When I moved to Boston in 1980 I was quite surprised and pleased to find out that I had a new holiday to enjoy!

Patriots? Day is always the 3rd Monday in April.  My town, Arlington, was the scene of the bloodiest fighting on the first day of the American Revolution.  There?s a parade, a re-enactment of one of the battles, and tours of our historic house.  And – Paul Revere and William Dawes ride through town on horseback again.  Yup.

I love it, and Boston is pretty keen on remembering all the history that took place in our area,  Yet, frankly, to most of us around here Patriots? Day is thought of as the Boston Marathon Day.  

When in college studying for a career in rehabilitation, my friends and I were part of an official group handing water to the wheelchair marathoners. We?d start running as someone approached and try to hand off a cup of water to them as they sped by – challenging but very satisfying.  In 1981 my brother came out and we went to the finish line to cheer people on and enjoy the scene.  It took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to move about 20 feet to the front row of the cheering spectators, whereas the first 3 or so runners had finished running the 26.2 miles about 5 minutes earlier – we vowed that in following years we would try to improve our time.  In 2013 two bombs detonated at the finish line, injuring several hundred people and killing three.

Although this Marathon is only in Boston, obviously, and Patriots? Day only happens in Massachusetts and Maine, a lot of people are paying attention to the 3rd Monday in April this year because it?s also April 15th.  Hopefully you are feeling a great sense of relief from having completed your taxes.

Last year at tax season our website got hacked so that anytime it was pulled up it showed on the screen for a few seconds and then switched over to an H&R Block tax preparation website.

OK, we did smile at the presumed reference to the saying ?the only two sure things in life are death and taxes?.  We smiled briefly, and then we tried to ensure that this won?t happen to our website this year.  So far, so good. 

You?ve done your taxes, now address what will happen after you die.  It DOES NOT matter if you don?t have a lot of financial assets to be passed on.  Neither did my grandfather, yet as my brother observed:  ?He said he wasn?t going to bother thinking about all this, that his kids could just fight about it after he was dead – and boy, did they!?  

Last April was the start of the Planning Ahead series posted on our blog at to guide you through important issues of all kinds so that this won?t happen to your family.? Even if you don?t have children to consider or assets to leave, remember that you can leave a vital legacy to EVERYONE in generations that follow by planning ahead to ensure a green burial, so crucial for the environment.

Here?s the opening link to planning for your funeral and everything else that you want to happen after you die.? Start taking actions twice a week now, and you will have everything in place by Memorial Day, a fitting finishing point.? It may seem like a marathon, but it won?t be endless.? And you can be proud of your accomplishment.?

Planning Ahead: introduction