About Jackie

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So far Jackie has created 186 entries.

The Genius in all of Us

My baby girl, Lauren, is now a mother to two small boys herself. Walking into her house a few weeks ago, I was immediately greeted by my two-year-old grandson, Bo. “Grammie, come see, come see!” he squealed, leading me to a beautiful wooden creche Omu, his paternal grandmother, had sent him. Taking my hand in his tiny one, he began introducing me to all the statues.

“That’s Meree, that’s the daddy, these guys take care of the sheep, and that’s an angel,” he announced, pointing […]

Developing New Habits

In my youth, I saw a cartoon of a woman sitting on a couch explaining to her husband why she hadn’t done anything all day. Her excuse was she was depressed and didn’t know why. The parody was related to that age-old excuse: a woman’s cycle. Since I can’t use that same pretext for my current doldrums (my plumbing dried up years ago), I can blame Covid-19—and blame I will!

The pain of this pandemic—with its lockdowns, broken economy, and all the precautions we must […]

A Powerful Tool

As my mother’s voice urged me to give up something I desperately wanted, my three-year-old mind felt like screaming. For some strange reason, because my cousin was an only child, and I was blessed with several brothers, I was to take a back seat so she could have her way—once again.

The year was 1955, and Disneyland had just opened in Anaheim, California. With our parents leading the way, my older brother David, my cousin Sally, and I were one of the first families to […]

Doing It for Years

Like a long pass hurling towards the end zone, my fourth child came flying out of my body and into the doctor’s hands. After he gently placed Timmy into my welcoming arms, I stared, flummoxed. “What do I do with a boy?” I wondered. With three daughters at home, my life up to that point was all about dolls, frilly dresses, and hairbows. I’d become conditioned as a “girl’s mom” and was afraid I’d flunk in the boy department. Little did I know that […]

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    What do I know – about preparing a living trust for those we leave behind.

What do I know – about preparing a living trust for those we leave behind.

When was the last time you looked at your will or living trust. We often do them once, then forget about them. But the truth is we should review them every 5-8 years. The person you put in charge back then may not be the right person now. Do you have too many cooks in the kitchen over seeing your estate (meaning are all your children executors), or one main chef?

In this episode, I talk about a new way to prepare this special document […]

What do I know – about preserving your legacy

We all want to know our lives matter at the end of our lives, that we made a difference. This is part of our legacy. But how do we preserve it? In this episode of “What do I know?” we’ll be talking about it and how you can preserve your life’s story.

And, should you be interested, I creative a pamphlet on several ways to creatively leave a piece of you behind so you’ll never be forgotten. If you’d like a copy, just email me […]