimes don’t speak. 

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the 
Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 
1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@ 
gmail.com. Website is www.jamessnyderministries.
com. 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 
Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com