by Robynne Pendariès, AAWE Paris
“Marry me, Robynne!” That was my favorite response from the FAWCO workshop last week called “Checklist to Complete Long before You Need It.” I created this document in response to an American friend whose French husband passed away suddenly, leaving her not only to manage the shock, but also to find all the needed life documents during the crisis in order to move ahead. This “Checklist” has been a natural evolution of my work as a professional organizer for the past 14 years: after years of organizing people’s homes and offices, I have begun to specialize in paperwork management here in France as well as “remotely.” I have seen many Americans abroad, either due to a language barrier or a lack of motivation, ignore their paperwork and get themselves in trouble in an “emergency” situation. Nothing like a period of confinement (combined with a bit of fear and pandemic anxiety) to get our “papers in order.”
With lots of support from the FAWCO Health Team, Christine Riney and Danielle Kuznetsov, we organized a virtual workshop for FAWCO members in several countries. It was a “work session,” and so many came prepared to work. As I coached FAWCO members through the “Checklist” questions, many members chimed in with helpful suggestions about additional content. Having a moderator and the chat option made it ALMOST feel like we were in the same room.
The feedback has been very positive – “productive,” “empowering,” “better organized” were the words used to describe the workshop experience. It was a pleasure to get “unstuck” with other FAWCO members as we each looked at our lives concretely through the lens of life documents. We can make broaching sensitive subjects with our loved ones easier and move ourselves past the “paralysis” that can happen in life.
The Health Team wants to add our thanks to Robynne for her generous offer of time. And to the over 40 fabulous FAWCO members who participated – Get going on that checklist before you need it! Download it here. Photo is from the Checklist virtual meeting.