Your health care directives — including your living will and power of attorney for health care — might be the most important estate planning documents you ever make. Giving your family clear, written direction about your end-of-life wishes can spare them anguish — and make sure you get the kind of care you want. With these documents, you can set out the kinds of treatment you want, or don’t want, and name someone to make sure your wishes are honored.
Without guidance from you in these legal documents, family members and health care providers can easily become uncertain about treatment decisions. And when family members disagree about what course to follow, the consequences are sometimes rifts that are never resolved.
————
He passed just 3 days before their 16th wedding anniversary. Some things she learned:
1. Tell your people every day that you love them.
2. Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray for strength.
3. Good to have an advanced directive to keep friends and relatives from nagging why you did or didn’t do such-and-such medical intervention.
——————————-
Obituary
Jim (James) Christensen fell asleep in the arms of the Lord on August 19, 2014, after a brave struggle with glioblastoma brain cancer. He is survived by his wife Rosemarie, and children Emma and Daniel, as well as mother Margaret Anne Christensen, brother Scott Christensen, and sister-in-law Michele Christensen. He is pre-deceased by his father, Nels Oluf Christensen, who passed away in 1984. Jim was a devoted family man whose energy, generosity and integrity enriched the lives of those whom he encountered in his many diverse interests.
Jim was born at Fort Ord in California, and grew up in Marina, CA. He later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English at Sacramento State University. He was a loyal, conscientious 28-year employee of National Semiconductor (later Texas Instruments), where he worked as a Facilities Maintenance Technician.
From age 4, Jim was a lifelong rail fan. Each Christmas, he ran toy trains for hours around the Christmas tree on the train board his father had made. Jim’s grownup interests included N scale model trains, train photography and train-chasing tourism.
As a young adult he became a Cross Country and Track and Field champ. He had a 1978 Seaside High School mile time of 4 minutes 18 seconds, and a 1980 Monterey Peninsula College 5K time of 14 minutes 42 seconds, records that both stand today. He frequently ran 5K and half marathon events, and was also a member of the Ryan’s Sports Shop (Santa Clara) running team. These events resulted in a collection of several dozen running T-shirts that were lovingly kept past torn and tattered stage.
Jim was a hard worker whose early endeavors included delivering the Monterey (California) Herald paper daily to over 100 customers. He met Rosemarie, his wife of 16 years, while leading a Sierra Club volunteer habitat restoration event at Rancho San Antonio in the Los Altos hills. Together they had a joyful, outdoors-oriented life filled with hiking, camping, biking, photography, and frequent road trips to rail fan venues and to State and National Parks, including their favorite, Yosemite. Jim took special delight in sharing his interests and adventures with his children, frequently volunteering for school, sports, church and scout events. Through all these events he touched many lives and will be greatly missed.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, August 26, 2014 from 5:00PM – 9:00PM at LIMA & CAMPAGNA SUNNYVALE MORTUARY, 1315 Hollenbeck Ave., Sunnyvale. A Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 3:00PM at St. Julie Billiart Church, 366 St. Julie Drive, San Jose.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sierra Club or the American Cancer Society. – See more at: http://www.limacampagnamortuaries.com/obituary/James-Christian-Christensen/San-Jose-CA/1411921#sthash.zpRd3Qps.dpuf