Thursday Th(ink)s - May 21, 2026

Estate Planning for People Who Don't Feel Dead Yet

Most of my friends and family are aging.

Well, all of them are.

Me too.

Do you know how I can tell we’re living in our Thursday years? Our final third? Our golden days?

We talk about things like:

• Naps

• Medications

• Knees

• Naps

• Funerals

• Sagging boobs

• Naps

• Grandchildren

• Sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll

• Naps

• And... stuff

Recently, Hubs and I found ourselves discussing an important Thursday-years issue:

"Should we clean out the shed, or should we leave it for the kids to do?"

This is a thing now. Entire households are holding family summits around grandma’s hand-

embroidered pillowcases. What do we do with them?

Do we say:

"Leave it. They'll get our money, the house, and the investment accounts. They can clean the shed."

Or:

"Clean it. It’s rude to leave a mess. We must clean the shed."

We haven't decided which camp we're in.

On sunny days, golf and beach walks seem important.

On miserable days, painting and writing seem important.

We are fair-weather decision makers when it comes to our stuff strategy. That’s just a more

sophisticated way to say that we are wishy-washy. Way wishy-washy wondering what to… toss.

(I couldn’t think of a word that began with ‘w’. Can you?)

I often think about the old Benji movie from 1974. Bill, the café owner, met Benji on the bench

outside his café every morning. Benji's job was to wake him up before the lunch rush. Bill paid

him in bones and one-sided conversation.

Bill always talked about fishing someday. Someday he'd close up shop. Someday he’d head off to bigger things.

But someday never came.

And yet, he seemed content.

He had simply grown into his Thursday years and someday was always today. He'd found his

bench to die on.

That maybe I will, maybe I won't attitude can feel awfully comfortable. The pressure comes off.

Days slip by and decisions default to tomorrow.

I'm not especially sentimental, but there is a ridiculous little book around here called, Piggy’s

Playground that has teething marks from both my daughter and my grandson.

I cannot throw that silly thing away.

I've read it a gazillion times.

“Piggy Rides Her Scooter to the Playground.”

"There are swings to swing on..."

"Back and forth, back and forth..."

I know the banal prose as well as I know my own name.

Why keep it? It’s just paper and cardboard. But there are people attached to it and I want to save them, the memory of them grabbing for and slobbering on the edges while I’m reciting the words from memory.

And that's exactly why it's easier to let the kids clean the shed. They don't know my memories. They'll find a chewed-up baby book and decide its fate in under four seconds.

Actually, I know my girls.

One will cry over it.

One will throw it away.

They are the perfect pair to clean the shed.

There. I believe I've made a major life decision today.

We shall not clean the shed; we shall not be overcome by our stuff.

Instead, we shall haul the rototiller up the hillside behind the cabin and continue building trails.

This, my friends, is how to spend your Thursday years.

No navel-gazing over shed cleaning when there are trails still waiting to be carved.

Happy Thursday. Don’t overthink this beautiful day.

Big Brains: "Whatever you decide in life, make sure it makes you happy."  —Myleik Teele

Old Souls: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

―Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married

The Ancient of Days: "I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man." -Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

Norma Jean:
We shall not clean the shed; we shall not be overcome (or overwhelmed). We’ll leave that to our kids and their therapists.

Thursday Chat: Which camp are you in? I’d love to hear the reasoning behind your decision. Or have you even thought about this yet? Did I just give you some thinks for the nights you can’t sleep? You’re welcome!