The Family Love Letter™. The Gift of Your Life

As an anti-aging physician, I have devoted my career to helping people live long and healthy lives. I have a passion for healthy living; wellness and staying young has been my motto. As a result, I created a teleseminar series called “Conversations with Dr. Shelby-Lane” to teach about health and longevity by interviewing the best health experts on planet earth.

But, in January of 2011, I experienced the sudden loss of two friends and a personal tragedy that made me take a hard look at life. Sudden death wakes you up. As hard as I was working to keep people healthy and young, those closest to me were in trouble, and dying.

That’s when I asked myself the following questions: Am I prepared to die? When I leave the planet, will there be a bunch of chaos, or will I leave a legacy for the living--of the stories, hopes, and desires for my family and future generations?
Will health teleseminars really make a difference for generations to come?

So, I asked my financial advisor to connect me with "the expert" who could answer my question. Donna Pagano, author of The Family Love Letter™, agreed to be my special guest, to discuss what I believe is the probably the most important document of our lives.

The Family Love Letter™ is more than a paper trail of documents such as wills and trusts, their location, and passwords. It is also a document that tells our families what our final wishes are and how we want to be remembered. It helps them sort out our personal wishes with dignity and creates order where there could be chaos. It is a vehicle for all of us to get our house in order.
How do you want to be remembered?

Do you know the average age a woman becomes a widow? It is 56 years-old.
It's important to be prepared for the unexpected. Whether you're male or female, married or single, childless or a parent, creating a Family Love Letter™ involves asking yourself some very important questions. If you already know the answers, you're a step ahead. If not, you'll need to make some decisions. Some of the questions you should ask and answer are:

• Do you have a legacy to share?
• How have you prepared for your death? Have you made any arrangements ahead of time?
• Where is your life insurance policy? Is there more than one?
• Do you have a will?
• Has the next of kin been decided?
• What are the passwords and security codes to your bank accounts, e-mail, etc?
• Do you prefer a funeral or cremation?
• Do you have a blended family, with past marriages and stepchildren?

These are all real concerns that must be addressed as you put together your family love letter. We do not know the time or the hour, but we do know one thing. Each of us will leave a legacy. The question is whether it will be a legacy of confusion or one of information.

Remember, we all get a birth certificate and a death certificate, but what happens between our birth and death defines our legacy. Creating your
Family Love Letter ™will be the best gift you could ever give your family. Do it today. Do it Now.

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Cynthia Shelby-Lane, MD is a board certified, anti-aging and functional medicine specialist, emergency physician, comedienne and talk show host who believes “laughter is good medicine”. Dr. Shelby-Lane has been seen and heard on local, state and national television and radio talk shows, educating Americans on a variety of medical issues.

ShelbyLaneMD is also the chief medical Officer for MVP Solutions, a network of healthcare professionals helping to change the health care delivery system and build health care centers worldwide. She is also the producer and host of a health teleseries called Conversations with Dr. Shelby-Lane, interviewing the best health experts on the planet.

To receive the special report "7 Anti-Aging secrets for Staying Young & Living Longer" provided by Dr. Cynthia Shelby-Lane go to http://stayyoungandlivelonger.com.