Where there's a Will...

Being grown-up is a funny thing.  Most of the time, it's ace - you can go out on a school night, or watch your favourite programme on TV without having to tidy your bedroom or do your violin practice first.  And if you don't like the vegetables for dinner - you don't have to eat them!  Result!

But there are some parts of grown-up-ness which are a bit more bothersome.  Not unpleasant as such, just time-consuming.  Like reading the gas meter, comparing car insurance quotations or setting up council tax standing orders.  Recently, for example, TheBloke (TM) and I had to get new Wills written.  We hadn't bothered since we'd got married, but with a baby on the way, it made sense to get the admin in order.

So far, so admin.

I was a bit slack with mine.  Whilst the Will company returned our paperwork within days, it was probably six weeks or so until I bothered to sign it and get it witnessed... and once I had, I left it on the table, to be filed at some point in the future.  I am not good at filing things.  Don't tell anyone.  I might want a job as a secretary one day.

Anyway, a few days later was when I got really ill with labyrinthitis.  Not ill enough to invoke the Will, thankfully, but ill enough that I had to spend a bit of time in hospital.  TheBloke (TM) was very attentive throughout; I was admitted on the Friday evening - and after leaving at about 10 p.m. on Friday, he phoned me at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday to tell me he was on his way back to visit me, and did I want anything from home?

Now, not knowing I would successfully persuade a doctor to let me leave that very same day, I gave TheBloke (TM) a nice list of things I wanted, including my iPhone charger, my Blackberry charger (because clearly, keeping on top of office work was my top priority when I was still vomiting over nurses), a change of clothes, some lip balm, some snacks in case I ever managed to keep anything down, and so on.  He dutifully made a list.

It was only when I got home, and a few days later, began to open my eyes again and focus on the world around me, I realised that in trying to find a suitable scrap of paper to write down my numerous requests, he'd made the list on the back of my Will.

Now of course, this isn't a problem - it's scribbled on the back of the Will, not within the body of the text itself, but it does raise the interesting question of if I kick the bucket, which poor solicitor is going to get the job of working out which beneficiary will receive my deodorant, and which one will get the Vicks Vapour Rub?

Or if I live a really, really long time, in 80 years' time, the solicitors might be trying to see if there was any hidden meaning in "Wotsits" and "iPhone charger", and I could spawn a treasure hunt of Masquerade proportions.

Either that, or someone will just think, "Bloody hell, she was clearly crap at filing.  This paperwork's going to be a nightmare."