This week on Inside Appalachia, we look back at a shocking crime near the Appalachian Trail and speak to the author of a book that re-examines the case. We also sample a beloved Lenten staple made in Charleston, West Virginia. It’s a Yugoslavian fish stew that has a little bit of everything. And we talk with the poet laureate of Blair County, Pennsylvania, who invented the demi-sonnet.
This week, we look back at a shocking crime near the Appalachian Trail and speak to the author of a book that re-examines the case.
We also sample a beloved Lenten staple made in Charleston, West Virginia. It’s a Yugoslavian fish stew that has a little bit of everything.
And we talk with the poet laureate of Blair County, Pennsylvania, who invented the demi-sonnet.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
The Poet Laureate Of Blair County, PA Talks The Demi-Sonnet
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Revisiting Unsolved Mysteries Near The Appalachian Trail
In the summer of 1996, in Shenandoah National Park, two women, Julie Williams and Lollie Winans, were murdered not far from the Appalachian Trail. The case remains unsolved today.
Journalist Kathryn Miles wrote about the murders in her book, “Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders.” The book goes beyond true crime, though, and wraps in Miles’ personal experiences, and the specter of violence in the outdoors — a place where people go to find peace and solitude. Inside Appalachia host Mason Adams spoke with Miles.
A warning for listeners: Some of this conversation gets into violence, sexual assault and other difficult topics.
Yugo Stew, a Lenten favorite in Charleston, West Virginia. Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Sampling Yugoslavian Fish Stew In Charleston, WV
If you’re in Charleston, West Virginia, General Steak and Seafood is the place to get fresh seafood. Trucks arrive daily with salmon filets, swordfish, Chilean sea bass, scallops, Chesapeake Bay oysters and more. And if you want to taste a little of everything in a single dish, pick up a quart of the shop’s Yugoslavian Fish Stew.
Locally, it’s achieved an almost legendary status, but it didn’t start out that way. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold has the story.
St. Albans, WV Becomes A Dementia Friendly Town
For someone with dementia, or for their family, the possibility of getting confused while out and about can be pretty worrisome. Fortunately, more communities are beginning to respond.
St. Albans, West Virginia was recently recognized for offering services and support for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The town recently held aDementia Friendly Day, to spotlight the new designation. As part of his series on elder care, WVPB’s Eric Douglas spoke with St. Albans Vice Mayor Walter Hall.
Erin Murphy, a poet with a news background and the creator of the demi-sonnet. Credit: Molly De Prospo
The Poet Laureate Of Blair County, PA Talks The Demi-Sonnet
Erin Murphy is coming up on the anniversary of her first year as the poet laureate of Blair County, Pennsylvania. Murphy is the author of 10 poetry collections, the editor of three anthologies and the inventor of the demi-sonnet.
Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch talked with Murphy about inventing a new form and finding poetry in the daily news.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Mary Hott, David Mayfield, Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, Sierra Ferrell and Lucero.
Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.
You can send us an email at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
Many families face the question of what is the best place for an aging family member to get the best care in their later years? In-home care? Nursing home? And, how do you pay for it?
Many families face the question of what is the best place for an aging family member to get the best care in their later years? In-home care? Nursing home? And, how do you pay for it?
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: One of the things that I’ve dealt with — what other people I’ve talked to have dealt with — how do I, as a caregiver, make the decision that it’s time for mom or dad or my family member to go into a facility?
Braley: Yeah, that’s the million-dollar question. I have a lot of families that have come to me over the years, and they’ve asked when is it time? And I think it’s really an individual account based on the personal situation. What I counsel families on is looking at, “What’s the safety issues?” When you get to the point with an aging parent or spouse, what kind of safety issues are you dealing with? Are they ambulatory? If they are, are they forgetting where they are in their home and not recognizing that? And are they trying to get out and in their mind going to their home, maybe to their childhood home.
In the field, we call that an elopement risk. Obviously, that can be a very serious safety issue, because the individual with dementia in that moment, when they’re in their house, they may not realize it. For 23 of the 24 hours that day, they did recognize it, but then at that moment — that you can’t predict as a caregiver — it’s a strange place, and they’re trying to get out. That can be very challenging for the caregiver in that moment, whether it’s family or a private caregiver, trying to de-escalate that situation and redirect because in that person’s mind, they’re terrified. They don’t recognize it, they’re trying to get out and they’re going to do whatever they can to get out.
When they get a little more confused, when they get frustrated, are they becoming aggressive? How are they handling the behavioral strategies that the caregiver is trying to de-escalate the situation? Are they getting physical? That becomes very challenging, especially for an aging caregiver. Statistically, the caregiver that is providing care for someone with dementia can have a higher risk of mortality.
Douglas: Most caregivers are not trained in all those de-escalation techniques. I’ve definitely seen that.
Braley: We quite often see that they’re maintaining, and all of a sudden, for whatever reason, whether it’s a medical issue or something else with the disease progressing, it’s like they fall off that kind of cliff and now the parameters you had in place to care for them don’t work. It puts families in crisis.
Douglas: I’ve heard it said it’s easier for somebody to go into a nursing facility from a hospital, rather than just calling up and trying to get mom or dad in a facility, right. Explain that process for me.
Braley: Typically, if you have someone in the hospital, then there’s been a crisis. There’s been a situation that occurred, whether it was due to their dementia, and maybe they became a little more aggressive, and they had to go to the hospital to have behavioral health work with them and adjust medications. Or perhaps they fell, they harm themselves, and they’re in the hospital recovering from that. That crisis allows them to be able to transition from a hospital into whether it’s a nursing home or maybe rehab services, or into assisted living, because the family has realized it’s probably time for long-term care.
That can be a little easier than on the flip side where they’re at home and maybe there’s not a crisis, but the family sees what’s coming, and they want to try to be proactive. But the one with dementia is going to probably struggle a little more with that. And also, I think, when a family is not in crisis in that moment, that guilt just hammers so much more. And that’s a whole other aspect of dealing with talking about the grief that families go through in this.
Douglas: I think that’s an important thing, too. It’s a grief process, but it’s a really slow burn grief process.
Braley: When you dissect grief, there’s stages. And the other interesting aspect to this is, typically there’s more than one person in that family. You can have different family members in different grief stages. And that creates a whole other ball of wax. And in dealing with that, you could have someone who is in the anger stage, you could have somebody who’s in the denial stage, you could have someone reaching acceptance. A lot of times you’ll see the ones that are dealing with the person on a day-to-day basis, that are the primary caregivers, they’re going to be more likely to be closer to that understanding and acceptance than a family member who lives in another state and only talks to mom or dad on the phone and can’t quite recognize what’s going on.
Douglas: What are the differences, assisted living versus skilled nursing homes. What are the differences between those types of facilities?
Braley: A nursing home is going to be, is more geared toward a skilled need. And that’s the way that nursing homes were designed initially, that someone who just has a skilled medical issue, maybe they need a feeding tube, or they have a wound that is something that requires more nurses and doctors to be paying closer attention to it. Whereas assisted living will have nurses and can have a doctor come into the facility and has CNAs and caregivers, but it’s more geared toward helping that individual on their daily activities and needs.
But then when you take memory care, and look at assisted living, at least for me and my memory care, we’re focused on the dementia aspect. That’s what our staff are trained on, what we do every day. We’re a smaller facility so it allows us to have that one-on-one attention to give to the resident with dementia attention. In a larger facility, whether it’s a large assisted living or a large nursing home, they just can’t give that individual attention all the time.
Douglas: As I understand it, private pay facilities run anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a month. How do you pay for that?
Braley: Some people have prepared and they have what’s called Long-Term Care Insurance. But most people don’t have that. There are some VA benefits if the individual is a veteran, or their spouse is a veteran, that can help pay for long-term care and can help pay for in-home care. Of course assets, retirement, things of that nature that unfortunately people have to then tap into in order to pay for the care.
Douglas: I’ve heard many stories of people who’ve have to sell the family house and effectively watch any inheritance just kind of evaporate as they’ve had to pay for care.
Braley: I strongly encourage families to consult with an elder law attorney, that really can help. They can help the family weave through that, because that is the horror story. From my understanding, there are some aspects with Medicaid that you don’t necessarily have to sell your house and those kinds of things. So you definitely want to consult with an attorney in that area.
Douglas: When it comes to Medicaid and Medicare, for Medicaid to kick in, you have to have liquidated assets down to below $2,000, right?
Braley: This is kind of a soapbox of mine with Medicaid. The reality is, there are a lot of people in our country, and especially in our state, that can’t afford private care. And the only way they can get 24-hour care, because they don’t have the funds and they are eligible for Medicaid, is to access that Medicaid for a nursing home. But they don’t necessarily, maybe, have that skilled need. They could probably benefit better in a more focused memory care facility.
Right now, unfortunately, in West Virginia, Medicaid doesn’t pay for assisted living care, it only pays for nursing home care. But there are other states where it’s opened up a little more and Medicaid is trying to adjust more to assisted living care, because the reality is, assisted living care is less expensive than nursing care.
There is what’s called a DHHR supplement, which is closely connected to Medicaid that West Virginia will pay out but it doesn’t touch anything so no assisted living facility can accept that supplement. It’s just really not set up to be successful.
Douglas: What’s the process? Do you start making a whole bunch of phone calls? Where do you start?
Braley: That’s a great question. I think you want to be as proactive as possible. It’s best to start looking before you have to do it and start touring facilities, whether it’s a nursing home, or assisted living based on what you’re able to do. And start asking the questions. You’re interviewing them and taking tours and finding out how they did in their surveys with OHFLAC (Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification) and things of that nature so you can make the best informed decision you can for your loved one. Also look for what in home services are available.
St. Albans is the first location in the state that has been recognized as being dementia friendly — which means many people in the town are trained in techniques to make people with dementia feel welcome.
The town of St. Albans has designated Feb. 22 Dementia Friendly Day. The Kanawha County town is the first location in the state that has been recognized as being dementia friendly — which means many people in the town are trained in techniques to make people with dementia feel welcome.
For his radio series, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Walter Hall, the vice mayor of St. Albans, and one of the founders of the Dementia Friendly program, to find out what it’s all about and how it got started.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: Let’s talk about making St. Albans being a dementia friendly city. What was the whole purpose of that? Why was that important to you?
Hall: Well, a dementia friendly community begins with education. And we were fortunate and blessed to have a young man in St. Albans that owns Braley Care Homes. Chris Braley reached out to me six years ago in 2016. He asked if I had an interest in helping him and St. Albans become a dementia friendly community. There are none in West Virginia. The one location at that time was in Minnesota. So it piqued my interest to become a dementia friendly community at the time.
My grandparents suffered from the illness; I had a neighbor doing the same. And so we started with one meeting between the two of us. A group is two or more, and becoming a dementia friendly community begins with a gathering. The gathering stage was gathering people to talk about the issues, and then identifying different folks in our community who could volunteer and help us make a difference. A year and a half later, we had seven or eight on our committee and the support of the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Douglas: What does it mean? What is a dementia friendly city?
Hall: So, dementia friendly means that we’ve reached out to our community partners, our churches, our nonprofits, our grocery stores, our police, our fire, our city employees, public works. To become dementia friendly, we developed a plan of educating our community. The first experience we had was at the Hansford Senior Center, and it was called a hands-on experience. We invited the general public, and we had some professionals there to speak. We had doctors, nurses, hospice, Alzheimer’s, and we had a hands-on experience. And we had close to 100 folks from the community show up for that event.
And we took them into a room, we put on the fatal vision goggles that distort your vision, we put on rubber gloves, and we put little pinto beans down in the tips of the gloves, because a dementia patient has a tingling or a numbness on the tips of their fingers. Every person that came into that room — we asked them to dress themself using color coordination. It was one thing that would put a smile on your face and love in your heart, because you really wanted to know what my family, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my neighbor was experiencing.
Out of that exposure, we immediately had five new members to our committee, we developed a game plan and then we took it to our first business. The Grind is a restaurant that was on McCorkle Avenue. And we trained 11 employees, the managers, and spent an hour educating them on recognizing the signs of dementia.
Douglas: Let’s talk about that training for businesses. You go into this first business, and you teach the employees how to respond if somebody comes in who’s agitated or doesn’t make sense. What are they supposed to do? How do they react to that?
Hall: As an employee, they are to recognize the signs of dementia. We have pamphlets and brochures in the restaurant to recognize the top 10 signs of dementia. To do that, as an employee, is to be more patient, be more understanding and develop eye contact with the caregiver. We have these cards with our logo and on the back of it it says, “Please be patient, my loved one is suffering from dementia.”
Caregivers come into a dementia friendly trained business. And when the employee comes up, the first thing they are to do as a caregiver is to hand that card to the employee so that they don’t have to mention it or discuss it in front of them. Because our parents, our loved ones, can hear — they have some understanding of what you’re saying and can become quite agitated. Just hand them a little business card.
Douglas: They walk into this restaurant, and the caregiver hands a business card to the staff. And that gives them a heads up, “Hey, this person has dementia.”
Hall: The 15 businesses that we’ve trained now, that’s been part of the process over the past five years. We started with one. Now every city employee: police, fire, public works, our water and sewer. All these folks have been trained on how to identify the signs or understand what’s going on.
Feb. 22, 2022, last year, was the day we received the proclamation from the City of St. Albans recognizing St. Albans Alzheimer’s Day. It is always going to be on Feb. 22. And we will celebrate our first gathering and St. Albans local businesses that will be supporting our cause with 22 percent from those days receipts as a donation to the program.
Douglas: It’s all about education.
Hall: It’s educating our community. Shops, restaurants, markets, our streets, our neighbors, everyone and in six years we have a nice following and a nice group. We all help ourselves. You have to look out for one another. And by nature, we as humans have to interact with others. And we invite you to bring your mom and dad on out. Bring your grandpa, grandma, bring them on out, go to these businesses that understand what’s going on. Make your reservation.
You can go to Dementia Friendly St. Albans, our Facebook page, for updates on which new business we have. The most recent we did was the St. Albans Library.
Douglas: I think you told me before, at the time that you started, there was only one other city and that was in Minnesota?
Hall: I wish I could remember the town, but yeah, there was one city, one community in Minnesota, that had gone through the dementia friendly training. There’s a Dementia Friendly America that has their own set of rules. And then we have the Alzheimer’s Association which has their own set. I guess I should say guidelines of what to follow to become a dementia friendly community. And we got the support of both organizations. And we’re now recognized as a dementia friendly community and stamped and approved by each organization.
We are still the only one with West Virginia. We are working with a gentleman in Huntington, and Nitro has begun the process and have actually already had multiple meetings. I have a feeling that Nitro will be dementia friendly as soon as they get some people on board and businesses and get them trained. Then we’re going to move on into South Charleston — Mayor Mullins has shown an interest. [Charleston] Mayor Goodwin has shown an interest.
On this West Virginia Morning, it’s Dementia Friendly Day in St. Albans. The Kanawha County town is the first location in the state that has been recognized as being dementia friendly. For his special radio series, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Walter Hall, the vice mayor of St. Albans, and one of the founders of the Dementia Friendly program, to find out what it’s all about.
On this West Virginia Morning, it’s Dementia Friendly Day in St. Albans. The Kanawha County town is the first location in the state that has been recognized as being dementia friendly.
For his special radio series, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Walter Hall, the vice mayor of St. Albans, and one of the founders of the Dementia Friendly program, to find out what it’s all about.
Also, in this show, between the Roads to Prosperity and the federal infrastructure law, there is a lot going on when it comes to roads and bridges. In our latest episode of The Legislature Today, Curtis Tate spoke with state Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston and Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to discuss the state’s progress.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
On this episode of The Legislature Today, substance use disorder, sober living homes, homelessness, mental health treatment – the challenges facing West Virginia to help people regain sobriety continue to mount. Government Reporter Randy Yohe speaks with two delegates, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, to discuss what’s working and what needs changed.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, substance use disorder, sober living homes, homelessness, mental health treatment – the challenges facing West Virginia to help people regain sobriety continue to mount.
Government Reporter Randy Yohe speaks with two delegates, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, to discuss what’s working and what needs changed.
Also, Wednesday was Black Policy Day at the West Virginia Legislature. As Chris Schulz reports, it was an opportunity for advocates to highlight the issues facing Black West Virginians to legislators.
About 40,000 West Virginians live with some degree of Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the West Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Some say recent legislation focused on law enforcement and those suffering with Alzheimer’s in the community did not go far enough. Randy Yohe reports on new bills meant to increase awareness.
Finally, concerns over Hope Scholarship students being allowed to play local public school sports sparked debate in the House of Delegates Thursday. Randy Yohe also has this report.
Having trouble viewing the video below? Click here to watch it on YouTube.
The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
At some point, many West Virginians are faced with taking over their parent’s finances and care.
At some point, many West Virginians are faced with taking over their parent’s finances and care. As part of the ongoing series, “Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents,” News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Franki Parsons, a Charleston attorney who specializes in estate planning and works with families who may need a conservatorship or a guardianship.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: What does it take? Or what condition does a person have to be in where the family starts thinking about the need to establish a guardianship for a person?
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Charleston attorney Franki Parsons.
Parsons: You and I have talked before about a movie that came out on Netflix a couple of years ago, during the pandemic. It was called, “I Care a Lot.” The premise of the movie was a woman owned a business, essentially being a professional guardian. Only in the movie, they were just assigning people randomly. That’s not how it works. I want to make that clear. There is a process to make sure that the person who we believe needs a guardianship, in fact, does. My clients who come to me, nine times out of 10, have an adult parent who is showing outward signs of diminished capacity.
Douglas: Are you talking physical capacity or mental capacity? Or both?
Parsons: Oftentimes both, but having diminished physical capacity, meaning we’re having a hard time getting around, is not a criteria to have a guardianship. We are dealing with people who can no longer make day to day basic decisions for themselves.
Douglas: How does that process start? You say, “Mom’s not doing well. She can’t handle her own checkbook anymore.” Do I call an attorney first? Do I call the doctor? I mean, where do you get started in that process?
Parsons: Each story unfolds its own way. I will insert here, you brought up the checkbook. In West Virginia, we have two different roles. Guardian is guardian of the person and their affairs, a conservator oversees finances. Oftentimes, that’s the same person; whoever gets appointed guardian is considered a conservator. Sometimes, we don’t need both. It’s very situation specific. Normally, what I’m dealing with is an adult child who comes to me and says, “My mom is not doing well,” and outlines the ins and outs of what’s going wrong.
What we will need as part of this proceeding is an affidavit from a physician outlining the mental condition. So at some point, a doctor is going to need to be involved. You can’t just come to me irritated with your mom and say, “I need to be her guardian.” That’s not how it works. We need a physician’s documentation that there is in fact a diminished mental capacity or some type of issue of that nature.
Douglas: Hypothetically, my parent is not doing well. I’ve talked to my doctor, they’ve signed a form.
Parsons: There is an established form. It’s part of what I call the guardianship package. And to be fair, and for complete transparency, I do this for a living. However, you or anyone can get it online through the county fiduciary office and go through this process on your own. You don’t have to have an attorney. Often our clients have tried to do it on their own, and got overwhelmed by the legalese, or the process. And then they come to me to help them. I have other clients that come to me at the outset because someone else they know has been through it and advised them to get an attorney.
Douglas: In my hypothetical, I’ve talked to my doctor, they’ve agreed that my parent is not doing well. I come to an attorney.
Parsons: You’ll complete the petition. And it’s basic information, the person’s name, address, age, and then what we call in the code “interested parties.” Let’s say you have three brothers and sisters. All of the children of that person will be listed. And the code prescribes, if you don’t have kids, you know who we go down the line of who should be notified as an interested person. Official notice goes out that way.
There’ll be a period after that until the hearing is scheduled. It goes in front of a Mental Hygiene Commissioner. Anybody in this period can file a response and objection if they have any concern about who is going to be appointed guardian. I have had that happen. Lots of times, those are children who maybe don’t live in the area and don’t have a thorough grasp on the condition of their parent. And sometimes it’s just plain denial. You don’t want to accept that your parent is in this shape.
But there’s a lot of family dynamics that go into this work. There are several steps and safeguards that we are not violating someone’s due process, or their legal rights of any variety, by just assigning them a guardian.
Douglas: That’s exactly what I was thinking. This isn’t just “Oh, I’m going to take over my mom’s estate and I’m going to whip out her checkbook and start writing checks.” There’s a number of steps and this isn’t something that happens overnight. I assume this probably takes a couple of months by the time it’s all said and done.
Parsons: Usually, yeah. It’s not as long as other legal processes that I’m involved in, but from start to finish — two to three months, depending on if I’m waiting on that physician’s affidavit — sometimes takes a while, doctors are very busy. Once you have all the information, the courts handle those fairly quickly.
Douglas: What does this do for my aging parent? What’s the purpose? What’s the advantage of a conservatorship or guardianship?
Parsons: If someone is truly in that condition where this is a need, you’ve essentially stepped into the shoes of that person. And this ties back into what you and I’ve talked about before, and just general estate planning, powers of attorney are very important. Those are what I call your “life planning” documents. So a financial power of attorney and medical power of attorney are used while you’re still alive, but not able to make decisions for yourself.
If you’re in a coma, for instance, that financial power of attorney can be very crucial to whoever may be helping run your affairs like making sure your mortgage is paid, or any bills or obligations you have while you’re incapacitated. Those are what I call life planning documents. If someone has a well drafted financial power of attorney, that person, usually an adult child, can perform a lot of the functions and roles that a guardian does, actually almost identical.
Same thing with a medical power of attorney. Part of our medical power of attorney, we include a section or a provision where the person making the power of attorney can say who they would want to be their guardian or conservatorship.
Douglas: So there are life planning documents that help you take care of most of the financial things, even the power of attorney or the medical power of attorney. I guess, one of the roles for the guardianship is, if you have to send your mother to a nursing home, or make those kinds of major life decisions, these are major life plan issues. What can you do to prepare?
Parsons: I wish I had an answer for that. I don’t know that you do prepare people for that experience, and I’ve personally been through it. That’s how I got into this part of law. I don’t know that you can prepare someone for that. What you hope is that your parent who is in this situation is agreeable to this.
Douglas: There was a report just recently, I think it was 13,000 or 14,000 financial elder abuse cases reported in the state of West Virginia annually.
Parsons: I’m surprised that’s all there is. But think about this, a vast majority of those cases probably go unreported.
Douglas: On one level, this guardianship and conservatorship makes that harder with somebody else looking over your shoulder. So it’s an extra layer of protection for the person who has diminished mental capacity as well.
Parsons: Full honesty, things can fall through the cracks that way, too. There were brothers who were co-guardians and conservators. Long story, but one brother got mom’s bank statements and saw that the other brother was using her account for various recreational purposes. So we had to go back to the mental hygiene commissioner and have him removed, which was terrible.
The code spells out the duty you have as a guardian and conservator and also, with a financial power of attorney, you can’t just go about and do whatever you want. There are repercussions if you misuse these powers.
Douglas: What haven’t we talked about?
Parsons: One thing I do want to say that I think people in general need to hear. We attorneys have heard it all. People will come in and sit down in my office with me and say, “I am so embarrassed to tell you this.” Don’t be, because number one, that’s what we’re there for is to help you through situations that require a legal navigator. Number two, you would have no reason to know how to do a lot of these things. You’re segueing into this part of your life where your parents now need to be parented. If you’ve never been there before, and you’re not a lawyer, you wouldn’t know what to do. There’s no shame in not knowing.
