Good afternoon, Legacy Wealth Alliance Family,
I (Pattie) am back from Ohio where I recently went to witness my daughter, Emily, marry her true love and best friend, Mike. It was a beautiful day the weather was perfect! She was the most beautiful bride. And as her mother, I could not be prouder of her or her choice in a husband.
Anyone who has met my daughter knows she is a planner. She had four plans put together for her wedding due to C-19. Plan A was to get married at a venue, Plan B was to cut the list to accommodate the occupancy of the venue, Plan C was another venue, outside in the woods at the park district and Plan D was to get married in the backyard of her future and now in-laws home. Plan C was the winner. With the bridal party, family, and friends, there was a total of 38 people at the wedding.
A very dear friend of mine, “T”, flew to Cleveland to attend the wedding with me. She was a wonderful support system for this emotional mom. Prior to the wedding, she once asked me if I ever cry… I think she thought my emotions were made of steel. Who knew songs like “Build me up Buttercup” or “Pretty Woman” could send me into a waterfall of tears because they had a special meaning between my daughter and me.
I was also witness to the most selfless gift and again the tear fountain flowed. My youngest son, Mark gave his sister a beautiful gift of himself. Mark, for reasons known only to him, had decided he was no longer going to get his haircut. He had not had a haircut in over 15 months. His hair was well past his shoulders and trust me, it looked kind of scary. When he came to visit me in January, I asked if I could take him to get his hair styled. He said, “what exactly does that mean, and no!” I told him; it would keep the length but just trim it to make it look neat. He was not going for it. Anyway, Emily wanted to ask him to cut his hair for her wedding. Mike, her fiancé, told her she cannot ask him to do that. Fast forward to my arrival and we were having a phone conversation with Mark and planning to meet up and Emily asked him if she could braid his hair for the wedding. He said, yes, she could because it was her day and she could do whatever she wanted to do with his hair, even put in curls, if she wanted. She said great, I will braid your hair then. After we finished our call. I said to her, “I think if you asked him, he would cut his hair because he said he would do anything for your wedding day”. She then texted him and asked him if he would be willing to cut his hair and he said “yes”. I made an appointment for him and the next day. After his appointment and he walked out the door, the tears flowed. He looked so handsome. He was so proud of his haircut and the gift of his hair cut for his sister. He was smiling from ear to ear and no words were necessary.
Before and after the wedding “T” and I went exploring downtown Cleveland. We went to the downtown lakefront and walked the shore and viewed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame(1), the Great Lake Science Center(2), and Burke Lakefront Airport(3) where the Blue Angles and Thunderbirds fly for the annual air show. We also found the last four remaining mansions on Millionaires Row on Euclid Avenue. Some history about Millionaire’s Row: Euclid Avenue, the main artery into downtown Cleveland was known as Millionaire’s Row, with some 250 mansions extending a 4-mile stretch. Some of the homes were as large as 50,000 square feet with lots consuming 6 acres of land in Cleveland. … It’s is now the home of businesses, retail, restaurants, hotels, cultural institutions and one of the world’s top-ranked hospitals.(4) People who owned mansions on Millionaires Row, summered in mansions along the shores of Lake Erie in Bratenahl.(5) We also drove along Lake Shore Boulevard to view the mansions in Bratenahl. To make our mansion viewing complete, we found the famous Franklin Castle (6), which some say is haunted. I also took her to all my old stomping grounds of places I lived and to the Village of Chagrin Falls where I worked for many years and is home to the famous waterfalls and the Popcorn Shop (7). The Popcorn Shop drops a huge popcorn ball each New Year’s Eve. President George W Bush and family visited The Popcorn Shop during his re-election campaign in 2004. We also ate at Yours Truly Restaurant(8) where I had worked part time for 11 plus years before moving to Arizona.
We drove down Martin Luther King Drive, which is lined with over 33 distinct cultural gardens and will take you to the University Circle area which is home to much more history.
Lastly, we visited Playhouse Square to see the world’s largest outdoor chandelier. It is truly something to see at night all lit up! Suffice it to say, there is so much fun to be had exploring Cleveland and the outlaying metro areas.
I have had many people ask me how was traveling in the airports due to C-19. At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, most businesses are closed, but there were many people. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport seemed even busier with most businesses open. We flew Southwest Airlines and they are keeping the middle seats open. Both my flights were not at full capacity. However, both airports have all travelers going thru one TSA checkpoint, so the line coming back to Arizona was backed up to get thru TSA. It was about a 20-minute wait to get to the check point.
Moving on…
The other night I was having a catch-up phone call with my friend, “D” of 48 years. I asked her how her dad is doing. Her dad is the same age as mine, 83 years young, and she is noticing forgetfulness, etc. I asked her about her dad’s estate. Did he have a revocable trust, durable power of attorney, living will, medical/health care power of attorney, mental health care power of attorney, or a will. She said she did not think he had any of these documents except for a will. She had seen a will once and her dad had crossed out her mother’s name (she is deceased) and wrote in “D’s” name. The more we talked, she became quite concerned and rightly so. She said her name was on his checking account, but that is all she knew. Her dad has three homes in three different states. I suggested she speak to her dad about his estate and work to get a beneficiary deed recorded on all three homes. I am helping her prepare for this conversation with her dad.
I do not want to prattle on about my conversation with “D,” however, I do want to bring to everyone’s attention how important it is to have your affairs in order. Where we at LWA are not lawyers, we can assist with making sure your assets with us are titled correctly and if you need the name of an attorney we have several we work with in Arizona and would be happy to share with you so you can interview them and make your own choices. Also, if you are an Arizona resident and do not have a medical/health care power of attorney or a living will, you can go to the State’s website and download a copy to complete at https://azsos.gov/services/advance-directives. You can even register your health care power of attorney and living will with the State of Arizona for free. I did this exact thing earlier this year. With my living far removed from my family, I thought this would be the best course of action. I also shared this information with my children.
The will I have is from years ago when I was married. I have been divorced 18 years now and yes; I need to get a new will completed. My will leaves everything to my ex-husband. Where I have been lax on getting my will updated, I have taken precautions to have things transfer to my children by adding a transfer on death to my accounts and adding a beneficiary deed to my home. So, while I work on my will, I have the peace of mind he would not get much, just my car and a few measly dollars in my checking account. In the footnotes, I put a link for legalzoom where you can read about a Last Will and Testament, if you reside in the State of Arizona. There is some great information on this site about a will.
Thank you for humoring me in my proud mama moments and if you ever visit Cleveland there is so much more to do and see than what was listed. If you plan a visit to Cleveland and want recommendations send me an e-mail and I would be happy to give you some other places to see as well. This was “T’s” first visit to Cleveland and she was surprised by all there was to see. Where Cleveland has received a bad reputation in the past from when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire 13 times from 1868 to 1969, a lot has changed since then.
Thank you and have a great day!
Pattie Gradl
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: rockhall.com
- Great Lake Science Center: greatscience.com
- Burke Lakefront Airport: burkeairport.com
- Cleveland Storyteller: clevelandstoryteller.com
- Cleveland Historical Bratenahl: clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/358
- Franklin Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Castle
- The Popcorn Shop: chagrinfallspopcorn.com
- Yours Truly Restaurant: ytr.com
- Playhouse Square largest outdoor chandelier https://www.ohiomagazine.com/ohio-life/article/world-s-largest-outdoor-chandelier
- Legalzoom: Arizona Last Will and Testament
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Pattie Gradl
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